A Florida man has been awarded a $2.8 million medical malpractice verdict as a result of an alleged surgical error in which a colon perforation led to renal failure, heart damage, and dementia. Learn more about the case in our blog.
Surgical Error
The now 73-year-old man went to the emergency room in May 2012 after experiencing severe abdominal pain. The surgery in the emergency room determined that the man would need gallbladder surgery, and scheduled a laproscopic gallbladder surgery for the following day.
In his lawsuit, the man alleged that the surgeon perforated his colon during the surgery but failed to realize it. He also alleged that despite the fact that he showed symptoms of bowel perforation for the next three days, it was not properly diagnosed until the end of this time frame.
On the third day after the surgery, the man went into septic shock. A second surgeon discovered the colon perforation and performed an emergency surgery, during which he removed "almost two liters of feces and blood from the abdomen, removed a large segment of the colon and created an ileostomy," according to the platinffs’ lawyers.
As a result of the colon perforation, the man required a number of hospitalizations and inpatient rehab stays over the next 6 months for dialysis. "He suffered respiratory failure and required a tracheotomy, and spent months on a ventilator," according to medicalmalpracticelawyers.com. "He also required a pacemaker to be inserted, had to have liver abscesses drained, and required multiple revision surgeries for his ileostomy." In addition, he will have to pass feces into a bag for the rest of his life.
The trial jury held the "defendant hospital liable for the alleged negligence of the surgeon and nursing staff." They awarded the plaintiff $2.8 million, and other defendants had previously settled for $450,000.