This page discusses settlement amounts and jury payouts in Massachusetts personal injury lawsuits. Our lawyers also explain the law governing these claims.
Below are sample settlement amounts and jury payouts in Massachusetts personal injury accident and malpractice lawsuits.
Last week, the intermediate-level appeals court of Massachusetts reestablished a lawsuit accusing a hospital’s staff of causing a post-surgery patient to fall and break her hip. In Owens v. Erazo (22-P-1204), the appeals court disagreed with a medical malpractice tribunal that had categorized the incident as simply an “unfortunate medical result.”
A panel of three Appeals Court judges reversed a Suffolk County judge’s decision to dismiss a lawsuit. The suit alleges that a nurse and physical therapist, employed by Brigham & Women’s Faulkner Hospital, failed in their duty to accurately assess the fall risks for a patient. This alleged failure led to the patient falling and fracturing her hip after undergoing hip surgery.
Ms. Owens, the plaintiff, had been hospitalized after undergoing hip surgery, during which she experienced an injury. As a result, she instigated a medical malpractice lawsuit against Erazo (R.N.), Agustin (P.C.A.), O’Hara (P.T.), and Brigham & Women’s Faulkner Hospital. The defendants, Erazo and O’Hara, subsequently put forth requests for a medical malpractice tribunal, as described in G. L. c. 231, § 60B.
Let’s take a look at hospital malpractice verdicts and settlements in Massachusetts in recent years. I’m writing this on March 31, 2021 so we do not have a ton in recent years.
Why? Hospitals in Massachusetts — or anywhere — are usually not racing to the courthouse steps to try cases. They have too much in PR and goodwill to risk a loss so they settle the good cases they could lose.
$2,750,000 Verdict (Massachusetts 2019): A man underwent a coccygectomy at Massachusetts General Hospital. Following the procedure, he suffered a wound infection. The man subsequently developed osteomyelitis, recurring anal fistulas, pudendal neuralgia, sexual dysfunction, and rectal and urological problems. He alleged that the surgeon’s negligence caused these permanent injuries. The man claimed he failed to recognize infection signs, order additional testing, and provide follow-up monitoring. He also made a vicarious liability claim against MGH. The defense denied liability. A Boston jury awarded $2,750,000.
The family of a Chelmsford woman who died a day after thyroid surgery at Brockton Hospital was awarded $14.5 million by Middlesex County, Massachusetts jury in a medical malpractice case this week after five hours of deliberation. Under a favorable provision of Massachusetts law, the award included more than $5 million in interest.
Plaintiff’s decedent was a 30-year-old woman who went to the doctor because of a lump on her thyroid gland. Her surgeons did a biopsy on the benign lump, but in recovery, someone noticed that her abdomen was swollen and her stomach and legs had turned blue. She developed abdominal compartment syndrome from the air that had gotten into her stomach.
The doctors did what they should have done initially. They operated again and released the air. Unfortunately, the surgeons closed the wound immediately without letting all the air escape. She was flown to Boston Medical Center for surgery but died later that day.
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