A Baltimore jury recently ruled in favor of the family of a 53-year-old man who died following surgery at the University of Maryland Medical Center in 2019. The verdict came after an eight-day trial in Baltimore City Circuit Court.
What Happened? The patient had surgery to remove his left kidney due to a growth. During the procedure, his colon was accidentally perforated. Unfortunately, the doctors didn’t recognize the injury at the time. A second surgery revealed a 1-centimeter hole in his colon, likely caused by a medical instrument.
The Verdict: The jury awarded $6 million for wrongful death and $2.3 million for the survival action. However, Maryland’s cap on noneconomic damages will reduce the total award to about $1.3 million.
NOTE: Georgia no longer has a cap on malpractice damages because the Georgia Supreme Court declared previous caps to be unconstitutional.