$50 Million Settlement After Durable Medical Equipment Supplier Ignored Pleas to Replace Dying Man's Breathing Device

A young man with intellectual disabilities relied on a respiratory device each night to keep him alive. When the device began to fail, his mother called the national durable medical equipment company that supplied it, asking for a replacement or a loaner. The company, which billed Medicare for the equipment, brushed her off. She called again. And again. Each time she was shuffled between departments or simply not called back.

Days after those calls went unanswered, she found her son unresponsive in his bed. He had died from the respiratory condition the device was meant to manage.

Attorneys Johnny Simon and Jared Waldhoff of The Simon Law Firm, along with Kenny Powell of The Powell Law Firm, took the case. Their theory centered on a straightforward federal obligation: Medicare-participating durable medical equipment suppliers are required to provide loaner devices when a patient's equipment fails. The company had done no such thing. In Simon's words, the supplier had created a 'bureaucratic nightmare' in which the mother 'did everything she could to get her son the lifesaving device he needed to survive and was continually dismissed, sometimes ignored and shuffled around.'

The defense opened negotiations at $450,000. The plaintiff's team had demanded $16 million. The case settled on March 14, 2025, in St. Louis Circuit Court for $50 million, with the defendant's identity kept confidential under the terms of the agreement. Allianz provided coverage for the defendant.

The $50 million figure represented the largest settlement in Missouri for 2025. No reduction or remittitur has been reported.