After a six-day medical malpractice wrongful death trial and less than one hour of jury deliberations, the family of a 71-year-old woman who died after gallbladder surgery in September 2017 received a verdict in the amount of $6 million against the partner of the surgeon had performed her gallbladder surgery.
When the woman arrived home after her gallbladder surgery, she was in intense pain despite having been given pain medication after the surgery. Her husband was so concerned that he telephoned the surgeon’s office to report that his wife was in excruciating pain. According to the husband, he was told that pain was to be expected after surgery.
The woman’s husband nonetheless brought her to the surgeon’s partner at the surgical clinic because her surgeon was out-of-town. According to the Alabama medical malpractice lawsuit, the surgeon’s partner advised them that the pain was normal and prescribed a different pain medication. At home later that day, the woman’s pain became even worse, leading her husband to call 911 to have her transported to the ER.
The family’s lawsuit alleged that the woman’s stomach was found to be full of bile when she arrived in the ER. She died within a few hours.
After the Alabama medical malpractice jury rendered its $6 million verdict in favor of the family, the woman’s daughter stated, “My dad would have done anything to get my mom help, and he tried to do everything he could to get her help. It’s heartbreaking to know that there are families that have gone through the same thing…and that’s why we felt like we just needed to continue this fight, even after my dad died, we did not want to give up. We just wanted justice for my mother, and no amount of money will ever bring her back. I don’t care if I ever see a dime of the money, it’s the principle.”
The family’s medical malpractice lawyer alleged that the surgeon’s partner attempted to change his office note after he became aware of the dire condition of the patient in the hospital, dictating a note stating that he advised the woman to go to the hospital but she declined: “After he comes in and sees her laying in a bed on a ventilator with sepsis, knowing she’s going to die, he goes to his dictaphone and dictates a note that says, ‘I told her this morning that she needed to go to the hospital, and she declined.’ The jury didn’t believe that. We were just very grateful that a jury of 12 strangers was able to see what we have known all along, that Dr. Marker did not meet the standard of care. Make sure that you question your doctors and you stand up and demand that they meet that standard of care.”
The woman was described by her family as being very active before her surgery, she liked working outdoors, and she enjoyed gardening and fishing as well as sewing and quilting.
If you or a loved one suffered harm (or worse) as a result of the medical malpractice in Alabama or in another U.S. state, you should promptly find an Alabama medical malpractice lawyer, or a medical malpractice lawyer in your state, who may investigate your medical malpractice claim for you and represent you or your loved one in a medical malpractice case, if appropriate.
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