Ga. Jury Awards $4.5M To Woman Over Spinal Device Injury
Ga. Jury Awards $4.5M To Woman Over Spinal Device Injury
Written By: Gina Kim
Re-Posted by Law360 (May 5, 2023, 10:41 PM EDT) — A Georgia state jury on Friday awarded $4.5 million to a woman whose doctor incorrectly implanted a spinal cord stimulator nearly six years ago, which allegedly caused one of the lead anchors to erode and exacerbated her back pain, after a week of trial.
According to the verdict form, a Chatham County jury unanimously voted to award patient Amy Douglas $4.5 million after she suffered nerve root injury and worsened back pain following her spinal cord stimulator implantation surgery in 2017 after deliberating for two hours Friday. They had heard five days of testimony against defendants Dr. Thomas Lawhorne III and Optim Orthopedics LLC.
Plaintiffs co-counsel, Jeremy S. McKenzie of Karsman McKenzie & Hart, said in a statement Friday that the suit was only initiated after the doctor dismissed Douglas from his care during her first post-surgery visit to his office.
“The doctor did not note in his records anything about the misplacement of the device and didn’t tell any of his partners,” McKenzie claimed. “Amy and her family feel vindicated by the jury’s verdict.”
The suit alleged that Lawhorne performed the procedure on Sept. 1, 2017, despite there being no need to do so. As a result, Douglas suffered extreme pain and had to undergo additional surgeries to remove the stimulator and rectify the damages to her spinal nerve root, the plaintiffs said.
Jurors during the trial heard from former Optim Orthopedics partner and neurosurgeon Dr. John Sarzier, who testified for the plaintiffs and said he had corrected the complications caused by the prior surgery. Sarzier has since been dismissed from Optim’s practice, according to Douglas’ attorneys.
Friday’s verdict comes nearly four years after Douglas filed her medical malpractice and negligence suit on June 27, 2019, in Chatham County state court against Lawhorne and Optim, whom she sought care from after suffering from back pain for years in and around her shoulder blade.
On Aug. 12, 2016, Douglas said she was seen by Lawhorne and informed him about her pain. An MRI scan was done two weeks later, revealing that Douglas had two small central disk protrusions, prompting Lawhorne to advise her to undergo physical therapy.
Douglas said she completed her physical therapy sessions but to no avail, as her pain continued. Lawhorne then referred her to a pain management specialist who ordered an MRI scan on her cervical spine, which took place in February 2017.
That 2017 MRI scan showed signs of severe left-sided stenosis, moderate right-sided stenosis and multilevel degenerative disk disease, the suit alleged. Douglas subsequently had two cervical epidural steroid injections administered to her on March 30, 2017, and again on April 13, 2017, which she said didn’t help with her symptoms.
Douglas went back to Lawhorne on May 3, 2017, hoping for a surgical intervention, but the doctor allegedly declined to address her problems via surgery and instead, implanted a permanent spinal cord stimulator in September that year, the complaint states.
“Following the implantation of the permanent spinal cord stimulator, Plaintiff remained in significant pain and experienced several complications,” the original complaint reads. “From September through December 2017, she continued to report debilitating back pain, often rating it a 10 out of 10.”
On Dec. 15, 2017, Douglas said she saw Sarzier, who found that the stimulator leads were out of place and had to be removed. He also recommended Douglas undergo another procedure which occurred on Jan. 31, 2018. Douglas said Sarzier’s procedure mitigated her pain and significantly improved her mobility.
On April 11, 2018, Sarzier removed the nonfunctional spinal cord stimulator from Douglas. However, during the procedure, he discovered that the stimulator worsened Douglas’s pain because one of the wires was disconnected from the battery and one of the lead anchors had eroded through the membrane that surrounds the spinal cord, causing a cerebrospinal fluid leak and a nerve root injury.
Douglas sought monetary recovery for her mental and physical pain and suffering, along with recovery for all past, present and future medical expenses associated with her injuries, and asserted claims for negligence, professional negligence, and negligent retention and/or supervision of staff.
Representatives for the defendants did not immediately return inquiries seeking comment late Friday.
Douglas is represented by Jeremy S. McKenzie and Dorian Britt of Karsman McKenzie & Hart and Robert “Bart” Turner and Carolyn Adams of Savage Turner Pinckney Savage & Sprouse.
Optim Orthopedics and Lawhorne are represented by Daniel James Huff and T. Daniel Tucker of Huff Powell & Bailey.
The case is Amy E. Douglas V. Thomas Lawhorne III et al., case number 19STCV01146, in the Superior Court of Chatham County, Georgia.
To read more go to: Click Here and get your Law 360 subscription today to view more great legal content.
If you or a loved one have been involved in a personal or product injury, or harmed by a defective products; contact Serna & Associates PLLC Today. Click Here to learn more or call: 1-877-822-1212 attorneys standing by.