On April 5, 2013, John recovered $975,000 for a 57-year old truck driver arising from a month delay in diagnosing a brain abscess against a physicians’ assistant in Watkin Glens (Schuyler County), New York.

During a routine tooth extraction, the plaintiff was diagnosed with a dental abscess with temporal extension. Three days following the dental extraction, the plaintiff complained of severe left-sided headaches just above the site of the tooth extraction. Dental abscesses can “migrate” from the teeth through the brainstem into the brain and cause a pus-filled collection known as a brain abscess.

Over the course of four weeks, the plaintiff was seen by his physicians’ assistant who diagnosed him with a dental abscess with a temporal extension. A CT scan of the brain was ordered, but the imaging study was not performed. Finally, the plaintiff had difficulty with comprehension and was rushed to a hospital. A CT scan of the brain at the hospital revealed a brain abscess that had ruptured in the left temporal lobe of the brain and caused irreversible brain damage.

Fortunately, the plaintiff’s intelligence and cognitive function has been preserved, but the plaintiff has been rendered disabled from his former employment as a truck driver. The plaintiff and his wife will place their settlement funds in a trust that will provide income for them upon their move to Florida.

$975,000 for delay in diagnosing a brain abscess