Henry, age 45, sustained a slight hearing loss (initially 25db, after 6 months now 15db) with permanent tinnitus (ringing in the ears). Tinnitus can be extremely debilitating and can lead to settlements well into six figures. Henry was sitting in his backyard when a neighbor shot a bottle rocket into his backyard and it exploded only a few feet from his head. He sustained no injuries other than the hearing loss and the tinnitus. He did not need a hearing aid, but he does need a radio to sleep at night to overcome the ringing in his ears. Henry's arbitration award was $95,000 for permanent ringing in the ear. A particularly effective way to obtain a large and fair award is to ask the arbitrators, judge or members of the jury to put themselves in the shoes of the injured victim. By getting the arbitrators to put their little finger in their ear and asking them what that disturbance in hearing is worth, an excellent result was assured.

Ron, a 67 year old man purchased a Bostitch nail gun to build and install cabinets in his home. Shortly after using the nail gun for this project (he would often put his head inside the cabinets when he was constructing them) he permanently lost hearing in one ear. He has been to 2 ear specialists who confirmed that his hearing loss is due to using the nail gun without wearing ear protection. There is no warning about potential hearing loss and no suggestion about wearing ear protection on the product's box. In the manual there is some small print that says that ear protection should be worn when using the product--client never saw this warning before the injury occurred. What do you think? Should Ron be able to recovery damages against Bostitch for failure to warn?

Prior to February 19th, 2008, Jim was a healthy and athletic 36 year-old. He married his wife, Debra nine years early and they have two young children. Jim is a very successful business man. He had just gotten off a plane at Philadelphia International Airport, returning from a business trip to Phoenix, AZ. It was just after 7:00 p.m. when Jim pulled up to a toll booth on his way home to his family. After he stopped, his vehicle was struck in the rear by a car driven by a drunk driver.

The force of the collision knocked Jim unconscious, causing multiple contusions, bruising on the back of his head and leaving his chest swollen from the seatbelt restraint. Upon regaining consciousness, Jim was extremely dazed, his head hurt, and his hand was numb. The vision in his right eye was blurry, or "opaque". His shoulders and neck were very sore.

There was substantial traffic approaching his vehicle. Jim exited his vehicle and asked the other driver to get out of traffic and into his car. She appeared dazed and got back into her vehicle and indicated she could not find her keys, which were in the ignition. Jim pulled his vehicle out of the road and again went to her vehicle and asked her to get herself out of traffic to the relative safety of his vehicle. She accepted and Jim helped her to his vehicle and out of harm's way.

Trooper Smith approached this driver and began a roadside sobriety test on her. She presumably failed because he put handcuffs on her and placed her in his patrol car. Jim has limited recollection of the rest of the evening.

Upon waking up for work the next morning, Jim had the following physical issues:

Jim worked that day but does not have much recollection of the day's events.

Jim woke up the next day and told his wife that he had scheduled a doctor's appointment. He went to the doctor's office and waited for it to open. He called his wife, confused that the office was not open. In reality, they were closed on Saturdays and he had not made an appointment. Debra asked him to go to the emergency room.

Jim drove to Mercy Hospital and gave a history of events. Jim consulted with an ophthalmologist/neurologist, Dr. Koates. They completed an EKG, CAT scan, and MRI. Jim was diagnosed with Cervical Strain, Contusion, and Post Concussive Syndrome. He was prescribed Carisoprodol and Gabapentin.

Jim was discharged that afternoon and instructed to follow up with Dr. Koates. Dr. Koates has seen Jim weekly since that time. Over the course of his visits at the emergency room, with Dr. Koates and with an optometrist, Dr. Lesak, he has been diagnosed with:

Jim has had no improvement in the following areas:

Since the crash and continuing until this moment, his right eye is not usable in any capacity and he continues to have neurological issues.

Jim's condition can be replicated by putting on swimming goggles, with the right side being opaque, and shining a flashlight toward one's face. With the hand out-stretched, the subject would be able to see the shadow of his hand, but would not be able to clearly identify the shadow as a hand. For Jim it is like someone has injected his eye with milk. He has no perception of distance, no periphery sensations, and no relative useful information. His vision is blurry because it is opaque, not because it is out of focus.

Jim has worked for Dargan Financial Corporation for almost nine years, moving up from Director of Technology to Director of Operating Companies. Jim is currently Interim CEO for one of the Dargan Financial portfolio companies.

Last year he closed the largest transaction in the company's 35 year history: the sale of one of their portfolio companies. It took two years to prepare and sell the company. He has now been given two more companies to manage.

Jim's compensation for 2007 was close to $500,000.00, not including deferred compensation, which could be as much as $200,000.00 per annum. At 36 years old, he is at the peak of his earning potential. He had never before had to cancel a business trip for lack of physical ability. Because of his current condition, he has had to cancel several business related trips and activities.

Jim suffers from throbbing headaches when he works on his computer. After a couple of hours, he generally has to take medicine and rest. He spends a substantial amount of time looking at financial information in spread-sheets, which also causes pain. By the end of the day, he is physically and emotionally exhausted.

Dargan is a very good company and Jim believes they will give him some latitude; in the short term. In the long term, he is not sure what will happen. He is certain that in his present situation, he will not be able to maintain his current level of responsibility.

In summary, Jim has the following work-related issues associated with this automobile crash:

1. Has had to relinquish control of one of his companies - Will most certainly cost him substantial performance bonuses - 50% of his total compensation is reliant on these bonuses. Fifty percent of his compensation for the next 20 years would be well into the millions of dollars.

