$800,000 Awarded over Medical Malpractice
On June 2, 2008 a claim of Medical Malpractice by the estate of Ina Gary was settled in Somerset Superior Court presided by Judge Allison Accurso. Gary, who was a patient at Somerset Medical Center in January 2005, underwent intestinal surgery by Dr. Daniel Sadler to treat her for Crohn’s disease. However, directly following the surgery, she developed a severe staph infection and died 5 days later on January 26, 2005, after Dr. Sadler failed to properly treat the infection according to her estate’s lawyer.
According to Gary’s attorney, although a fever was not included in her symptoms, Dr. Sadler should have administered the antibiotic Vancomycin, after noticing Gary had a fluid-filled and swollen abdomen, along with poor intestinal function. Instead, he treated these symptoms as normal post-operative conditions which ultimately caused her death according Adam Slater and Eric Katz of Mazie Slater Katz & Freeman of Roseland, Ina Gary’s attorneys.
However, defense evidence asserted that Dr. Sadler’s non-reaction to Gary’s symptoms did not violate the standard of care, and there would have been a 30-40% chance Ina Gary would have still died even if Vancomycin had been administered right away. However, $800,000 was awarded to Ina Gary’s estate.
(This information was obtained from the New Jersey Law Journal)
