Attorney

Our client was a man who suffered permanent brain damage after an allergic reaction during an MRI led to cardiac arrest (co-counseled with Attorney Gregory Unatin). The top settlement offer was $3 million.

Brendan Lupetin and Gregory Unatin represented the Miller family in a medical malpractice lawsuit against Tyrone Hospital in Blair County, Pennsylvania. After three years of litigation the case came to trial in the Court of Common Pleas of Blair County. Christopher suffered permanent brain damage during an MRI at Tyrone Hospital.

Our client in this case was Brand Marketing Group (BMG) against Intertek Testing Services after one of their subsidiaries botched the testing of his newly unveiled space heater – the Thermablaster.

BMG finally realized the benefit of a relationship cultivated with Ace Hardware since 2009 when in mid-2011 Ace decided to place an order for 4000 Thermablaster heaters.   Meanwhile, Interetek, the self-described “leading provider of quality, safety, testing, inspection and certification” held out to Mr. Brand that he should trust their years of knowledge and expertise to assure the Thermablaster met the applicable safety standard and would be safe for homes across the United States.  However, and unknown to Mr. Brand, the particular standard applicable to his heater was a standard which Intertek had never tested to before. (co-counseled with Attorney Greg Unatin.)

A Pennsylvania vascular surgeon negligently delayed surgical treatment of a man suffering from critical limb ischemia.  Due to the negligent delay, the man suffered an above the knee amputation.  The original offer before trial was $125,000. This was one of the largest verdicts in the history of Indiana County, Pennsylvania.  This case was worked up by Greg Unatin, and tried to verdict by Greg Unatin, Brendan Lupetin, and Garrett Trettel.

For a woman injured by a botched gallbladder removal surgery (co-counseled with Attorney Brendan Lupetin). The defendant never offered any money to settle this claim before trial.

Denise Westwood received a $2 million medical malpractice verdict after suffering a bile duct injury during a botched gallbladder surgery. Dr. Charles N. Lebovitz was ordered by a jury to compensate Denise Westwood for the problems she experienced following the surgery. The injury resulted in permanent damage to her biliary system and liver, causing multiple hernias and requiring additional corrective surgeries. Westwood lost her job as a nurse’s aide due to the resulting injuries, which limited her ability to lift heavy objects. The lawsuit claimed that Dr. Lebovitz failed to follow proper medical procedures and took shortcuts during the surgery. The jury found him negligent and awarded Westwood $750,000 for past damages and $1.25 million for future losses.

Our client, a husband and father in his mid-30s, was experiencing discomfort in his right arm due to a radiculopathy caused by a C5-C6 cervical disc herniation. Despite being generally healthy and physically fit, he sought the advice of a neurosurgeon. The neurosurgeon recommended surgery involving a C5-C6 discectomy with artificial disc replacement. Unfortunately, during the procedure, the neurosurgeon made an error and inserted the artificial disc device beyond the intended level of the vertebral bones in the spine. As a result of this mistake, our client’s spinal cord was crushed by the device, leading to irreversible injury and paralysis from the neck down.

Following the incident, our client underwent rigorous physical and occupational therapy over the course of a year, hoping to regain some of his preoperative functioning. Although he made considerable improvements, he remains confined to a wheelchair with significant physical deficits. Understanding the severity of the situation, the attorneys at Lupetin & Unatin collaborated with esteemed medical experts to establish a case of malpractice. The evidence overwhelmingly supported our client’s claim, resulting in a substantial settlement that will provide ongoing support for him and his family throughout their lives.

Our clients were the parents of a five-year-old boy who suffered a brain injury in utero just before birth. On the day of his birth, the child’s mother was admitted to a community hospital in Western Pennsylvania for induction of labor. A nurse placed a device on the mother called a fetal heart rate monitor. A fetal heart monitor uses ultrasound to display a tracing of the baby’s heart rate on a TV monitor. Before giving medication to a pregnant patient to induce labor, nurses need to make sure the fetal heart rate pattern displayed on the monitor is normal. If nurses find the fetal heart rate is abnormal, they should withhold medication to induce labor because it could harm the fetus.

Regrettably, nursing staff failed to notice concerning changes in the fetal heart rate and wrongly administered a medication to induce labor known as Cervidil. Over the next two hours, the heart monitor showed the fetal heart rate was gradually dropping and going through prolonged decelerations. These were warning signs that the fetus was not getting enough oxygen in utero. Unfortunately, nurses did not promptly recognize these warning signs or report them to the on-call obstetrician. An emergency cesarean section was not performed in a timely manner, and the baby’s brain was deprived of oxygen for too long. As a result, the child was left with permanent physical and cognitive disabilities, and dependent on tube feeding likely for the rest of his life.

