A man who suffered permanent brain damage in a workplace accident has reached a $550,000 confidential workers’ compensation settlement after using some advanced technology to challenge the evaluation made by the neurologist assigned by the defendant, his attorney reports.
David Pearlman of Steinberg Law Firm in Charleston said his client, whose name was withheld, was working as a heavy lift equipment mechanic when he fell and suffered facial fractures and a cranial bleed. The injury affected the man’s cognitive abilities and reduced his motor skills.
Pearlman
The neurologist assigned to evaluate the client determined that his impairment was only seven percent. Pearlman argued that the impairment was more severe than that, and credited expert opinions and testing done with diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) with lending weight to his argument.
“We were able to show the obvious extent and severity of my client’s physical brain damage,” Pearlman said. “In many cases, especially in mild traumatic brain injuries, there is brain damage. It just has not been able to be seen through routine MRIs because the damage is microscopic. With the new technology of a DTI, you can capture and be able to show the true extent of the severe brain injury.”
Pearlman said the new DTI technology could be helpful for future cases. He said a DTI image is more powerful evidence than an expert’s opinion because parties can see the extent of the damage, much like how an X-ray shows broken bones. He said this was one of the first times in his firm’s practice that the technology had been used for a workers’ compensation case.
“We hope that these techniques will become useful to other practitioners so that they will be able to show and persuade about the extent of their particular clients’ brain damage, whether it be a concussive injury or a fractured skull or a bleed, to be able to show an actual picture of the brain damage, is quite persuasive,” Pearlman said.
The settlement with the South Carolina Workers’ Compensation Commission, which was reached Jan. 9., was mediated by Lana Sims of Columbia.
Pearlman said Dr. Dino Massoglia, a Charleston neuroradiologist, conducted the DTI exam and interpreted the results and Dr. Marshall White, a neurologist, and neuropsychologist Randolph Waid, both of Mount Pleasant, also were helpful to the client’s case.
Other details about the case, including the identities of the defendants and their counsel, were withheld pursuant to the confidentiality agreement.
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SETTLEMENT REPORT – WORKERS’ COMPENSATION
Amount: $550,000
Injuries alleged: Facial fractures, cranial bleed leading to brain damage
Case name: Confidential
Venue: South Carolina Workers’ Compensation Commission in Charleston County
Case No.: Confidential
Mediator: Lana Sims of Columbia
Date of settlement: Jan. 9
Most helpful experts: Dr. Dino Massoglia of Charleston (neuroradiologist), Dr. Marshall White of Mount Pleasant (neurologist), and Randolph Waid of Mount Pleasant (neuropsychologist)
Attorney for plaintiff: David Pearlman of Steinberg Law Firm in Charleston
Attorneys for defendant: Withheld