Case Results
Our clients and their privacy are of paramount importance to us, and therefore, broadcasting our case results is not something we do lightly. However, we do want to let you know that we can help you by sharing details of some cases that we have successfully handled over the years. Please understand that every case we take is unique, and different facts often produce different results.
Here are some of the most recent case results attained by the Orlando malpractice attorneys at Faiella & Gulden, P.A.
Results may vary depending on your particular facts and circumstances.
$9 million verdict
Although he was suffering from a cerebral aneurism bleed (a ruptured blood vessel in the brain), a 24-year-old father of three didn’t get help from emergency room physicians. They failed to stabilize him, and failed to get him checked into the hospital for life-saving surgery before he passed away. The neurosurgeon involved settled for a confidential amount before we took this case to trial and won.
$4 million verdict
In 2011, our client’s wife had a pap smear that was “negative” for signs of cancer, according to the diagnostic laboratory. Two years later, she went to her gynecologist with serious bleeding and abdominal pain. Finally, she was referred to a gynecologic oncologist, who found metastatic cervical cancer. She died only months later. We argued in the courtroom that the diagnostic lab misread her pap smear, which should have been referred to a pathologist for further review based on evidence present. The jury agreed.
$3.55 million settlement
Many medical professionals were to blame in this case. They failed to diagnose cancer in a 56-year-old husband and father of three, leading to his ultimate death from metastatic testicular cancer weeks before his 60th birthday.
$3.335 million verdict
Our client suffered a 7-month delay in diagnosis and treatment of her breast cancer because radiologists failed to interpret and investigate her mammogram results. We filed a lawsuit and won a jury verdict. The defendants ultimately agreed to a satisfactory settlement with our client after their post-trial motions were denied.
$3 million verdict
Our client went to an emergency room, but the medical staff there did not examine her for eight hours. During that time, she was suffering from unstable angina, where her heart wasn’t able to get enough blood and oxygen. Ultimately, she had the most serious form of heart attack: an ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction. Though she was resuscitated, the attack permanently damaged her heart muscles. She was forced to medically retire, and a jury agreed with us that this demanded just compensation for her loss of income, future income, lifelong follow-up medical care, and pain and suffering.
$1.9 million confidential settlement
A hospital failed to diagnose that patient in its care had a life-threatening brain abscess, an infectious build-up of pus in the brain. She passed away without treatment. We helped her family bring a claim of medical malpractice against the negligent hospital.
$1.65 million verdict
A 48-year-old mother of three went to her primary care physician with pain in both arms and a history of chest pain. The physician and physician’s assistant who saw her completely missed the fact that she had a treatable narrowing of the main coronary artery supplying blood to her heart. She died of a heart attack within 36 hours. Since the defendants rejected a settlement offer we made for $750,000, we went to trial and a jury awarded our clients much more than that, plus additional attorneys’ fees and costs.
$1.5 million settlement
A doctor referred our client for a heart valve replacement surgery, which he got—along with a postoperative infection that killed him. The problem? His cardiac catheterization test and transesophageal echocardiogram (an ultrasound that takes detailed pictures of the heart) clearly showed that the valve was functioning perfectly and he didn’t need surgery at all. We asked that the doctor pay for this wrongful death.
$1.275 million settlement/$1.976 million verdict
While hospitalized, this patient needed strict monitoring of her intake and output of fluids. We filed two separate lawsuits, one against the doctors, and the other against the hospital, over the fact that they did not ensure hospital staff followed these vital orders. As a result, the patient, who received continuous IV fluids over her three-day hospitalization, retained excess fluid, which caused congestive heart failure and ultimately took her life.
$1.261 million verdict
Our client came from a family with a history of breast cancer. Because of that, she was vigilant in getting tested, and had mammograms performed in 1998 and 2001. However, her radiologists failed to report an area of asymmetrical density in 2001, which was not present in the 1998 mammogram. Our client discovered her own breast cancer in 2002 in a self-breast examination. Because of the 11-month delay in diagnosis, her chance of survival dropped from 50% to 20%. Despite this, the radiologists denied fault and offered her $1,000 to settle! Needless to say, we disagreed. So did a jury.
$1.25 million settlement
When our clients’ loved one went to the doctor, his nuclear stress test showed abnormal findings—the amount of blood leaving his heart kept decreasing, and one of his heart walls was alarmingly weak. Despite this, the doctor did not order further tests or give him life-saving medication. Eight days later, the patient passed away in his sleep of a heart attack. We argued that this was clear-cut negligence on the part of the doctor, who could have prevented this tragedy.
