The plaintiff, age twenty-two, was shot in the head with an air pellet gun in September 2007. She was driven in a private vehicle to an emergency room.

When the plaintiff arrived there were no beds available, so the triage nurse placed the plaintiff, who was awake and alert, in a chair so a nurse could monitor her.

A skull x-ray was ordered about thirty-five minutes later. The x-ray was taken about an hour after her arrival, at that time the technician noted that the plaintiff looked lethargic.

Within fifteen minutes the technician brought the x-ray to the emergency room and stated that she had a bullet in her brain. The emergency room physician then ordered calls to be made to nearby hospitals for a transfer to a hospital with a neurosurgeon.

The plaintiff was then placed in a bed. She was in a stupor at that time. The physician also noted that the plaintiff had a seven millimeter puncture wound near the right temple with swelling above the right eye.

A CT scan was ordered but could not be performed because the CT scan technician was not at the hospital.

At almost two hours after the plaintiff’s arrival Succinyl Chloride, IV Ativan and Mannitol were administered and the plaintiff was intubated and placed on a ventilator.

The CT scan technician was called to come to the hospital and the CT scan was completed about three and one-half hours after the plaintiff’s arrival.

An air ambulance was called with the CT scan was being performed and the plaintiff left about fifty minutes after the CT scan’s completion.

Upon arrival at the receiving hospital the plaintiff was noted to have a fixed and dilated pupil in the right eye. The right pupil was three millimeters and the left pupil was pinpoint.

She was sent for a CT scan and then underwent an exam by a neurosurgeon. Surgery was begun in less than two hours after her arrival.

The plaintiff was found to have a bleeding cortical blood vessel at the site of the entry wound and severe brain swelling which had caused a mid-brain herniation. The bleeding was topped and part of the skull was removed to relieve pressure.

The plaintiff did not wake up after surgery and has remained in a vegetative state since. She has been removed from a ventilator and breathes on her on, but is expected to be in a vegetative state for the remainder of her life and requires a gastrostomy tube for feeding.

The plaintiff claimed that the defendants failed to properly assess her condition, maintaining that she had actually arrived about an hour before she was triaged.

The plaintiff claimed that she should have been assessed as emergent due to the possibility of a penetrating rain injury. The plaintiff also faulted delays regarding the x-ray, calling other hospitals for a transfer, and the CT scan.

The plaintiff maintained that the delay in treatment allowed the bleeding to continue and cause pressure on the brain, leading to damage to deeper structures in the middle of the brain. While the plaintiff acknowledged that earlier treatment might have still prevented future employment, it was argued that she would have been able to live independently.

The defendants claimed that the initial injury caused core damage that the plaintiff contended and that the plaintiff would have had the same outcome even if surgery had been performed two and one-half hours earlier.

The defendants also contended that the initial classification was proper, as gunshot victims general do not walk into the emergency room. The hospital also contended that all actions were timely performed.

According to a published account a $12,017,970 verdict was returned.

With permission from Medical Malpractice Verdicts, Settlements & Experts; Lewis Laska, Editor, 901 Church St., Nashville, TN 37203-3411, 1-800-298-6288.