Failure to Diagnosis in Emergency Room Leads to $5.2 Million Jury Verdict
Kevin Tolson entered the ER at St. Agnes Hospital in Baltimore in 2009 complaining of excruciating knee pain after he was involved in an accident with a loading dock gate, the physician’s assistant diagnosed him with a knee sprain in spite of Tolson’s presenting complaints. He was given an x-ray and sent home. Two days later, Tolson had to come back to the ER with numbness and pain in the knee. At this moment, it was discovered that he had torn almost every ligament and tendon in his dislocated knee. Since two days had elapsed and his lower leg had been receiving little blood from the rest of the body, the tissues in the area were pronounced dead. The only thing left to do was amputate the leg below the knee. In his medical malpractice case, Tolson alleged that this situation could have been completely avoided if the physician and his assistant had not been negligent. It took the jury three hours to find for Kevin Tolson and award him a verdict of $5.2 million. Of course, no amount of money will make Tolson whole again. He’ll never have his leg back.
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