Med Mal News

A Connecticut jury recently awarded a woman $12 million, the largest personal injury award ever to come out of the Danbury, CT, Judicial District. The plaintiff had gone into defendant Danbury Hospital for a routine outpatient hernia operation but ended up spending 34 days in the intensive care unit and 36 more days in the hospital after her laparoscopic surgery went wrong.

The plaintiff's troubles began when her surgeon, Dr. Gordon, handed over the bladeless optical trocar device being used in the procedure to a medical resident, who told Dr. Gordon that he had used one before. According to plaintiff attorney Sean McElligott, of Bridgeport, CT's Koskoff, Koskoff & Bieder, it soon became apparent that the resident did not know what he was doing. And although Dr. Gordon stepped in as soon as he saw that the resident was not competent to perform the procedure, he did not notice that damage had already been done. The surgeon therefore finished the operation and sent the patient to recovery. Thirty-six hours later, the plaintiff showed signs of infection, and an operation was required. It revealed that the woman's abdomen had filled with fecal matter.