Ellsworth, US – 17th December, 2019: A Penobscot County jury last week ordered Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center and Dr. Rafael Grossman to pay a Stonington man nearly $850,000 as compensation for a medical error during a hernia surgery.
Stephen H. Robbins III, 49, was represented by Bangor attorney Travis Brennan of Berman & Simmons.
Bangor attorney Ed Gould of Gross Minsky & Mogul represented EMMC and Grossman.
A civil action filed last year alleged that after Robbins developed a hernia in 2016 while working as a lobsterman, Grossman performed two surgeries to repair the hernia using mesh.
One surgery was April 15, 2016, and the second surgery on May 17, 2017, after Robbins experienced more pain on the left side of his groin.
“In his operative notes, Dr. Grossman documented that the mesh he had placed during the prior surgery had ‘migrated laterally,’” the complaint stated.
On May 22, 2017, while in New Hampshire, Robbins experienced acute vomiting and abdominal pain and was taken to the emergency department in New London Hospital.
Dr. Sean Bears performed surgery and discovered that the mesh had been placed backward so that the material had adhered to Robbins’ bowel.
Robbins hasn’t been able to work as a lobsterman since the May 17, 2017, surgery.
“This is what the medical field refers to as a ‘never event’ because it is a type of error that should never happen,” Brennan said Friday.
“Unfortunately, these ‘never events’ keep happening here in Maine,” Brennan said. “We are pleased that in Stephen’s case, the jury appreciated the importance of holding the defendants accountable.”
The parties involved agreed that a mistake was made but they couldn’t agree about what compensation was warranted.
A spokeswoman for Northern Light Eastern Maine Healthcare Systems, Suzanne Spruce, said the hospital had offered Robbins compensation for the mistake.
“When mistakes happen, Northern Light Health endeavors to ensure that the affected patient receives the best care possible to address any unintended complications arising from the error,” Spruce said. “In this case, Northern Light Health was forthright in admitting that a mistake had been made and offered what it felt was a fair and reasonable amount to the affected patient to compensate him for his unfortunate ordeal.
“After the patient rejected its offer, Northern Light Health determined to let the jury decide, after hearing all of the evidence, what amount was fair and reasonable to make the patient whole,” Spruce said. “The patient sought in excess of $3 million from the jury. The jury returned a verdict in the amount of $848,866.64.”
Attorney Brennan cited different figures.
“We recommended a verdict in the range of $1.75 million to $2.75 million,” Berman said. Gould “recommended a jury verdict of 200,000.”
“Resolving cases such as this is precisely what our civil justice system was designed to accomplish,” Spruce said. “It did its job in this case and Northern Light Health will abide by its decision.”
“Northern Light Health and all of its member organizations strive to achieve the highest standard of patient safety possible. Although perfection remains elusive, this is nonetheless our goal,” Spruce said.
Brennan described his client as “one of the most resilient people that I know.”
“Despite this botched surgery, his need for emergency surgery and his prolonged recovery, within 8 to 10 months he resumed working again.”
“He drove a taxi in the Ellsworth area until a couple months ago when a lobstering job opened back up for him,” said Brennan. “It’s a testament to his dedication to get back to the work he derives great satisfaction from.”
Fishing “is a critical part of his identity as a person and one of the greatest harms that resulted from this ‘never event’ was that Steve was unable to work lobstering for a period of time,” Brennan said.
Justice Ann Murray presided.
Source: https://www.ellsworthamerican.com/featured/stonington-man-awarded-850000-in-medical-negligence-suit/