In October of 2019, a Maryland medical malpractice jury arrived at a verdict that favored the plaintiff, a man who suffered the loss of his right leg due to negligence on behalf of the orthopedic surgeon of the defendants hospital. The jury determined that after the plaintiff’s involvement in a single-car rollover accident the man required surgery and also lost his left leg.
The jury trial lasted ten days and resulted in an award of $6,285,549
Award breakdown:
Attendant care – $5 million
Prosthetic leg – $550,000
Durable medical equipment – $210,857
Case management – $165,000
Pain and suffering – $300,000
Case Details & Facts
On May 3, 2014, the plaintiff hit a road guardrail and proceeded to rollover three times. When emergency responders arrived at the scene, the victim was removed from the vehicle and transported in an ambulance from the crash scene to Prince George’s Hospital late that night at around 1:30am.
Upon being received by care providers at the hospital, multiple open fractures were identified in his lower left leg, closed fractures in his lower right leg, and also fractures in the left forearm. Additional medical exams revealed severe ruptures in arteries in his left leg. During the exams the victim was unconscious, but was resuscitated in the trauma unit of the hospital, he was transported to be operated on, with the primary objective of addressing the ruptured artery and bone fractures. During the surgery, the on-call orthopedic surgeon allegedly incorrectly performed a fasciotomy that later contributed to complications that ultimately resulted in the loss of the plaintiff’s right leg.
Primary Argument
The plaintiffs hospital accident lawsuit claimed that the defendant, the orthopedic surgeon breached duties of care standards by failing to release the compartments in the right leg of the victim and failing to monitor him for compartment syndrome, which ultimately contributed to loss of his right leg. The damages demanded in the plaintiffs claim were a result of being a lower extremity amputee.
Victims of such situations must rely on the assistance of skilled hospital accident lawyers Montgomery County, MD residents trust to develop a strategy for achieving the most desirable outcome after a tragic series of events such as this.
The Role of A Hospital Accident Lawyer
The hospital accident lawyers Montgomery County MD residents prefer, from Cohen & Cohen specialize in cases that involve pregnancy related complications such as this one. Unfortunately, when doctors make medical mistakes during the process of delivery, the consequences are particularly devastating.
In order to prove entitlement to compensation, victims must be able to prove four aspects of the health care professionals negligence. Firstly, it must be proved that the provider accepted you as a patient and that they were legally responsible to provide you with care services. Secondly, it must be proved that the care provider failed to meet standards of care that are medically acceptable. Third, it must be proved that the damages that were sustained are a direct result of the providers failure to meet medically acceptable standards of care. Lastly, you must prove that you experienced damage and the damage you experienced was the direct result of the failure to provide you with adequate service.
