DENVER, May 20, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Attorneys David S. Woodruff and Henry Miniter of the Denver Trial Lawyers law firm successfully completed a case today in which a Pueblo jury awarded $2.8 million to a man who suffered permanent paralysis after being prematurely discharged from the emergency department at Parkview Medical Center in Pueblo.
The award was one of the largest jury verdicts in Pueblo County history.
The decision came after a nine-day jury trial regarding events at Parkview Medical Center Feb. 11, 2016. Woodruff presented evidence in Pueblo County District Court that the emergency department team at Parkview Medical Center in Pueblo was negligent in their treatment of Samuel Chifalo when he arrived following a fall. Chifalo, who was 63 years old at the time, suffered injury to his spinal cord when he fell and struck his face on furniture. If treated promptly with neurosurgery, the spinal cord injury could have been reversed, but unfortunately Mr. Chifalo was discharged from the emergency department with the injury not recognized by the staff.
“This case, like all medical malpractice cases, was incredibly sad because Mr. Chifalo will never fully recover what he lost,” Woodruff said. “But the jury’s award will help him recover some dignity and independence in his life completely confined to a wheelchair.”
Woodruff presented evidence that the Parkview Hospital’s emergency department staff should have recognized severe weakness and lack of motion in Chifalo’s arms and legs. Instead, the nursing staff failed to transmit information from the paramedics about Chifalo’s symptoms, leading to his premature discharge. By the time Chifalo returned to the ER the following morning, his spinal cord injury was irreparable. Today he is an “incomplete” quadriplegic, unable to use his legs and his left arm, with only limited sensation and movement in his right arm.
Chifalo was a retired heavy-equipment operator whose greatest enjoyments in life were his travels with his wife to visit their seven grandchildren, and spending time with retired friends.
About Denver Trial Lawyers
Denver Trial Lawyers (Wahlberg, Woodruff, Nimmo & Sloane L.L.P.) is one of the preeminent personal injury law firms in the Rocky Mountain Region, with attorneys representing clients in complex injury cases such as medical malpractice, defective products, brain and spinal cord injuries, wrongful death and birth injuries. David S. Woodruff, who specializes in medical malpractice and complex personal injury cases, has obtained some of the largest jury verdicts in Colorado and in the U.S, including the largest medical malpractice arbitration award in U.S. history – a $70 million award against a California HMO. Several of the firm's partners are named in Best Lawyers in America, and the firm has been recognized by U.S. News & World Report as one of the top law firms in the nation. For information, call 303-571-5302 or visit www.denvertriallawyers.com.
Press contact:
Steve Caulk, 303-410-4971, srcaulk@proconnectpr.com