Co-counseled with Brendan Lupetin.

Our client was a 52-year-old man left paralyzed and with constant, severe neurologic pain due to the delayed diagnosis of a spinal epidural abscess and spinal cord compression.  The patient presented to the emergency department of a rural Western Pennsylvania hospital where a CT scan showed worrisome findings involving his thoracic spine. The patient was transferred to a different hospital where he developed progressively worsening back pain, weakness, and sensory changes in his legs.  No imaging of the spine was performed for almost two-days while the patient’s neurologic function deteriorated.  By the time an MRI was completed and doctors discovered the epidural abscess, the patient had developed irreversible injury from compression of his spinal cord.  Our client was left unable to move his legs and with frequent, painful spasms in his lower body due to the destruction of his spinal nerves and nerve roots.  Unfortunately, the patient lost his ability to live independently and was dependent for nearly all activities of daily living. 

Co-counseled with Jerry Meyers, Esq.

Our young client, an adorable 7-year-old girl, sustained an elbow injury while practicing gymnastics at home. Concerned for her well-being, her parents promptly took her to the emergency room, where x-rays revealed a supracondylar humerus fracture just above her right elbow. As a result, she was admitted to the hospital and underwent surgery the next morning to realign and stabilize the fracture.

Post-surgery, medical professionals noticed that while her right hand exhibited a healthy pink color, she lacked a pulse in her right wrist. Furthermore, she experienced a complete loss of finger movement and reported an absence of sensation throughout her hand. Regrettably, her condition did not show any signs of improvement within the following 24 hours. Nevertheless, she was discharged from the hospital with instructions for a follow-up appointment scheduled two weeks later.

During the two-week appointment, it became apparent that our young client’s hand remained paralyzed, devoid of any sensation. Further investigation revealed that the surgery intended to fix her fracture inadvertently compromised the blood supply to her right hand and forearm. This unfortunate outcome resulted in extensive damage to the muscles and nerves in her right arm. As a result, she required an additional complex salvage procedure. Tragically, she was left with permanent functional deficits in her right forearm and hand.

To address this case of malpractice, the attorneys at Lupetin & Unatin collaborated with esteemed medical experts, who presented overwhelming evidence in favor of our client. As a consequence, a substantial settlement was reached, which, due to her age, will be held in trust. The financial compensation will cover her college and post-graduate education expenses, ensuring her financial security throughout her life.

Our firm secured a $2.0 million settlement on behalf of the family of a forty-year-old man who presented to the emergency department of a local hospital four-times over five-weeks with complaints of persistent headaches, nausea, vomiting, and fever.  Based on his history, symptoms and lab results, the patient should have received the gold-standard test to diagnose meningitis. Instead, the patient was repeatedly diagnosed and treated for migraines despite never having migraines in the past.  The patient was eventually admitted to the hospital with worsening symptoms, but his attending neurologist did not order a lumbar puncture until the man developed seizures and became non-responsive.  Unfortunately, his untreated brain infection led to increased intracranial pressure and irreversible brain injury resulting in death. Co-counseled with Brendan Lupetin.

Our client, a former smoker, received a recommendation from her primary care physician (PCP) to undergo a low-dose lung CT scan as a screening measure for lung cancer. Complying with her doctor’s advice, she proceeded with the chest CT scan, which revealed a singular mass in her lung that raised significant suspicion for lung cancer. Tragically, the radiologist responsible for interpreting the scan failed to report the presence of the lung mass. Consequently, our client, who was actually in the early stages of small cell lung cancer, did not receive the timely diagnosis and treatment she urgently needed.

Approximately 15 months later, our client underwent another CT scan of her chest, which showed alarming growth in the original lung mass and metastasis to nearby lymph nodes. The radiologist interpreting the second scan compared the findings to the initial CT scan and acknowledged the presence of the lung mass at that earlier time. Subsequently, our client had to undergo further medical tests to determine the extent and stage of her cancer, only to discover that the cancer had spread to her brain.

In light of these devastating circumstances, the legal team at Lupetin & Unatin sought consultation from expert radiologists and oncologists. Through their expertise, we were able to establish a case of medical malpractice, attributing the radiologist’s negligence as the cause of our client’s diminished chance of survival by approximately 75%. As a result of our compelling case, the defendant doctor and hospital agreed to settle with our client.