Collapsed bed claim $3.5 million

Elliott Special Risks LP advises of claims that are paid out in Canada. A court decision awarded a Mississauga woman with $3.5 million for her injury.

The plaintiff in this case is Diane Degennaro. Degennaro was attending the Oakville Trafalgar Memorial Hospital with her son, who was being treated for a fever. While there the bed she was sitting on collapsed. The collapse led to chronic pain. This pain will stay with her for life. The injury has rendered her incapable of working or enjoying activities with her family.

The accident occurred in May 1999, while Degennaro was visiting her son overnight. The attending nurse suggested that Degennaro use the bed in the room but failed to warn her that the end of the bed might buckle and collapse. The bed did collapse and Degennaro landed on the ground. Her injury was diagnosed as a cracked sacrum.

Degennaro saw several doctors, specialists and physiotherapists in order to relieve the ensuing chronic pain. Finally in 2003 she consulted with Dr. David Saul, a general practitioner specializing in chronic pain. Dr. Saul diagnosed her with fibromyalgia, a pain having wide distribution throughout the body and accompanied by other symptoms such as fatigue and sleep disorder. At this time there is no known cure for fibromyalgia.

The hospital's defense lawyers presented an argument that the plaintiff's fibromyalgia did not generate from the fall in 1999. They declared that her motor vehicle accident in 2002 worsened the symptoms.

The final judgment offered by Ontario Supreme Court Judge Gray. He stated that the medical testimony provided by several physicians and specialists who had treated Degennaro since 1999 made it clear that the fibromyalgia started well before the vehicle accident in 2002.

The plaintiff was awarded approximately $3.5 million in loss of income damages, as well as damages paid to her husband and two boys for loss of guidance, care and companionship.

You can read this verdict by clicking here.

hospitalroom.jpg