Case Results

Two sandblasters in a helicopter transporting them offshore sustained compression fractures in their vertebrae when the helicopter dropped into the Gulf of Mexico as a result of co-pilot error. Both workers recovered full damages.

A diesel mechanic sent offshore to repair a winch on a tugboat was attempting to make a swing rope transfer to a crew boat after finishing his work and injured his back and neck when he slammed into the bulwarks on the first attempt. A tricky task when going from a stationary platform to a vessel, a swing rope transfer is made ever more hazardous when attempted from one vessel to another. The mechanic had never performed such a transfer before and an alternative, safer means of transfer existed but was not employed because of time constraints inherent in the oil field. Expert evidence provided the backdrop for the obvious danger involved in such a transfer, and Kopfler Personal Injury Attorneys defeated defense efforts aimed at placing fault on the mechanic.

A welder on an offshore semi-submersible drilling rig slipped and fell in hydraulic fluid leaking from a nearby valve. His spinal injury prevented him from returning to the offshore welding industry, and evidence showed that the hydraulic fluid presented an unreasonable risk of injury to workers on the rig.

An offshore wireline worker was struck in the back by a falling cable and knocked to the deck, resulting in injuries which have severely reduced his earning ability. The case is pending in the United States District Court in New Orleans.

Two doctors’ failure to diagnose pulmonary embolism as the potential cause of the patient’s symptoms resulted in her death 12 hours after discharge from the hospital. Only 20 years old, the patient left a minor son who was without other means of support. A pulmonary medicine expert explained to the court the absolute necessity for physicians to entertain all reasonably possible causes of a person’s symptoms. In this case, the doctors went through four diagnoses–none of them the diagnosis of pulmonary embolism–before discharging the young lady from their care. When the clot broke loose 12 hours later, it went straight to her lungs and caused her death. Even though a Medical Review Panel required by state statutes found that the doctors were negligent, the case was only resolved after the court, too, found the physicians at fault and awarded compensatory damages.

The minor son of a young mother who died right after child birth of septic shock prevailed in litigation with the Charity Hospital system of the State of Louisiana. A teaching institution, the Charity Hospital where the woman was admitted to give birth was staffed primarily by residents who failed to detect the critical nature of the septic bacteria which was assaulting this young woman’s body. The clear necessity for a second intravenous line to provide fluids and medicines was overlooked by the doctors. The internal medicine doctor who was supposed to be on call was in New Orleans and unable to attend to the patient. By the time a second intravenous line was placed, this patient’s condition had deteriorated to the point where she died.

A lumberjack turned away from a hospital emergency room after a limb struck his leg behind his knee lost his leg because of the misdiagnosis of a vascular injury which would have been easily treatable if detected. The case was successfully concluded for a confidential sum.

A bosen’s mate operating a thinner recovery unit on an offshore oil and gas semi-submersible drilling rig suffered painful burns when the thinner recovery unit burst open and splashed him with the hot chemical. A thorough review of the maintenance records from the thinner recovery unit showed that this very problem had occurred only a month before but that no one had communicated the fact of the previous occurrence to the mate or anyone else on the rig. We were able to prove that the latches that were supposed to secure the lid of the thinner recovery unit could easily dislodge under high pressure and cause the contents and steam to shoot out from the rim.

A mate trying to secure a line to a derrick barge to hold it in rough seas sustained traumatic aggravation of a fatty lymphoma, tethering his spinal cord, necessitating spinal surgery. It took the testimony of the chief of neurosurgery at a leading educational institution to make the crucial diagnosis of injury. The mate attained full compensation in the face of defense doctors who claimed the mate was not injured.

A deckhand on a sulphur barge ruptured a disc in his low back while lifting a transfer hose. Lifting cases are particularly difficult because they require proof in a scientific context of the degree of force placed on the human back by a particular weight and lifting technique. One of the leading professors in human biomechanics assisted Kopfler & Hermann in presenting evidence that showed conclusively that the sulphur hose was too heavy for a deckhand to lift without a jib crane or other lifting device. The case resolved successfully before trial.