In McGlinchey v. Tran, a Camden County jury on April 24 awarded a $1.75 million verdict to a Runnemede man who was injured in a car accident in early 2015.

Plaintiff Brian McGlinchey, now 47, was driving a gray 2014 Acura ILX along West Clements Bridge Road in Runnemede when he was struck by defendant Thu H. Tran, a pharmacist from Mullica Hill, on Jan. 7, 2015, according to police reports. Tran, now 59, was operating a white 2012 Nissan Sentra on Highland Avenue, and according to police, struck McGlinchey's vehicle at approximately 2:28 p.m., after bypassing a stop sign at the intersection of West Clements Bridge Road and Highland Avenue.

Police reports noted that Tran disregarded the stop sign, leading to the collision with McGlinchey.

Prior to trial, Tran offered $18,000 to settle the case, according to court documents.,

According to the plaintiff's attorney, Lee D. Rosenfeld of the Cherry Hill office of Messa & Associates, Tran stipulated to liability at trial.

John Dingle, of the Law Offices of Pamela D. Hargrove in Moorestown, represented Tran. Dingle did not return a call for comment.

Rosenfeld said his client exercised what's known as a limitation-on-lawsuit option, a “verbal threshold” where a plaintiff must prove a permanent injury in order to make a recovery.

“My client successfully did that,” Rosenfeld said in a phone interview. “The jury determined that McGlinchey's injuries were permanent and caused by the accident.”

Among the injuries McGlinchey sustained was a permanent lumbar disc injury with nerve compression. He required no surgery but underwent several months of physical therapy, medication, two epidural injections and pain management treatment, according to Rosenfeld.

After a two-year hiatus, he said McGlinchey resumed treatment for his disc injury and pain in November 2018.

McGlinchney, an emergency room technician, missed two months of work after the 2015 accident, but returned to work despite experiencing ongoing pain, Rosenfeld said.

“The jury awarded damages to compensate him for the pain and suffering that he will continue to endure for the remainder of his life,” Rosenfeld said.

 — Suzette Parmley 

$600K in Morris Med Mal Case

Pajewski v. Bissinger: A $600,000 settlement was paid on March 7 in a Morris County medical malpractice suit claiming that two obstetricians failed to treat fetal distress, resulting in a stillbirth.

According to an attorney in the case and electronic court documents, plaintiff Gabrielle Pajewski was treated by the doctors beginning in late 2014.

Pajewski ultimately miscarried and experienced a stillbirth on Feb. 23, 2015, according to the complaint, filed on Dec. 14, 2015. The suit named as defendants doctors Craig L. Bissinger and Malua Tambi.

The pregnancy was Pajewski's third, and she was 34 at the time, according to her lawyer, Steven Loewenthal of Nusbaum Stein Goldstein Bronstein & Kron in Succasunna.

Pajewski claimed the doctors negligently failed to refer Pajewski to a specialist for treatment of fetal anemia, evidenced by antibodies in the maternal bloodstream, Loewenthal said. She also claimed a similar but less serous condition experienced during her prior pregnancy should have led the doctors to make a referral to a specialist, according to Loewenthal.

The defendants in court filings denied negligence and contended that the action was time-barred.

Pajewski claimed that the fetus had an 80% chance of survival if treated with transfusions, but the defendants contended that the fetus had only a 20% chance of survival even if transfusions were performed, according to Loewenthal.

Pajewski claimed the experience caused psychological and emotional harm, leading to a 10-day inpatient psychiatric hospitalization, as well as treatment with psychotherapy and medication for a year and a half, Loewenthal said, noting that Pajewski's husband joined as a plaintiff but didn't undergo treatment.

The suit claimed emotional distress resulting from miscarriage under the New Jersey Supreme Court's 1988 decision in Giardina v. Bennett.

The parties settled on Feb. 22 via an order signed by Superior Court Judge W. Hunt Dumont.

The settlement, for $600,000, was paid March 7, Loewenthal said.

Counsel to Bissinger, Lauren O'Neill of MacNeill, O'Neill & Riveles in Cedar Grove, declined to comment.

Counsel to Tambi, Sam Rosenberg of Rosenberg Jacobs Heller & Fleming in Morris Plains, also declined to comment.

— David Gialanella