The Superior Court of Pennsylvania affirmed a $43.5 million Pennsylvania medical malpractice verdict in favor of a former Eagles football player who alleged that medical negligence in the treatment of his game-related knee injury led to the end of his football career. The plaintiff had alleged in his Pennsylvania medical malpractice complaint filed against Bradley, Burke & Bradley Orthopedics (B&B) and ROA that on or about May 10, 2018, an MRI of the plaintiff’s right knee revealed a persistent partial tear at the posterior root of the medial meniscus and meniscus extrusion, and that Dr. Bradley and the ROA doctors should not have advanced the plaintiff’s activity but should have treated the knee with an additional surgical repair. The plaintiff alleged that due to the defendants ignoring the plaintiff’s severe root tear without surgical intervention, his knee condition worsened and “hastened and contributed to the end of Plaintiff’s professional football career.” With regard to ROA, the complaint alleged that ROA was negligent strictly under a theory of agency.
Following trial, the Pennsylvania medical malpractice jury returned a verdict in favor of the plaintiff in the amount of $43.5 million, apportioning liability at 67% for Dr. Bradley and 33% for ROA.
The Superior Court of Pennsylvania stated in its Memorandum filed on August 30, 2024: “After a comprehensive review of the parties’ briefs, certified record on appeal, and the relevant case law and statutes, we affirm on the basis of Judge
Cunningham’s opinion. See Trial Court Opinion, 12/19/23, at 7 (court properly denied JNOV where Dr. Jiminez testified, to reasonable degree of medical certainty, Plaintiff’s meniscus tear should have been surgically repaired in initial surgery, intense exercise on unrepaired tear led to further damage to meniscus and entire knee, no rehabilitation should have occurred until meniscus repaired, ROA doctors who supervised and continued to encourage rehabilitation on Plaintiff’s knee over complaints of pain and discomfort violated standard of care); id. at 9 (Medical Care Availability and Reduction of Error (MCARE) alteration of records instruction properly given where testimony showed substantive and material differences between Dr. Dodson’s draft notes and transcribed Eagles notes); id. at 9 (Coleman properly precluded from testifying where non-expert witness identified on eve of jury selection, Plaintiff had no time to depose Coleman, and no reason why ROA could not have identified witness sooner); id. at 10-11 (verdict not against weight of evidence where jury chose to believe Dr. Jiminez’s testimony that ROA defendants, as agents, increased risk of harm to Plaintiff by continuing to rehabilitate him); and id. at 11 (new trial not warranted on basis of excessive verdict where record evidence established Plaintiff was highly esteemed and paid NFL player projected to secure future contract and noneconomic damages difficult to quantify).”
Source Maragos v. Bradley, J-A14008-24.
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