Unanimous Defense Verdict in Orthopedic Surgery Case

HPMB’s Partner Jeff Tymann recently obtained a unanimous defense verdict on behalf of an orthopedic surgeon in Supreme Court, Ulster County.

The case involved an alleged negligently performed total hip revision surgery, resulting in the fracture of the femoral component implant seven months after the surgery. The patient required a very complex seven-hour second revision surgery. The patient suffered significant blood loss during this second surgery, was in the ICU for several days, and it was claimed suffered significant permanent loss of motion and pain. The plaintiff’s attorney asked for $1.5 million in his summation.

During the trial, the defense established that the orthopedic surgeon took all appropriate steps to minimize the risk of this complication, but that, despite appropriate surgical care, the prosthetic broke due to a number of factors beyond the surgeon’s control. It was the plaintiff’s claim that the prosthetic broke because it was placed in a misaligned position during the initial surgery.

Through the testimony of the defendant surgeon as well as a board-certified orthopedic surgeon who specializes in joint replacement surgery, the defense was able to show that the prosthetic was properly aligned and  the fracture was simply an unfortunate complication of surgery. The defense pointed out that the patient presented with a series of unique challenges, including morbid obesity, proximal bone erosion, and a small femoral canal, all of which likely combined to cause the prosthetic fracture.

The defense successfully argued that the defendant recognized all of these challenges and did everything he could to overcome them, but, through no one’s fault, they combined to cause the fracture. Initially, there was a claim for informed consent, but this was dismissed before the case was submitted to the jury.

The jury returned a unanimous defense verdict after deliberating for slightly over one hour.