Highlights:

Among KDLM's achievements, Thomas Moore and Matt Gaier won a significant victory in the Appellate Division and the Court of Appeals when a present value judgment of $28.9 million was sustained on appeal. It was the highest judgment ever upheld in the state of New York for injuries to a person. The case was reported on the front page of the New York Times. As a result of the case, changes have been made by the Legislature to laws affecting the timing of award payments to plaintiffs.

The Case:

The plaintiff was born in November 1986 with a condition that causes a buildup of fluid in the brain. A shunt was inserted at birth to prevent the fluid from accumulating and to enable him to live a normal life. In October 1990, he became ill. His parents took him to New York Hospital, where it was determined that he had outgrown the shunt; a new one was inserted.

After the surgery, however, he was transferred to a regular hospital floor, not an intensive care unit. Nor did he have any neurologic assessment in the critical hours immediately after surgery. During the night he vomited repeatedly, and nurses told his father it was due to the anesthesia. It was discovered much later that the new shunt had stopped functioning properly, causing pressure on his brain and extensive brain damage. The child became comatose, needing a tracheostomy and gastrostomy tube. The plaintiff still requires both, has constant seizures, routinely requires resuscitation, and needs 24-hour-a-day nursing care.