Justice Kenneth Thompson Jr.
Srikishun moved to set aside a portion of the jury verdict finding no proximate cause for his injuries despite their finding Montefiore Medical Center departed from good and accepted medical practice. After the jury's finding, the jury sent a note indicating they believed Srikishun should be compensated $50,000 as he had to undergo a second surgery to remove a knot pusher tip negligently left behind in the first surgery. The court stated the jurors' preference to award Srikishun $50,000 did not entitled him to a re-submission of the issue of proximate cause to the jury, nor did it require a trial on damages stating such ruling would encourage jury nullification of the requirement that any negligence on the part of a defendant must be the proximate cause of a plaintiff's injuries before a jury could award them compensation. It ruled there was medical testimony the second surgery did not cause any injuries that were separate and distinct from the injuries sustained in the first surgery that removed Srikishun's kidney. Srikishun argued Matter of Staley v. Piper stated there necessarily were damages when a second surgery was performed to remove a foreign body negligently left in a patient's body, but the court disagreed finding Staley was inapposite to the issues here.