Personal injury settlements can pay out more than you might think. Let’s take a look at some of the largest settlements of all time.
What Types of Accidents Do Personal Injury Attorneys Cover?
If you’re injured in an accident that isn’t your fault, you can receive financial compensation to cover the cost of things like medical bills, lost earnings, and the pain and suffering you experience.
The first step is to get advice from personal injury attorneys who have a wealth of experience in a range of personal injury accidents.
The types of accidents that the attorneys cover include car accidents, slip and fall accidents, work accident claims, dog bites, defective products, medical malpractice, and more.
So, whatever type of accident you experience, if it is due to another’s negligence or recklessness, a personal injury lawyer can help you to gain the compensation you deserve.
Maybe, just maybe, you could even be awarded as much as the following six biggest personal injury settlements in history.
The Sixth-biggest Personal Injury Claim Ever
In 2016, a jury in Kansas City awarded a cancer patient $2.2 billion after a pharmacist admitted watering down the chemotherapy drugs that the patient and other patients were given.
Incredibly, the pharmacist did it in order to increase profits.
The Fifth-biggest Personal Injury Claim Ever
You may remember this settlement. After it was discovered that the healthcare giant Johnson & Johnson had been selling talcum powder laden with asbestos for decades, twenty-two women with ovarian cancer who had used the product filed the lawsuit against Johnson & Johnson.
In 2018, the jury found the women’s cancer had been caused by the talc-based products. The women were awarded $4.69 billion; the fifth-biggest personal injury claim in history.
The Fourth-biggest Personal Injury Claim Ever
A family was awarded $4.9 billion by a jury in Los Angeles in 1999 after filing a lawsuit against General Motors.
The case involved a defective GM van exploding in an automobile collision, which resulted in six passengers suffering permanent disfiguring injuries.
The Third-biggest Personal Injury Claim Ever
In 2002, a Los Angeles jury awarded lifelong tobacco smoker Betsy Bullock $28 billion. Her lawsuit was filed against the tobacco company R.J. Reynolds after she was diagnosed with lung cancer.
The second-largest personal injury claim in history also concerns holding tobacco companies responsible for lying about the harmful effects of smoking cigarettes and cigars.
The Second-biggest Personal Injury Claim Ever
A class of consumers who were harmed by the effects of smoking tobacco claimed their injuries were caused because the cigarette companies lied about the dangers of smoking. In 2000, those consumers were awarded a whopping $144.8 billion by a jury in Florida.
The jury determined tobacco giants like Philip Morris, R.J. Reynolds, and others had committed conspiracy and fraud, but the settlement was given in regards to the companies’ reckless disregard for the safety of its consumers.
The Biggest Personal Injury Claim Ever
In 2011, the family of a young man who died twelve years after being sexually assaulted and set on fire by a teenager when he was just eight years old received the biggest personal injury settlement in history.
After the accident, the man was left with irreversible physical and psychological damage. His body was 99 percent covered in burns. He eventually lost his life to skin cancer, which was linked to the burn injuries.
The person responsible for the injuries was ordered by the court to pay the victim’s family a staggering $150 billion.
