Florida Woman Wins 15.9 Million Dollar Verdict from Medication Delay Leading to Amputation
May 29, 2018
Tampa, FL (Law Firm Newswire) May 29, 2018 – Fighting a legal battle since November 2008, a young woman who needed a partial amputation of her fingers and toes due to a medication delay won a $15.9 million verdict.
Dr. Yvonne Sherrer was determined completely responsibile for the medical malpractice verdict. The co-defendant, Holy Cross Hospital, was not at fault as Sherrer was not a hospital agent.
Stephanie Hollingsworth was 26 when she was admitted to Holy Cross on November 21, 2008 for a lupus flare up that caused pain in her feet and hands. With no room in the intensive care unit, she was put in the cardiac care unit for vasculitis. Sherrer was assigned to Hollingsworth as her rheumatologist and put her on steroids rather than Cytoxan, an immunosuppressant necessary to treat the inflammation.
After days of pain, Hollingsworth was still not transferred to the ICU even though a bed was available. On November 28 she was eventually transferred to the University of Miami Hospital where she was given Cytoxan.
Hollingsworth’s attorney said that she “was at death’s door by the time they transferred her out of Holy Cross.”
At that point, the Cytoxan could only alleviate Hollingsworth’s pain. Her fingers and toes had already become shriveled and black with gangrene. As a result, part of her left foot, nine of her toes, the tips of two fingers and her right thumb had to be amputated.
According to Sherrer’s attorney, Sherrer did not give Hollingsworth Cytoxan to avoid potential infection. However, Hollingsworth’s counsel stated that doctors should give medication if infection is treatable.
Hollingsworth won a $15.9 million verdict: $5 million for medical costs, $10 million for pain and suffering and $922,000 for lost wages.
“Patients who suffer from any extreme case of medical malpractice deserve to have their case be brought to justice and to receive their deserved compensation for any monetary loss of pain and suffering,” said Robert Joyce, a Tampa medical malpractice attorney with the law firm of Joyce & Reyes. Joyce is not involved with the case.
Learn more at http://www.joyceandreyespa.com
Joyce and Reyes Law Firm, P.A.
307 S Hyde Park Ave
Tampa, FL 33606
Call: 813.251.2007
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