On September 26, 2012, Raymond Carroll arrived by ambulance at South Nassau Communities Hospital in Oceanside complaining of headaches, nausea and vomiting.
The ER nurse noted he had slurred speech. A CT scan showed no abnormalities. He was diagnosed with gastritis and discharged the same day.
Two days later, Mr. Carroll, then 50 years old, was admitted to the same hospital and required a ventriculostomy and a craniectomy as a result of a cerebellar artery stroke.
In Mr. Carroll’s ensuing medical malpractice lawsuit, the Nassau County jury returned a verdict against the hospital and its emergency medicine physician finding that she should have ordered a neurology consult. The jury then awarded plaintiff pain and suffering damages in the sum of $1,500,000 ($800,000 past – 9.5 years, $700,000 future – 14 years)
In Carroll v. South Nassau Communities Hospital (2d Dept. 2026), both the liability and damages verdicts have been affirmed.
In addition to the two otherwise unnecessary surgeries, plaintiff claimed that the defendants’ malpractice left him with permanent neurological deficits including partial disabilities of his left arm and leg that caused him to need a walker to ambulate.
The defense argued that at worst they merely exacerbated the stroke and that plaintiff’s condition had substantially improved (he could cook and shop, he travelled to Ireland and often drove his car). On appeal, they asked the court to reduce the pain and suffering award to $500,000 ($250,000 each for past and future).
Plaintiff had been employed as a maintainer of buildings and grounds for a school district. He was unable to return to work. The jury awarded him (and the appeals court affirmed) $1,050,000 for his lost earnings and benefits claim ($730,000 past, $320,000 future – six years).
Inside Information:
- Plaintiff in summation asked the jury to award $12,000,000 for pain and suffering damages; the defense did not suggest a number.