$28.5 Million Verdict In Favor Of Former NY Giants Football Player: On September 23, 2022, a Manhattan medical malpractice jury returned its verdict in the amount of $28.5 million in favor of now 33-year-old Michael Cox, a former running back for the New York Giants, who was enjoying the benefits of a four-year, $2.3 million contract when he was injured as a result of being tackled during a November 9, 2014 NFL game in Seattle, Washington. The jury determined that Cox was entitled to $15.5 million in future pain and suffering, $12 million in lost earnings, and $1 million in past pain and suffering.
Cox suffered a fractured leg as a result of the tackle that also damaged his cartilage and injured his ankle. Dr. Dean Lorich subsequently operated on Cox at the Hospital for Special Surgery. In 2016, Cox sued Lorich, who was the associate director of the hospital’s orthopedic trauma service and chief of the orthopedic trauma service at New York-Presbyterian Hospital, for medical malpractice for allegedly failing to properly treat Cox’s left ankle during surgery, by failing to repair one of his damaged ankle bones. Cox saw Lorich for a few post-operative visits, however his condition continued to deteriorate and allegedly was not recognized or treated by Lorich. Cox’s New York medical malpractice lawyer stated, “We maintain that it should have been repaired before it got worse, and it wasn’t. He went to [other] doctors, they noted a major difference in the deterioration of that bone, tried to salvage it [and] could not. And he’s precluded in all likelihood from playing football again.”
In December 2017, 54-year-old Lorich was found dead by his 11-year-old daughter on the bathroom floor of the family’s Park Avenue home with a knife stuck in his chest. The death was ruled an apparent suicide. Cox’s medical malpractice lawyer stated at the time of Lorich’s death, “I don’t see a connection between our lawsuit, which has been going on for quite some time, and his unfortunate demise. But you don’t know what goes through people’s mind.”
Cox’s New York medical malpractice lawyer stated after the verdict, “The jury spoke with a clear and unambiguous voice that Mr. Cox received inadequate medical care and treatment and was significantly injured as a result. We are pleased with the jury’s decision.”
The defense attorney for Lorich’s Estate and the hospital vowed to file an appeal: “We disagree strongly with the jury’s verdict and believe it was inconsistent with the evidence in the case. We will be appealing the decision.”
Lorich was best known as the orthopedic surgeon who treated U2 frontman Bono following his 2014 bicycle accident.
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