A 58 year old man in Connecticut was awarded $4.2 million by a Superior Court jury for an injury that he claims was caused by a surgery that was the result of his doctor’s misdiagnosis. Learn more about this medical malpractice case below.

Connecticut Man Receives $4.2 Million in Medical Malpractice Case

In 2008, Gregory Leigh lost use of his left shoulder following surgery in which his doctor, Dr. Daniel Schwartz, damaged Leigh’s spinal accessory nerve. Along with Dr. Schwartz, MidState Medical Group was also named as a co-defendant in this case which was filed by the law firm Koskoff, Koskoff & Bieder on behalf of Leigh.

Leigh went to see Schwartz with concerns over what he thought was a swollen lymph node. After examining him, Dr. Schwartz recommended surgery to remove it. According to one of Leigh’s attorneys, Emily Rock, a simple test could have revealed the true cause of Leigh’s issue: a mild case of Bartonellosis bacterial infection, commonly called "cat scratch disease."

During the unnecessary surgery, Dr. Schwartz damaged Leigh’s spinal accessory nerve which left him unable to extend or lift his arm above his head, along with nerve palsy and permanent disfigurement to his shoulder. The 2 ½ week trial concluded when the New Haven Superior court jury of three men and three women ruled in favor of Leigh’s medical malpractice claim and awarded him $4.2 million in compensation.

Leigh, a laborer, still works at his job at a lumber company but is forced to do only special tasks that can be performed without the use of his left arm. His medical malpractice attorney, Sean McElligott, said "This was traumatic for [Leigh] because he has worked as a laborer all of his life. He’s only able to use his right arm and he has horrible memories of the surgery."