Confidential Settlement
A combination cash and annuity settlement having a seven-figure present cash value was recovered on behalf of a 49-year-old man who developed a cardiac tamponade four days after undergoing open heart surgery. His illness was neither timely diagnosed nor treated, and cardiopulmonary arrest ensued. By the time he was resuscitated, he had sustained severe anoxic brain damage. As a result, he suffers from spastic quadriparesis, cortical blindness, dysarthria, cognitive impairment, and loss of bowel and bladder control. Because of impaired swallowing and the risk of aspiration pneumonia, he must be fed through a gastrostomy tube. Under the terms of the agreed-upon settlement, an annuity was funded to provide $15,000 per month for life, increasing by 4.5% per annum, to offset the cost of attendant and nursing care.