$1.25 million settlement
A 42-year-old man went to a Florida emergency room with classic symptoms of an oncoming heart attack. He was an insulin-dependent diabetic and had a family history of cardiac disease. Despite these facts, ER staff and the cardiologist on call failed to diagnose him right away, and he suffered a massive heart attack in the waiting room. Eleven months later, he died of congestive heart failure. We got two separate settlements for the family from the cardiologist and the hospital.
$1.013 million verdict
Our client, a 46-year-old Puerto Rican social worker in Florida for a business conference, suffered a severely fractured ankle at the Marriott World Center after stepping into a storm drain in a poorly lit parking lot that was undergoing construction. We argued that there was negligence on Marriott’s part, and after a hotly contested trial, a jury awarded our client over $1 million.
$1 million settlement
Men over 60 are at much greater risk of heart attack. A Florida doctor knew this, but neglected to perform an adequate cardiac work-up on a 60-year-old patient who came in with serious symptoms. Failure to diagnose the patient’s heart attack resulted in his death, leaving his wife and two grown children grief-stricken. We helped them get justice from the negligent doctor.
$1 million settlement
Our 29-year-old client had a palpable abnormality in her breast. Despite this, the doctor did not refer her for a mammogram or a surgeon’s evaluation. As a result, her breast cancer wasn’t diagnosed or treated for another eight months.
$1 million settlement/Confidential settlement
Our client’s loved one, an extremely active 67-year-old retiree, was on vacation in Florida when he went to the emergency room with an apparent bowel obstruction. ER staff failed to “intubate” (insert a plastic tube through the nasal passage into the stomach) the patient and remove his stomach contents prior to attempting surgery—a standard procedure. When the surgical team tried to introduce anesthesia to the patient, he began vomiting, and breathed the contents of his stomach into his lungs. He died two days later as a direct result. For the patient’s family, we got a $1 million settlement from the anesthesia associates and a confidential settlement from the hospital.
$1 million settlement
After a 57-year-old man was rushed to the emergency room at Florida Hospital East with classic symptoms of a heart attack, the ER staff was in no hurry to diagnose him. In fact, he was transferred eight hours later to a private medical center for treatment because of insurance purposes, after the damage had already been done. Because of the delayed diagnosis of an obvious heart attack, our client will suffer lifelong complications, and we were glad to get him some measure of justice.
$1 million settlement
While performing gallbladder removal surgery on a patient, surgeons sliced into his bile ducts, severing them. The 49-year-old travel agent required extensive additional surgery and medical care to treat this mistake.
$1 million settlement
A healthy, 43-year-old woman came down with a sore throat in early 2010. She went to a throat specialist, who lanced her infected tonsils and prescribed her the powerful opioid drug oxycodone for the pain, with instructions to take it every four hours. By the next morning, she was dead. The cause was a massive overdose - but the woman only took the amount prescribed by the doctor! We filed a lawsuit on behalf of her husband of 22 years, saying that those strong drugs NEVER should have been prescribed for basic pain relief, and too large of a dose was prescribed for the woman, who had never taken the drug before and had no tolerance for it, directly leading to her death.
$934,000 verdict
Our client was proactive and was screened for prostate cancer. However, the doctors’ office didn’t tell him that he had an abnormal blood test, and failed to refer him for a prostate biopsy to investigate further. Because of these failures, our client’s prostate cancer spread to his bones before it was caught.
$835,000 settlement
While a patient at an orthodontics clinic, our client was not informed that she needed braces—or that she was suffering severe gum loss—for over two years. She did indeed suffer severe, untreated gum loss and gum recession, and she and her husband sued the clinic and orthodontist for not providing the care our client clearly and desperately needed.
$550,000 settlement/Confidential settlements
Physicians had a young mother attempt to deliver her baby vaginally, despite her history of juvenile diabetes and the fact that the baby was significantly larger than normal. As a result, the baby got stuck in the birth canal. He was forced out, but suffered a brachial plexus injury—damage to the nerves in his shoulder, leading to lifelong arm paralysis. He also suffered permanent brain damage from the delay. Several physicians in charge of a young mother’s prenatal care failed to schedule an amniocentesis and fetal ultrasound to measure the baby’s size, despite indications that he would be large. This pregnancy was high-risk and the mother clearly should have had a C-section delivery. We worked to get the young family compensation from the at-fault physicians, eventually reaching separate confidential settlements with two defendants and filing a lawsuit against the others, which resulted in a $550,000 settlement before trial.
$500,000 settlement
Deep vein thrombosis is a known risk in every surgery. A blood clot (thrombus) can form whenever a patient is immobilized for an extended time, and it can travel through the bloodstream, ending up blocking the lungs and causing death. This is what happened to our clients’ loved one. We argued that none of the necessary deep vein thrombosis protections were used in this case. It is the nurse anesthetist and physician who must ensure these protections are in place before starting anesthesia, and they did not.
