A New York City jury ruled in favor of a ballerina and dance instructor who underwent surgery to remove a uterine fibroid but ended up with a surprise hysterectomy.
Jill Jacobs, 48, may not be of traditional childbearing age, but the unexpected removal of her uterus immediately sent her into menopause and the paltry $142,000 reward is unsatisfactory, according to court documents.
When admitted to NYU Langone Hospital for surgery on her uterus, Jacobs signed a consent form under the understanding that a total hysterectomy would only be done if an emergency happened. She contends there were no traces of cancer and as such she didn’t need her uterus removed.
Jacobs successfully sued the hospital for malpractice in 2010 for five million, so that is not necessarily what is up for debate, what is being called to question is whether or not the amount given to Jacobs was too low.
She says the “butchering” she received left her with chronic depression and other health issues including remembering personal trauma that had occurred several years prior. She plans to appeal the verdict.
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One Comment
jc
Here is the classic case of malpractice lawyers and our corrupt medical malpractice system run amock. The surgeon went in to remove the fibroid and ran into complications. So at the operating table the doc decided a hysterectomy was in order and performed it. The woman signed the consent form and knew a hystectomy may be needed. Being 48 and going into menopause is not the worst thing in the world and can be successfully treated with hormone therapy. But the morons on the jury gave this litigenous patient $ 5,000,000, later reduced to $147,000. But this greedy patient wants MORE! This illustrates why we need to get rid of the current corrupt medical malpractice system and go to medical courts!
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