Mr. R was walking to his car when he was hit by a careless driver. He suffered a torn rotator cuff in his shoulder and required surgery to repair it. Michael Ruppersburg, our Athens personal injury lawyer, secured a $225,000 settlement for him, which was three times his medical bills. The settlement is notable because the case was in Barrow County, which is a conservative county without a history of significant verdicts and settlements.
The Accident
Mr. R was attending his nephew’s high school graduation in Winder, Georgia. He was walking back to his car after the ceremony. He was crossing West Candler Street when another person, also leaving the graduation, began making a left turn. He tried to jump out of the way but wasn’t able to do so in time. The corner of the car knocked him to the ground ,and he landed awkwardly on his right arm.
The police responded to the incident, and while they didn’t give the other driver a ticket, did find him at fault for failing to yield while turning left.
The Injuries
Mr. R’s right shoulder hurt afterwards, but he assumed it would get better over the next couple of days. Unfortunately, it didn’t. His shoulder was swollen and painful, and hurt when he moved it. After a week, he decided he needed to go to a doctor. The doctor ordered X-rays and performed a physical examination of his shoulder, which indicated a possible SLAP tear. SLAP stands for “Superior labrum anterior to posterior” and means that there’s a tear in the labrum, which is the cartilage that lines your shoulder socket, also called the glenoid.
The doctor gave him a steroid injection to help with the inflammation, told him to take anti-inflammatories, and to come back to see him in a couple of weeks.
Mr. D continued having shoulder pain, especially when he moved it, so at his next visit, the doctor ordered an MRI of his shoulder. The MRI showed a SLAP tear along with a torn supraspinatus tendon. The supraspinatus tendon is one of the tendons and ligaments that hold your shoulder in place and allow you to move and rotate it. A tear to one of these tendons and ligaments is called a rotator cuff tear.
Since the tear wasn’t a full-thickness tear, meaning that it was not torn all the way through, the doctor recommended that they try letting it heal and see if Mr. R could avoid surgery. Mr. R continued to see the doctor over the next couple of months, and they used cortisone injections and anti-inflammatory medication to help manage his shoulder pain.
Unfortunately, Mr. R’s shoulder didn’t get better. It continued to hurt him on a daily basis. He couldn’t sleep on his right side at night because his shoulder would hurt. Basic activities such as reaching overhead or trying to carry something with his right arm would hurt. He and his doctor decided to move forward with surgery, which involved repairing the torn tendon and cartilage in his shoulder. After the surgery, Mr. R had three months of physical therapy to help regain strength and range of motion in his shoulder.
The Rotator Cuff Settlement
The insurance company initially denied responsibility for the accident. We filed a lawsuit and deposed the driver, who admitted he was at fault. After this, the insurance company agreed to a $225,000 rotator cuff settlement. We’re glad to have helped Mr. R and wish him the best.
Contact
If you or a loved one was injured due to someone else’s negligence, the team at Ruppersburg Injury & Accident Attorneys can Help. Contact us today for a consultation !