A Florida jury awarded $4.9 million to a man who had to have his leg amputated due to what his attorneys argued was medical negligence. The man in question wanted to have a blood clot removed from his leg. Instead, he had to have his entire lower leg removed.
The plaintiff’s attorney argued that the doctor failed to respond fast enough to complaints about severe pain in the plaintiff’s leg. This resulted in an avoidable need to amputate the plaintiff’s leg. The defense argued that the plaintiff suffered from a kind of chronic artery disease and the doctor’s supposed medical negligence had little to nothing to do with the loss of a plaintiff’s leg. They argued the vascular surgeon did his job by dissolving the clot and that his leg still worked after the surgery.
The defense further argued that the plaintiff suffered from long-term atherosclerosis which is characterized by a large buildup of plaque in the arteries.
The Plaintiff’s Argument
In most medical malpractice lawsuits it is left to a jury to unpack the often arcane and complex arguments presented by each side. The plaintiffs make their argument as to what happened and why it constitutes medical malpractice, and then the defense gets to rebut the plaintiff’s arguments and present their own theory.
In this case, the plaintiff’s argument focused on whether or not the vasculitis was chronic or acute. The defense had argued that it was chronic atherosclerosis that cost the plaintiff his leg. The plaintiff argued that it was acute and that the plaintiff’s leg could have been saved had the clot been treated in time. They argued that the defendant did not treat the clot in time and that failure constitutes medical negligence.
Telling a Story
In these cases, both sides attempt to tell their story. The plaintiff was able to lay out a firm and convincing linear narrative. In it, the doctor was informed that the plaintiff had been admitted complaining about pain in his leg. Nurses reported that the pain and the symptoms appeared to be getting worse. That included complaints that the skin was getting cold. The plaintiffs were also able to present nursing reports that indicated these worsening symptoms. In light of that information, there is a doctor who is doing nothing while his patient’s symptoms spiral out of control.
By the time this doctor took action, it was too late. At the trial, the defendant doctor blamed a pre-existing condition for the amputation. Furthermore, there was indication that an ER doctor saw the clot before the vascular surgeon did, which was harmful to the doctor’s narrative.
Contact a Medical Malpractice Lawyer Today
The Tampa medical malpractice attorneys at Palmer | Lopez can help you recover damages in the event that you are injured by a negligent doctor. Give us a call or contact us online and we can begin discussing your case today.
Resources:
blog.cvn.com/jury-awards-4.9m-after-finding-florida-docs-negligence-cost-patient-a-leg
blog.cvn.com/delay-in-treatment-cost-hospice-worker-his-lower-leg-atty-claims-as-florida-med-mal-trial-opens
