$10 Million Jury Verdict In Medical Malpractice Case

On April 4, 2011, a jury, after a two-week trial in Philadelphia Common Pleas Court awarded $10 Million to a 60-year-old man in a medical malpractice case in which it was claimed that the plaintiff was mis-diagnosed as suffering from ALS a fatal neuromuscular disease.

The Plaintiff’s attorney, Matthew Casey, claimed the mis-diagnosis resulted in the plaintiff having to spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair.

At trial, it was argued that the defendant did not perform tests and consult with radiologists before diagnosing the plaintiff with ALS.

Following the mis-diagnosis, the defendant told the plaintiff he had 18 months to three years to live. The plaintiff didn’t receive the correct diagnosis – that he suffered from a spinal cord compression – until more than three years later, after he had already made plans for his own funeral.

It was argued that if the plaintiff was diagnosed properly by the defendant, his condition would have been treatable with surgery which was no longer an option and that the plaintiff now suffers from permanent leg paralysis.