A jury in the North Georgia mountain town of Clarkesville returned a nearly $11 million medical malpractice verdict Tuesday for a woman who suffered damage to her internal organs after a gallbladder surgery went wrong, but only $1.6 million of the award went against the remaining defendants in the case, two nurse anesthetists.
The jury awarded a total of $10,964,000: $7.264 million for past, present and future medical expenses; $3.5 million for pain and suffering; and $200,000 for lost wages. The verdict form required the jury to apportion liability among all parties who violated the standard of medical care. The panel held the surgeon 70 percent responsible and the hospital, Habersham Medical Center, 15 percent responsible. Both those defendants had already reached confidential settlements with the woman.
