Matt McCann was recently awarded $2 million in damages over a negligent care incident that left his health in shambles and his marriage destroyed.
McCann had his back operated on in 2008 at Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center. His surgeon, Dr. Hal Hankinson, had accidentally severed a major artery in McCann’s pelvic region, as well as the vena cava (which has to do with proper circulation of oxygenated and de-oxygenated blood).
36 hours later, McCann suffered a heart attack. It wasn’t until he was in surgery for that, that doctors noticed the damage that had gone unseen a day and a half before.
In the end, McCann had to undergo three different surgeries as a result of negligent treatment.
Worse than that, the nerves that control his bladder and bowel functions had been damaged-irreparably so. McCann also suffered brain damage as a result of this medical malpractice.
While the $2 million compensatory award can help McCann with his medical bills, it can’t repair his brain or bring back normal voluntary bowel function. And it can’t bring back the wife who left him after the surgery.
(Incidentally, his wife was awarded $50,000 on the claim that the changes in her husband’s personality after the surgery, made her marriage un-doable.)
In addition to compensation, McCann’s attorneys also sued for punitive damages as well. These damages, however, were not awarded.
And that in itself is a travesty of justice. After all, McCann’s life would not be ruined, if any one of many people on the medical team had noticed something unusual. The punitive claim was filed because this kind of negligence looks more like a complete lack of regard for the patient’s safety!
If you are doing worse than expected during your recovery, or if you are struggling because of lack of attention or flat-out negligence on the part of your medical provider, you owe it to yourself (and other potential victims) to contact a seasoned medical malpractice attorney at Snyder and Snyder for a free legal consultation.