A woman whose family alleged that she was suffered brain damage and was left incapacitated by hospital treatment was awarded $120 million by a Bronx jury yesterday. According to the NY Times, "The ruling allocated primary responsibility to two city hospitals: 50 percent to Jacobi Medical Center in the Bronx, and 40 percent to Kings County Hospital Center in Brooklyn. It also allocated 5 percent responsibility to Brookdale University Hospital and Medical Center, and 4 percent to one of its neurologists." Naturally, the city plans to appeal.
Jacqueline Martin, a mother of two, was treated, initially for a seizure, by the three hospitals in February 2004. Her lawyer Jeffrey Moore explained that "medical personnel mismanaged Ms. Martin’s medications, failed to respond swiftly to crises and did not provide essential treatments. She developed swelling in her face, eyes and throat in an allergic reaction to anti-seizure medication. She was later diagnosed with Stevens-Johnson syndrome, a rare and severe skin disorder, Mr. Moore said." The lawsuit was filed by her mother.
The city's Health and Hospitals Corporation pointed out that Martin had earned less than $40,000/year as a claims adjuster, but the jury awarded her $10 million in lost earnings. Moore said that while some aspects of judgement might be "excessive," overall it was "totally consistent" given the horrors the state Martin is currently in.
Civil juries in the Bronx are considered the most generous in the city; a personal injury lawyer told the AP in 1990, "If I'm a plaintiff, I rather be there than anyplace in the world."
