A Long Beach woman has won $21.3 million in a negligence lawsuit alleging she was left with a traumatic brain injury and chronic pain when her van was hit from behind by a big-rig truck in the California Heights neighborhood.

In her lawsuit, Leila Miyamoto, 43, said she had been fully stopped for at least a minute, waiting to make a left turn near Wardlow Road and Elm Avenue, when an 18-wheeler slammed into her minivan from behind. The 2016 wreck left her needing “numerous neck and back surgeries,” according to her attorneys.

After the crash, she and her 9-year-old son — who was in the van with her — filed a negligence lawsuit against Services Group of America, Inc., Food Services of America, Inc., driver Daniel Almazan, and Systems Services of America, Inc.

Defense attorneys maintained that Miyamoto made a sudden stop and did not use a turn signal, but on Monday, jurors found in her and her son’s favor. The panel concluded that Almazan acted negligently when his truck hit the van.

“The loaded truck weighing 37,000 pounds smashed into the rear of Leila Miyamoto’s van, totaling it and shattering the rear window,” her attorneys wrote in court filings.

The crash caused her head to hit the steering wheel and left her son fearing that his mother was dead, her attorneys wrote.

Miyamoto still has no recollection of the day of the collision or the days immediately before and after the crash, according to her lawyers.

Her attorneys described Miyamoto as a pillar of her family before the collision, organizing her family’s activities and home-schooling her children.

“Her injuries and limitations since the time of the collision have put significant strain on her marital relationship and have hindered her ability to care for her children in the way she did before the crash and her quest to get the medical care that she needs in order to restore as much of her pre-collision functionality as possible has been long and arduous,” they wrote in court papers.

One of Miyamoto’s attorneys, Nick Rowley, said the defense rejected a settlement offer of $6.9 million about seven years ago. They contended that Miyamoto had overstated the extent of her injuries.

“The jury saw through their attempts to distort the truth and delivered a powerful verdict for Leila, who has endured years of pain and hardship,” Rowley said in a statement.

City News Service, Long Beach Post editor Jeremiah Dobruck, and staff writer Jacob Sisneros contributed to this report.

A man who suffered unnecessary penis injections has been awarded the biggest ever medical malpractice payout of $412 million.

Jurors had found that fraudulent and negligent conduct by defendants NuMale Medical Center, a men’s heath clinic operating in several states, resulted in irreversible damage to the plaintiff.

The man, now in his 70s, had sought treatment for fatigue and weight loss, but the clinic misdiagnosed him and unnecessarily treated him with “invasive erectile dysfunction,” shots, said attorneys who celebrated Monday’s verdict.

The lawyers said they are hopeful the giant payout will prevent other men from falling victim to a scheme that involved fraud and what they described as dangerous penile injections. They added that the punitive and compensatory damages total the largest amount to ever be awarded by a jury in a medical malpractice case in the U.S.

“It’s a national record-setting case and it’s righteous because I don’t think there’s any place for licensed professionals to be defrauding patients for money. That is a very egregious breach of their fiduciary duty,” said Lori Bencoe, one of the lawyers who represented the plaintiff.

“That’s breach of trust and anytime someone is wearing a white coat, they shouldn’t be allowed to do that.”

Newsweek has reached out to Bencoe Law via email for comment.

NuMale has clinics in Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Nevada, Nebraska, North Carolina, and Wisconsin. Newsweek has reached out to NuMale medical via email for comment.

The giant award follows a trial held in Albuquerque earlier this month which focused on allegations first outlined in a 2020 lawsuit.

Nick Rowley, one of the attorney’s on the plaintiff’s team said that the medical corporation set up a “fraudulent scheme to make millions off of conning old men.”

The plaintiff in this case was 66 when he visited the clinic in 2017.

Rowley said on social media that clinic workers had told patients they would have irreversible damage if they did not agree to injections three times per week.

Newsweek has reached out to The Rowley Law Firm for comment.

