$1.3 Million Verdict For 18 Days Of Pain And Suffering Upheld: Following the discharge of the plaintiff’s decedent from the defendant hospital to a rehabilitation center on September 12, 2012, the decedent’s condition worsened, and he died on September 30, 2012. The plaintiff commenced a New York medical malpractice action against, among others, the defendant, and, after a trial, a jury found that the defendant departed from good and accepted standards of medical practice by discharging the decedent on September 12, 2012. The jury awarded the plaintiff damages in the principal sum of $1,300,000 for the decedent’s past pain and suffering as a result of the defendant’s negligence.
Thereafter, the defendant moved pursuant to CPLR 4404(a) to set aside the verdict and for judgment as a matter of law dismissing the complaint, or, in the alternative, to set aside the verdict as contrary to the weight of the evidence or in the interest of justice and for a new trial, or, in the alternative, to set aside, as excessive, the verdict on the issue of damages.
The Supreme Court of the State of New York Appellate Division: Second Judicial Department “(New York Appellate Court”) stated in its March 22, 2023 Decision & Order “The award of damages for past pain and suffering did not deviate materially from what would be reasonable compensation (see CPLR 5501[c].”
The New York Appellate Court further stated: “A jury verdict may be set aside as contrary to the weight of the evidence only if “the evidence so preponderated in favor of [that party] that the verdict could not have been reached on any fair interpretation of the evidence” (Lolik v Big V Supermarkets, 86 NY2d 744, 746 [internal punctuation omitted]; see Messina v Staten Is. Univ. Hosp., 121 AD3d 867, 868; Nicastro v Park, 113 AD2d 129, 132-137). Here, based on the expert testimony presented at trial, the jury could reasonably find that the defendant departed from accepted standards of medical practice by discharging the decedent to a rehabilitation center without ever accurately diagnosing the condition that caused him to be admitted to the hospital, and that this conduct proximately caused the decedent’s injuries by “diminish[ing] [his] chance of a better outcome” and increasing his pain and suffering (Flaherty v Fromberg, 46 AD3d 743, 745; see Lopes v Lenox Hill Hosp., 172 AD3d at 702). Thus, the jury’s finding was based on a fair interpretation of the evidence, and therefore was not contrary to the weight of the evidence (see Grullon v Thoracic Surgical, P.C., 208 AD3d 1163, 1164-1165; Daniele v Pain Mgt. Ctr. of Long Is., 168 AD3d 672, 675; Messina v Staten Is. Univ. Hosp., 121 AD3d at 868).”
Source Stewart v. New York Hospital Queens, 2020-01635.
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