In September, 2010 Steve Gables, then age 45, sought treatment with Dr. Robert Burkich the owner of Preventative Medicine Anti-Aging & Chelation Inc. with complaints of low libido and fatigue. Blood tests performed showed low testosterone and Mr. Gables was prescribed testosterone replacement along with the drug Tamoxifen.
Tamoxifen was prescribed since the testosterone treatment would raise Mr. Gables’ estrogen levels and those levels needed to be in check for the therapy to be successful, and Tamoxifen could block the estrogen levels. Tamoxifen is most commonly known as the drug of choice prescribed to women who have had breast cancer.
Tamoxifen, however, can cause blood clots. Later, in 2012 in the month of January, Mr. Gables found himself in the hospital for a blood clot in one of his legs that had broken off and travelled to his lungs. As a result, Mr. Gables remained in the hospital for six (6) days and was then on bed rest for two (2) months.
When the case went to trial the Plaintiff blamed the Tamoxifen for his injuries where the defense blamed the Plaintiff’s weight at 320 pounds for a 5 foot 8 inch tall man. At trial, Gables claimed $ 26,000.00 in past medical expenses and asked for $ 2,000 a year for the rest of his life for future medical expenses. He also claimed that the injury caused him to lose his work as a repair man who worked on heating and air conditioning units and that he had to take a lower paying job as a janitor at a bank as a result.
The Defendant Dr. Burkich had a felony conviction but the jury did not hear this evidence since the felony was over 10 years old. This may or may not have made a difference in the jury’s verdict as the jury thought of Dr. Burkich as such a poor doctor regardless of any criminal conviction. In Georgia, in order to impeach a witness for a felony conviction, the felony has to be less than 10 years old which was not the case in this situation.
While the jury was deliberating, the attorneys negotiated a high-low agreement of $ 250,000.00 to $ 600,000.00 which means that the Plaintiff, regardless of what verdict the jury returned, would receive at the least $ 250,000.00 and at the most $ 600,000.00. Policy limits were $ 1 Million Dollars. Sometimes these high-low agreements work in the Plaintiff’s favor, and sometimes they don’t, and it all depends on the actual verdict that the Jury returns in the case.
In this case, the Jury, after a trial that continued for a week, returned a verdict of $ 40,000.00 for the Plaintiff. Due to the high-low agreement, however, the Plaintiff received a $ 250,000.00 settlement. The Plaintiff was disappointed not to receive more, but did understand that $ 250,000.00 is a much greater result than $ 40,000.00.
Even better news is that the Plaintiff is now down to 275 pounds and that much of his weight loss is due to his new job which requires a great deal of walking everyday.
If you or a loved one has been injured due to the negligence of another whether it be a doctor, anyone else in the medical profession, hospital, another individual in a motor vehicle accident, or injury on the job, then please Contact Us for your free legal consultation.
You deserve to be adequately compensated in these situations.