Mayra Suazo-Aquino and Amos Gern settled an Essex County lawsuit for a retired 74-year old veterinary physician who was descending an interior stairway leading to a rear/side door exit in his leased home. He tripped and fell down the stairs due to a defective slope in a metal nosing strip at the top landing. The stairway also did not have a handrail, which he had requested the landlord to install on past occasions. After the accident, the landlord installed a handrail, but did so on the wrong location, to a basement in the home. Our client was taken by EMS to a local hospital where he was diagnosed with a left-sided periprosthetic femur fracture. In order to address this injury, plaintiff had to undergo an emergency open reduction and internal fixation of the left femur, as well as a revisionary left total hip replacement, at the Hospital For Special Surgery. He now bears a lengthy permanent scar that extends laterally from his left buttocks down to his left knee. While he underwent significant subsequent physical therapy treatment, plaintiff is left with permanent residual pain and radicular symptoms in his left leg, in addition to some shortening and mal-positioning of his left leg/foot. Our client had a serious pre-existing Cauda Equina syndrome from a medical procedure 8 years ago, and prior hip surgeries for displacements, which left him with a leg brace and use of a cane. However, these disabilities were significantly exacerbated by this new injury. A substantial Medicare lien also had to be negotiated as part of this resolution.
**Results may vary depending on your particular facts and legal circumstances**