LPN With Traumatic Brain Injury and Six Fractures Recovers $879,000 in Moore County Settlement

On a road in Moore County, North Carolina, a collision left a middle-aged licensed practical nurse with injuries that would keep her out of work for close to two years. The defendant admitted fault, so the fight in case No. 12 CVS 83 was never about liability. It was about what her injuries were worth.

The crash fractured her collar bone, jaw, forehead, eye socket, rib, and both lower leg bones and lacerated her spleen. She also sustained a mild traumatic brain injury. The combination of orthopedic trauma and a head injury created a complex medical picture that required both a treating orthopedist, Dr. Christopher Olcott, and a consulting orthopedist, Dr. Robert C. Martin, to document.

Joseph P. Tunstall III of O'Malley Tunstall PC in Tarboro represented the plaintiff. The defense leaned on the fact that she had returned to nursing duties by the time the case came to resolution, arguing that her recovery undercut the damages. Tunstall had to show that the road back did not erase what she endured getting there, and that lasting effects remained despite the functional recovery.

To help the jury understand the injuries, the firm retained Mark Valentine of The Visual Advantage to produce medical graphics. Because the plaintiff was a Medicare beneficiary, Tunstall also consulted the Center for Medicare Set-Aside Administration to ensure that any future medical needs tied to the crash were properly accounted for in the settlement structure.

The case settled on April 23, 2012, for $875,000 plus $4,000 in medical payments coverage, totaling $879,000. That figure represented approximately 90 percent of available insurance coverage. NC Lawyers Weekly reported the result in August 2012.