A plaintiff suing a surgeon over a botched 2009 surgery has been awarded a payout of $1 million. An orthopedic surgery gone wrong resulted in permanent nerve damage for an 82-year-old woman, New Jersey residents will be saddened to hear. Thankfully, however, the jury ruled in her favor in the medical malpractice case.
The seven-day trial saw the surgeon and the sports medicine center he represents put on the stand to defend an error the surgeon admitted to committing. During the course of the woman’s surgery, which was intended to treat her carpal tunnel syndrome, the surgeon admitted to cutting the patient’s median nerve. His contestation that such an error was simply a complication of the surgery did not stand up in court.
The plaintiff’s representation argued that she had to undergo a second nerve reconstruction surgery to attempt to repair the damage, an effort that was only partially successful. Family and friends contested that the damage had profoundly impacted the woman’s quality of life. The jury ruled in favor of the plaintiff, awarding her a total of $1,066,000 in damages.
Sometimes, even the slightest error in a surgery can cause irreparable damage with dire consequences for the victim of the oversight. While it is acknowledged that humans are imperfect and errors do occur, New Jersey residents may agree that justice demands compensation in medical malpractice cases like these. It is beneficial for anyone that believes they are suffering unforeseen complications from a medical procedure to seek a medical opinion immediately, and consider their options from there should a potential malpractice issue come to light.
