Aviv Peretz, Ilana and Meir Peretz’s son suffered a serious dairy allergy after eating multiple bites of a cookie in June 2014 and was rushed to CentraState Medical Center. At the hospital, 17-year-old Aviv Peretz had a seizure and his heart stopped for 13 minutes, putting him in a vegetative state from which he would not recover. He died in 2017…law360, NJ Panel Won’t Question $467K Verdict In Brain Injury Suit, Cara Salvatore, 2020
Ilana and Meir Peretz sued CentraState Medical Center and medical staff and won a trial judgment of $467,000 in 2018. However, they appealed, noting particularly the fact that the defense was allowed to repeatedly bring up the fact that Aviv had an EpiPen and didn’t use it.
The appeals court contended that the early administration of epinephrine to an anaphylactic patient was the central issue in this case and the information that Aviv ingested a dairy product to which he was allergic and that he had not used his EpiPen in the thirty minutes prior to his arrival at the emergency department were crucial facts. The defendants were right in bringing it up.
The appeals court upheld the trial court judgement, including the dismissal of Meir Peretz’s emotional distress claim, saying that it was legally proper.