2. If Jim were to leave Dargan, he would not be able to perform at the level required for a person in his position. This is a substantial risk for my client.

On March 25, 2008, Jim had a Visual Evoked Perception test to determine his vision potential, in terms of light transmission. The technician (who administered the test) and Dr. Koates indicated that the left eye appeared totally normal; however, the right eye appeared to have issues regarding transmission of signals through the optic nerve.

The test showed that there is limited/no information being transmitted by the optic nerve. Dr. Koates indicated, at that time, that Jim has limited to no visual perception in his right eye, as indicated by the test. Dr. Koates made it very clear that he was not optimistic that Jim will ever regain useful vision in his right eye.

Dr. Koates administered a second Visually Evoked Potential test. Jim had a follow-up appointment with Dr. Koates on April 18 to discuss the results, which were not good. The right eye is only partially able to transmit signals back through the optic nerve and those signals are delayed.

The doctor believes that Jim's vision and all his symptoms are consistent with Traumatic Optic Neuropathy. Additionally, Jim has another large black spot developing in his vision in the right corner of his right eye. This was a major concern to Dr. Koates. He feels that Jim has less than a 5% chance of regaining any useful vision in his eye. He attributed the 5% to "miracles that happen". Jim is understandably distraught by this prognosis. Dr. Koates was clear that, based on the testing and his examinations, none of Jim's vision problems can be attributed to any pre-existing condition.

Jim is not only coping with adjustment to vision loss, he is also experiencing the effects of Traumatic Brain Injury. TBI can have significant psycho-social effects, including mood swings, rage, personality changes, as well as neuro-motor effects.

Jim has had several people tell him recently that they have noticed that his right eye no longer looks at them in conversation. They have said that his left eye looks normal and his right eye stares off to the right. This is depressing for Jim. He had hoped that, at a minimum, the bad eye would continue to track with the good eye.

Beginning in mid-March, Jim noticed that his right pupil was huge while the left pupil appears normal. The blue in the right eye is barely visible. The pupil grows larger and smaller, consistent with Afferent Pupillary Defect. He hates the disgusted look that people give him when they find out that he has lost his vision. It is clear that they treat him different once they are aware of this.

Jim will explore other diagnostic avenues in order to determine exactly where the problem with his vision resides. Dr. Koates believes it is a nerve issue between the back of his eyeball and the optic center. Dr. Koates will continue to see Jim once a month.

Jim is very frustrated by his inability to be more proactive in getting his old life back. He feels fortunate that he was not hurt worse. He is trying to remain positive. It has been seven weeks since the crash and he has had to slow significantly from the life he is accustomed to. He is concerned that adaptation to his injuries will require a complete change of life that is far less productive than he is used to. He is working hard to adapt.

The following is a partial list of the activities that Jim is no longer able to participate in:

Recreational:

Home:

Jim has indicated that playing with his children, hunting, fishing, exercise or other activities are no longer a part of his daily routine. Jim finds it emotionally distressing that he struggles to catch a ball, or hit one with a hockey-stick. After a day at work, he is no longer able to come home and play with the kids or have any meaningful conversation with his wife. By the time he gets home, he is exhausted. Jim spends most evenings resting. Generally, Jim has to travel a few days a week and it is now exhausting for him. On the weekends, Jim spends most of his days sleeping and finds it hard to wake up. Jim's doctors have indicated that his fatigue issues should improve; however, after seven weeks, it remains the same. His children and wife are paying a price for a drunk driver's choices.

AIR BAGS SAVE LIVES, BUT AT WHAT COST?

Air bags save lives. They can also destroy hearing. The explosion of an airbag can be a deafening roar producing tremendous ear pain, loud ringing and bleeding from the ear canals. Airbags are associated with an inherent risk of a high-amplitude, short-duration noise from deployment. The peak amplitude of this noise may exceed 170 dB sound pressure level.

A high percentage of people involved in car accidents in which the air bag deploys may suffer from ringing in the ears, punctured ear drums, significant dysequilibrium and/or hearing loss. The nerve hearing loss is likely caused either by the acoustic trauma of an airbag deployment or by the contact of the patient's face or ear with an airbag.

A doctor can easily determine if the eardrums have been ruptured. They may heal in 2-3 weeks, but possibly with scar tissue that can affect the ability to hear low sounds. The ringing could be permanent. Inner ear damage can affect high-frequency hearing.

Many people have experienced tinnitus (ringing in the ears) and/or hearing loss when air bags deploy. The results of researcher Richard Price's studies indicate that 17% of the people exposed to deployed air bags experience permanent hearing loss. His data also shows that airbag deployment is more damaging to our ears when we have the windows rolled down. This seems surprising, but it can be explained.

The higher pressure generated in the closed cabin prevents greater damage to the ear. The pressure causes a displacement in the middle ear that stiffens a small bone outside the inner ear. This limits the transmission of energy to the inner ear, where hearing damage takes place. In airbag experiments where the cabin is completely sealed and pressure is even higher, hearing damage is reduced even further. Price's study only included cars sold in the United States. American cars have larger, more powerful airbags than cars sold in Europe. Cars with smaller airbags would likely pose less auditory danger.

An air bag going off causes just as much damage to your ears whether you are going 15 miles an hour or 80 miles an hour. So drive carefully, regardless of your speed.