JURY AWARDS $3.1 MILLION IN MEDICAL MALPRACTICE INJURY ACTION
Eltingville woman now walks with Cane
Advanced supreme Court Bureau.
An Ellingville mother who claimed she suffered neurological damage to her legs because an orthopedic surgeon failed to diagnose a herniated disc was awarded $3.1 million dollars in damages by a Brooklyn Supreme Court.
The jury deliberated for two days before arriving at a verdict to end the week-long trial.
Justice Jules L. Spodek gave the attorney for the defendant, Dr. Urs of Concord, 15 days to file motions to set aside the verdict and award in the medical malpractice case.
The plaintiff Patricia Calise, 38, requires a cane to walk.
According to her lawyer Daniel C. Minc of Manhattan, the jury found that Dr. Urs was guilty of malpractice in failing to provide prompt, appropriate care, in addition to failing to diagnose the condition.
As a result of Mrs Calise was not operated on until 11 months after she suffered a back injury. Another surgeon had made the diagnosis. The surgery at the time was unsuccessful, and she subsequently had to undergo two additional surgical procedures.
Dr. Urs, represented by Jeffrey Cohen, maintained he had followed standard medical procedures in treating Mrs. Calise.
Mrs. Calise was 27 years of age when she sustained the injury on July 19, 1981 in Brooklyn.
She was seated in a parked car, waiting for a husband to return from purchasing a newspaper at a newsstand when a thief jumped into the car and started to drive off with her in the vehicle. She fled from the car to escape. Minc said the thief was never arrested. Prior to the trial, another defendant, St. Vincent’s medical Center, settled the complaint against the $20,000.