Thomas was driving northbound on the infamous 405 FWY in West Los Angeles when he was struck by defendant who was driving a Maserati Levante owned by a corporation. At first Thomas reported no pain and drove home.

Later that evening he reported to a local ER. Thomas then saw his chiropractor and endured two lumbar epidurals over the first 2.5 years following the accident. Then he got single level lumbar discectomy.

Plaintiff’s surgeon argued Thomas would need two additional surgeries. Defendant neurosurgeon said Thomas suffered no objective injuries, and all injuries should have resolved within 6 weeks.

Before trial defendant offered $610,000. Thomas demanded $1.999,999 million. During trial plaintiff demanded 5 then 15 million to settle. Plaintiff asked the jury for 18 million. Defendant recommended 33,250, then 357,522 to the jury.

The Verdict was $612,000.

LA Superior Court, Judge Frederick Shaller, 20 STCV 40710

September 15, 2023

PRO TIPS:

• You never know what a Jury will do. Both Defendant and Plaintiff misread the jury.

Some 500,000 Americans get back surgeries for lower back pain. 14% of the patients then need additional surgery.

The famous University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center reported recent research showing that chiropractic care could significantly reduce the rates of secondary surgeries.

Published in the BMC Musculoskeletal Disorder offers the value of spinal manipulation therapy [SMT] in the aftercare of lumbar discectomy.

Ongoing sciatica, still present after surgery, shows chiropractic therapy significantly reduce the need for more surgery.

Leveraging date from the US health records consortium, TRINetX, Inc. study explored health records spanning two decades. The data found a large number of patients average 61 years of age.

Patients showed a 45% less likelihood of needing additional lumbar procedure.

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