A New York man is filing an ignition switch defect lawsuit against General Motors stating that the severe injuries he experienced during a car accident were the result of an inherent flaw in his vehicle.

Plaintiff James B. has filed this ignition switch defect lawsuit because he believes that his car accident, injuries and subsequent medical problems are the result of an ignition switch defect in his Saturn vehicle.

In 2009, James was driving his 2007 Saturn Ion vehicle, according to this ignition switch defect lawsuit, along a road when he suddenly was unable to stop. His car was going approximately 35 miles per hour when he struck the back of another car.

The airbags in his GM car did not go off, according to James’ ignition switch defect lawsuit, and he hit nose “violently” on the steering wheel.

Because of this impact, James says, he suffered from temporary paralysis in all four limbs. He regained the use of his arms and legs, but when the paralysis ceased, extreme pain in his hands ensued.

James says he was taken to the hospital where doctors discovered that James had a herniated disk in his neck. They also determined that he needed emergency surgery to decompress his spinal cord.

Even after his emergency surgery, according to this ignition switch defect lawsuit, the pain in the plaintiffs hands remained. He spent six nights recovering in the hospital, and throughout his recovery, his hand pain continued. He claims that the pain in his hands was so severe that he would not allow any person to touch his hands including nurses and his wife.

This pain continued through that year, James alleges. He underwent physical therapy and acupuncture to attempt to relieve his symptoms. Unfortunately, he also began to experience shoulder pain.

James claims that this pain has persisted for 5 years and he remains in excruciating pain. The ignition switch defect lawsuit says that the Saturn’s “loss of vehicular control, sudden unintended shutdown, loss of power steering, loss of power brakes, and/or the non-deployment of airbags upon impact during the [car accident], among other failures, was caused by the Ignition Switch Defect.”

Additionally, the ignition switch defect lawsuit states that “the ignition switch defect caused Plaintiff to suffer significant injuries that could have been mitigated or avoided altogether if the Defective Ignition Switch in the [Saturn] had not failed.”

This Ignition Switch Defect Lawsuit is Case No. 1:17-cv-03262-JMF in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.