News
10/24/2005 - Neurosurgeon Wins Wrongful Death Suit in Birmingham
On October 24th a Jefferson County jury returned a verdict for a neurosurgeon in Birmingham, Alabama in a case involving allegations that the neurosurgeon injured the patient's vena cava during anterior lumbar fusion surgery. The patient survived the surgical complications for more than 50 days but had to undergo multiple blood transfusions and an amputation of one leg at the hip prior to her death. The patient's estate sought compensatory damages for the medical expenses as well as pain and suffering of the patient from the time of surgery until death and punitive damages under Alabama's wrongful death statute. The trial lasted six days. The co-defendant general surgeon also received a defense verdict. Stephen Heninger and Greg Burge of Heninger, Burge, Vargo & Davis in Birmingham, Alabama represented the patient's estate. Rushton, Stakely shareholders, Thomas H. Keene and Patrick M. Shegon, represented the defendant neurosurgeon.