A Texas jury has awarded a man $10 million in a medical malpractice case. The man had an allergic reaction to the blood thinner Heparin. During surgery, he suffered what’s called Heparin Induced Thrombocytopenia or H.I.T., which is a complication where the blood clots instead of thinning, stopping the blood flow to the extremities. As a result, the man lost his leg from thigh down, part of his right foot and a several fingers.
I have successfully handled a number of medical malpractice cases in Baltimore and other counties in Maryland involving use of blood thinners. In fact, I successfully handled a similar case to this, where a woman developed a clotting disorder after delivering a child, resulting in the woman losing her uterus.
Interestingly, the man may be the last to receive this kind of award in Texas. He filed his case before a new law took place which caps pain and suffering awards at $250,000. These type of cap are draconian, as they prevent seriously injured people from recovering the true value of their case, and also severely limit the number of attorneys who can afford to lay out $100,000 in expenses only to recover a fee of about that amount.