Tom Rhodes Law Firm P.C. of Texas, and McGinn, Carpenter, Montoya & Love, P.A., of New Mexico, won a $7.75 million jury verdict award for a man who suffered a severe pressure ulcer caused by medical negligence while in the care of the Presbyterian Hospital in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
The medical malpractice claim (Case No. D-202-cv-2012-04942) was co-counseled by attorneys Tom Rhodes and Robert Brzezinski of Tom Rhodes Law Firm P.C. and Randi McGinn and A. Elicia Montoya of McGinn, Carpenter, Montoya & Love, P.A., and filed against the hospital.
The plaintiffs, Michael Webb and his wife, Tammy Lee Bruyere, filed the lawsuit in 2012 in connection to injuries Webb suffered while he was in the hospital’s intensive care unit due to complications stemming from a knee surgery in December 2011.
The plaintiff’s attorneys, working together as co-counsel, convinced the jury that Presbyterian Hospital’s own patient safety policies and procedures were not followed by its staff members. Post-surgery, Webb was bedridden in the hospital for days and was supposed to be repositioned by staff at least once every two hours to mitigate risk of pressure sores or ulcers. Due to generally neglectful care, Webb developed painful, Stage 4 pressure ulcers on his sacrum that required additional medical treatment, including painful debridement processes that removed skin, flesh, and damaged tissue in large amounts.
According to the Albuquerque Journal, the $7.75 million jury award was comprised of a $4 million award to the plaintiff for compensatory damages, $1.5 million award to the plaintiff’s wife-turned-caretaker for compensatory damages of her own, and $2.25 million award to both plaintiffs for punitive damages.
For more information, visit Tom Rhodes Law Firm P.C. and McGinn, Carpenter, Montoya & Love, P.A.