On their website, NuMale advertises multiple treatments for erectile dysfunction, including Trimix injections. Their website states that the injections are “typically compounded in specialized pharmacies, which means they are mixed according to a doctor’s prescription tailored to the needs of the patient

The medication is administered with an injection, where the patient uses a fine needle to inject the medication directly into the base or side of the penis.”

NuMale Medical Center President Brad Palubicki said in a statement sent Wednesday to The Associated Press that the company’s focus is on continuing to deliver responsible patient care while maintaining strict safety and compliance standards at all of its facilities.

“While we respect the judicial process, due to ongoing legal proceedings, we cannot comment on specific details of the case at this time,” he said.

This article includes reporting from The Associated Press.

The lawyers said their client went through multiple rounds of medication and procedures, and he underwent surgery by an unqualified physician assistant.

In a statement, the attorneys said this unprecedented verdict sends a powerful message that “medical providers cannot prioritize profits over patients’ well-being without being held accountable.”

NuMale Medical Center told KRQE News 13 that they “disagree with the verdict and intent to pursue all available legal remedies, including appeal.”

“While we respect the judicial process, due to ongoing legal proceedings, we cannot comment on specific details of the case at this time,” he said.

NuMale also has clinics in Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Nevada, Nebraska, North Carolina and Wisconsin.

According to court records, jurors found that fraudulent and negligent conduct by the defendants resulted in damages to the plaintiff. They also found that unconscionable conduct by the defendants violated the Unfair Practices Act.

A man in New Mexico has been awarded the biggest medical payout in history after doctors ‘irreversibly’ damaged his penis.

The patient, who has not been named, was conned into having unnecessary injections into his genitals by a clinic that preyed on elderly men.

He can no longer get an erection and must sit down to urinate because his penis has become enveloped in thick scar tissue.
The victim, who was 66 at the time, had visited NuMale Medical Center in Albuquerque in 2017 seeking treatment for fatigue and weight loss.

According to a lawsuit filed in 2020, the man was coaxed into getting ‘invasive erectile dysfunction shots’ to his penis multiple times per week.

The lawsuit claims the injections caused permanent damage to the man’s penis.

Lawyers representing the plaintiff said: ‘His impotence is permanent and the damage is completely irreversible.’

This week, after a four-year legal battle, the now 72-year-old was awarded $412million in damages, the largest medical malpractice payout from a jury in US history.

The second biggest was in 2006, when former basketball player Allan Navarro was awarded $216.7million after doctors in Florida misdiagnosed his stroke as a headache, leaving him with brain damage.

Lori Bencoe, one of the lawyers who represented the plaintiff, said: ‘It’s a national record-setting case and it’s righteous because I don’t think there’s any place for licensed professionals to be defrauding patients for money. That is a very egregious breach of their fiduciary duty.

Nick Rowley, another attorney representing the man, said on Instagram that the man was sent home with a ‘dangerous chemical’ injected into his penis and was not given an antidote.

It’s unclear which chemicals were used in the injections.

The award follows a trial that took place last month based on the lawsuit filed on behalf of the man in 2020. NuMale did not admit wrongdoing and did not comment on the findings.

Mr Rowley said patients were told that they had to have at least three shots per week or they would suffer irreversible harm.

Brad Palubicki, NuMale Medical Center President, told the Associated Press that the company’s focus is on continuing to deliver responsible patient care while maintaining strict safety and compliance standards at all of its facilities.

He said: ‘While we respect the judicial process, due to ongoing legal proceedings, we cannot comment on specific details of the case at this time.’

NuMale also has clinics in Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Nevada, Nebraska, North Carolina and Wisconsin.

Its Albuquerque clinic specializes in erectile dysfunction and testosterone replacement, as well as weight loss and hair replacement, according to the website.

The company was launched in 2013 and claims to treat over 100,000 patients.

The Albuquerque clinic has an average of 4.4 stars out of 54 Google reviews.

Erectile dysfunction injections are meant to relax muscles in the penis and open up blood vessels, leading to increased blood flow and erections. They typically work within five to 15 minutes.