$7.43 million OB/GYN surgical error

A surgical patient on June 1 won a $6.3 Million jury verdict for permanent injuries suffered in a botched procedure.

On Feb. 16, 2007 the patient underwent removal of her left ovary at Barnert hospital in Paterson. When the obstetrician opened the abdominal cavity, she found several adhesions requiring separation.  The obstetrician separated one adhesion between the colon and omentum, causing an injury that became a perforation, says lawyer Donald Caminiti, of Breslin & Breslin in Hackensack.

Five days later, the patient reported back to her obstetrician that she was in severe pain. A second procedure revealed sepsis, and a colostomy was performed.

The patient is now 48, has had several additional surgeries, cannot eat a normal diet and is malnourished, and has nausea, vomiting, and extensive abdominal scarring, Caminiti says.

The patient claimed that the obstetrician should have called in a general or colorectal surgeon when she found the colon adhesion or after she repaired it.

At trial in Bergen County Superior court the judge and jurors voted 7-1 to find the obstetrician liable. They awarded $6 Million for pain and suffering and $300,000 on her husband’s per quod claim.