This will be my first blog post where I discuss a Medical Malpractice Case and the title to this blog post is, “A Medical Malpractice Case in Fulton County, Georgia whereby a Plaintiff, even with Injuries that were caused by the Defendant, lost the case as the Plaintiff failed to prove that the Standard of Care was Breached: VIDEO included ~ part one.”
In August of 2011, Terri Hendrix was seen by Dr. Herschel Beker, a surgeon at Resurgens Orthopedics. Ms. Hendrix presented with lower back pain radiating down her right side that was causing her difficulty at her job as a mail carrier, and also interfering with her ability to enjoy time with her family such as playing softball with her daughter.
Dr. Beker’s recommendation was surgery The type of surgery that was recommended involved the surgeon scraping out the disk that is diseased and then placing a bone graft. Ms. Hendrix and her husband agreed to the surgery. During this particular surgery, the abdomen is the path to the spine and, therefore, a vascular surgeon also assists with the procedure.
When Ms. Hendrix came out of surgery her right side was fine, but her left side was not fine. Furthermore, she had headaches, weakness and pain on her left side, and bladder issues all that she would attribute to a spinal fluid leak from the surgery. Dr. Beker did not dispute that during surgery he had torn Ms. Hendrixs’ nerve fibers. What was disputed was whether or not Dr. Beker breached the Standard of Care during the procedure. To make this determination, Terri Hendrix and her husband filed a lawsuit in January of 2013 with the Fulton County State Court, Atlanta, Georgia.
The case went in front of a jury earlier this year. At trial, the Plaintiffs asked the jury to award them a total of $ 10.5 Million Dollars. Plaintiff Terri Hendrix had over $ 4 Million Dollars in special damages such as medical expenses (past and future), and income that was lost. Plaintiff Husband would ask for damages for loss of consortium. The Defendant Beker argued that regardless of whether or not there was an injury due to the surgery does not mean that he breached the Standard of Care during the procedure, and that this particular injury could not be avoided during surgery.
The Defendants used an interesting analogy by asking the jurors to imagine that they were driving to work and as they drove to work everyday they crossed over a bridge until one day on the way to work as the driver slows down to go over the bridge, the ground suddenly gives way and the driver drives the car into the river. Clearly, in this analogy, it was an accident and could not be avoided. The Defense argued that this is what happened in this case that the injury was unavoidable and that under the circumstances the Defendant Beker acted in a manner that was consistent with the Standard of Care established for these types of cases. The Defense also argued that Plaintiff Hendrix’s injuries were not as bad as were claimed and that the bladder control issue was not caused by the actions of Defendant Beker.
I will continue my discussion of this case in my next blog post titled, “A Medical Malpractice Case in Fulton County, Georgia whereby a Plaintiff, even with Injuries that were caused by the Defendant, lost the case as the Plaintiff failed to prove that the Standard of Care was Breached: VIDEO included ~ part two.”
In the meantime, please feel free to Contact Us if you or a loved one has been injured in what you believe may be a medical malpractice case. We will discuss your case and we look forward to hearing from you soon!
The following is a Video of the trial: