Legal news for Texas medical malpractice lawyers.
Harris County jury orders Methodist Hospital to $5 million in damages to patient.
Houston, TX–John German, a 32 year-old ex-mechanic from Houston, received a $10 million medical malpractice jury verdict in a lawsuit filed by Texas medical malpractice lawyers, representing the injured patient, as reported by the Houston Chronicle on Wednesday, July 1, 2009. The jury’s ruling took place in Harris County, Texas court room. The lawsuit was filed against several defendants including the doctors at Methodist Hospital, who treated German, the hospital, and nursing staff. German was admitted to Methodist Hospital, in 2002, for heart surgery to repair a malfunctioning heart valve. After the first surgery, he underwent a second operation to repair stitches. German’s third operation was to implant an artificial valve. German developed gangrene as a result of an immunological condition brought on by the use of Heparin, an intravenous blood thinner which has been a topic of recent controversy in health care and legal professions across the United States in the past few years. Gangrene is a complication of cell death characterized by body tissue decay, as defined by Wikipedia www.wikipedia.com. German had to have all of his fingers, all of his right foot toes, and his left leg above the knee amputated. German was a Methodist patient from September 2002 through December 2002.
Authorities at Methodist hospital deny allegations their medical staff failed to observe German for blood disorders after giving him Heparin. Heparin is a commonly used blood thinner. Side effects of the drug include excessive bleeding caused by an immunological reaction. While hospital authorities have great empathy for German, they were not satisfied with the verdict. They believe their doctors and nurses administered adequate care and helped save German’s life. The responsibility of the $10 million jury verdict was divided among the hospital and doctors. Methodist was ordered to pay $5 million, and hospital attorneys plan on appealing the recent verdict. The remaining $5 million will be paid by doctors who settled the medical malpractice legal action. Each doctor’s percentage of payment was determined by the jury. The Harris County jury was able to return a large verdict to compensate German for his catastrophic losses because Texas’ $250,000 medical malpractice cap was not voted in by the Texas Legislature when German was severely injured by the negligence of the doctors, nurses, and Methodist Hospital staff.
Legal news reports for Texas medical malpractice lawyers.