Dana Wonzer was 23 years old when her kidneys failed. She needed a catheter placed for dialysis, and during that surgery the surgeon tore a hole in one of the major vessles in her chest. Films showed the bleeding, but the surgeon failed to correct the problem. After more than 6 hours, Dana bled to death. The jury found the surgeon negligent, and awarded $1,100,000.00** in favor of Dana's surviving family.

** A contingent (%) fee charged on the successful recovery resulted in a fee of $440,000.00 and $77,000.00 in litigation expenses which were reimbursed by the client out of the gross settlement amount.