A nearly-two-week jury trial in Pennsylvania has culminated in a more than $44 million verdict for a woman who suffered a catastrophic brain injury that left her paralyzed. The woman, who was 57 at the time, underwent surgery in 2011 to remove a mass on her brain. After that surgery, she was placed on Heparain, an anticoagulant drug. While in the intensive care unit, hospital personnel measured the woman’s coagulation using an aPTT test and found that it had risen from 19 seconds to 32 seconds.
Nevertheless, according to the woman’s attorneys, hospital staff then stopped the regular aPTT testing for at least 48 hours. During that time, the woman experienced a brain hemorrhage and, when she finally was tested again, her aPTT rate was 61. The positions of the lawyers at trial was that if the aPTT numbers are changing, that is an indicator to continue testing, not eliminate it from her post-surgical plan of care and that upon seeing those test results, Heparin should have been discontinued. The defendants’ main position/theory at trial was that the woman’s brain bleed were the result of complications from the surgery unrelated to the heparin.
The hemorrhage resulted in a brain injury which left the woman unable to walk, or otherwise care for herself on a daily basis. Her husband now spends the majority of his time caring for her basic needs.
If you or a loved one may have been the victim of a similar, or any other type of medical mistake, call our experienced Maryland medical malpractice attorneys today to discuss the facts of your particular case.