$4.2M Verdict For Subarachnoid Hemorrhage: On March 15, 2023, a Massachusetts medical malpractice jury awarded the plaintiff $4,196,126 for the serious and permanent injuries she suffered as a result of the defendants failure to diagnose and properly treat her aneurysm that led to a subarachnoid hemorrhage. The nine-person jury deliberated for about seven hours after a two-week trial before finding for the plaintiff. The $4,196,126 compensatory damages award was for the plaintiff’s pain and suffering, her future medical expenses, and her lost earnings. With interest added to the verdict, judgment was entered for the plaintiff in the amount of $5,244,385.88. There was no settlement offer by the defendants prior to the trial or the jury’s verdict.
Alleged Underlying Facts
The 36-year-old mother of two children went to the ER in February 2017 where she described having headaches that were ten out of ten on a one to ten pain scale, along with neck stiffness. The PA who saw her in the ER ordered a CT scan, which was reported as negative. She was then sent home.
The plaintiff alleged in her Massachusetts medical malpractice lawsuit that the standard of care required the PA to order a lumbar puncture based on her symptoms having begun more than six hours prior to her arrival at the ER and therefore the CT scan would be unreliable. The plaintiff also alleged that the PA’s supervising physician never saw the plaintiff and simply signed the PA’s medical report the following day.
Eleven days after the initial ER visit, the plaintiff returned to the ER by ambulance with worsening symptoms that now included nausea, vomiting, and a severe headache. She was initially seen by two nurses when she arrived in the ER. Five hours later, a different PA and a physician saw the plaintiff in the ER. She was diagnosed with an aneurysm but was not sent for a coiling procedure to treat the aneurysm until nine hours later.
By the time the plaintiff was sent for the coiling procedure, her aneurysm had ruptured. Her aneurysm re-ruptured during the coiling procedure, causing complications.
The plaintiff had three experts testify on her behalf during trial (an ER expert, a vascular-neuro expert, and a vocational expert who testified that the plaintiff’s earning capacity loss and future medical expenses totaled $4.5 million). The defense had four experts and the treating doctor who performed the coiling procedure testify during trial.
Velasquez v. Torrey, M.D., et al., Hampden Superior Court No. 1979CV00334.
If you or a loved one may have been injured (or worse) as a result of hospital medical negligence in Massachusetts or in another U.S. state, you should promptly find a Massachusetts medical malpractice lawyer, or a medical malpractice lawyer in your state, who may investigate your hospital medical malpractice claim for you and represent you or your loved one in a hospital medical malpractice case, if appropriate.
Click here to visit our website or call us toll-free in the United States at 800-295-3959 to find medical malpractice attorneys in your U.S. state who may assist you.
Turn to us when you don’t know where to turn.