Criminal charges and a fugitive on the run sounds like the plot for a movie or television show. Unfortunately, it is not fiction but related to the actions of one doctor in another state. People in Massachusetts’s may be interested to learn that a jury has awarded one patient $2 million in compensation related to the doctor’s alleged medical negligence despite the doctor fleeing to another country.
The patient was a 12-year-old boy when he received surgery from the doctor. The spinal surgeon allegedly used a biologic device during surgery that had not been approved by the Food and Drug Administration. Not only did the device not have FDA approval, but the patient and family were also not made aware.
Instead of the incision healing after surgery, it split open. Further complicating the boy’s healing, he developed a staph infection. He missed months of the following school year while he received intravenous antibiotics to treat the infection. The patient is now an adult, but he reports that he still suffers pain and discomfort as a result of the surgery that occurred years ago.
Although the physician fled to another country after pleading not guilty to 46 criminal charges, a jury determined that the hospital where the surgery occurred bore some responsibility in the suffering that the patient experienced. Patients who suspect they are victims of medical negligence may find some hope in filing a medical malpractice lawsuit. An experienced attorney in Massachusetts can advise a patient of the legal options available and the process to expect.