$500,000 settlement
Medical providers failed to diagnose cancer on a patient’s X-rays. As a result, she died. We represented her family and got them a settlement out of court.
$450,000 settlement
Our client alleged that while his wife was under the care of a hospital, the hospital’s neurosurgeon did not drain her spinal abscess, which then spread, causing an infection that ultimately killed her. We settled the case to the husband’s satisfaction before even filing a lawsuit.
$400,000 verdict
A doctor failed completely to diagnose a patient’s prostate cancer, which led to his death. His family was awarded $400,000 by a jury, and an additional $375,000 in attorneys’ fees, for a total recovery of $775,000.
$290,000 settlement
Our client’s physician failed to inform her of the results of her screening mammogram. Because of this, her cancer diagnosis and treatment were delayed.
$250,000 settlement
Our clients, a husband and wife, filed a claim against an urologist who did not perform an adequate biopsy of the husband’s prostate, resulting in a delayed diagnosis of his prostate cancer. During an ultrasound-guided needle biopsy, a tissue sample needs to be obtained for further testing. When this doesn’t happen, the test needs to be done again, and usually takes a while to schedule. As a result, the disease progressed and our clients suffered harm they shouldn’t have had to suffer.
$200,000 settlement
A physician failed to diagnose his patient’s leiomyosarcoma, a soft-tissue tumor that can develop in muscle, fat, blood vessels, or any tissues surrounding the internal organs. Because the physician was employed by the State of Florida, which has sovereign immunity, we were limited to a maximum recovery of $200,000 for the patient’s family.
Confidential settlement
Our client, 6 years old at the time, with a history of autoimmune hepatitis, an acutely enlarged liver, vomiting, dehydration, abdominal pain and bloating, an elevated white blood cell count, a rapid heart rate but abnormally low blood pressure, and a positive strep test, was sent to the emergency room by his pediatrician. Although the pediatrician called ahead to notify the hospital that a glucose test was necessary and specifically requested that they admit him as a patient, the hospital did not order a single blood test. Instead, they gave the child a pediatric enema and sent him home. The boy continued to get worse, and he suffered a heart attack the next morning, resulting in a severe, lifelong, brain damage. We settled his case, just three months into litigation, less than a year after the injury occurred.
Confidential settlement
After our clients’ baby was born, delivery doctors and nurses failed to diagnose that a portion of his intestines had twisted during development in the womb. The baby suffered serious injuries from the death of his entire bowel, and needed a major six-organ transplant surgery at eight months old. We worked to get a settlement that covered all major medical expenses, pain and suffering, and lifelong transplant care costs.
Confidential settlement
For six and a half years, our client went to a gynecologist for follow-up after surviving cervical cancer. But the gynecologist failed to monitor her properly, and she was diagnosed with stage IV metastatic endocervical cancer at age 43. In this case, we had to argue that the statute of repose (an extended deadline for filing medical malpractice claims) was necessary, since the defendant doctor concealed our client’s condition from her. The doctor and hospital agreed to a satisfactory settlement amount before we had to go to trial.
Confidential settlement
Ambien, since its rise in popularity, has been noted for its serious and strange side effects. Despite this, a physician’s assistant prescribed Ambien to a man with symptoms of depression without adequately evaluating him. After taking the drug, the 44-year-old husband and father of three committed suicide. We, on behalf of his family, said the medical center didn’t evaluate their patient properly and never should have prescribed Ambien without doing so.
Confidential settlement
After a premature birth, medical providers are supposed to look for certain dangerous conditions which, if not treated, can cause permanent harm to a baby. Our clients’ newborn daughter was not given the required follow-up eye exam two weeks after her premature birth—even though a previous exam showed retinal immaturity in zone 2 of both eyes. By day 25, when her eyes were re-examined, she was completely blind. The ophthalmologist settled for a confidential amount relatively quickly, but we had to continue litigation against the hospital and neonatologists responsible for the baby’s overall care, who denied liability until shortly before trial, when they too settled for a confidential amount.
Confidential settlement
Our client had twins, one of whom needed corrective heart surgery at the young age of 6 weeks old. But the surgeon made a mistake while working on the child’s aorta, and none of the medical providers attending the child noticed the mistake for more than five hours, during which time the child suffered catastrophic injuries to his lower organs and extremities. All defendants settled for a confidential amount prior to trial.
We require no legal retainer or upfront fees, and you pay nothing unless we prevail. Call us for your free consultation.
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