ALBANY – After a trial lasting more than two weeks, it took a Dougherty County jury half the running length of a “Matlock” episode to return a stunning $70 million verdict against three Albany physicians.
The recent medical malpractice trial, which resulted in one of the largest verdict awards in state history, dates back to March 2013, when a Camilla woman was transported from her local hospital to Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital in Albany. After several days in the hospital, during which time Jessica Powell, then 28, was treated by three physicians, according to her attorneys, both of her legs were amputated above the knees.
“I think it was just a clear, indisputable error that caused a great harm to our client, who is a good person,” Matt Cook of the Cook Law Group in Gainesville, Ga., said. “To combine that with denial, excuses, just doesn’t match the facts.
“I think that frustration, coupled with the details of the case” resulted in the large verdict. ”I told the jury adding insult to injury is not just a cliche; that’s something you don’t do. To make up excuses, that added insult to injury.”
Powell’s ordeal started when she contracted a stomach virus, according to the Cook Law Group, and she eventually arrived in Albany, where she was diagnosed with sepsis and shock. She was administered vasopressors – mediation that constricts the blood vessels in the extremities, in an attempt to raise her critically low blood pressure.
However, according to her attorneys, the dosage given was 2 1/2 times the usual maximum dosage in violation of the initial physician’s order and was continued at that amount for more than 40 hours, even after her blood pressure returned to a safe range.
During her initial time at the hospital, Powell was treated by Drs. James Palazzolo and Thomas Ungarino, and Dr. Joe “Tripp” Morgan III assessed Powell’s legs for potential injuries, according to Powell’s attorneys.
“Over the next 24 hours, Dr. Morgan never reassessed Jessica nor responded to critical lab values that indicated Jessica was developing a reperfusion injury to her legs known as compartment syndrome,” Cook said. “As a result of those two errors, the overdose and the mismanagement of the reperfusion injury, Jessica lost both legs above the knees.”
Powell’s physicians denied responsibility, Cook said, and Morgan contended that Powell’s legs were “dead” long before he saw her.
The lengthy delay between the 2013 event and the verdict was the result of delays by insurance companies, the COVID-19 pandemic and, most recently, a mistrial declared in September 2024 during an initial attempt to try the case.
That mistrial resulted when Morgan reportedly spoke to a potential juror as a jury pool was being questioned, Cook said.
“That was the most shocking thing I’ve ever seen,” Cook said.
Powell’s attorneys asked for an award of $42 million to $68 million in the case, with the jury verdict coming in greater than the amount requested.
“We were really just proud to represent her and (after) 10 years of ‘No, no, no,’ we’ve finally arrived at ‘Yes’ with an impartial 12 people who got to hear the facts,” Cook said.
The jury assessed Morgan as responsible for half of the awarded amount, with the balance assessed of Palazzolo at 30% and Ungarino at 20%.
The Herald left phone messages and/or email messages on Monday with Morgan and the legal firms that represented the three doctors in the case. A representative with the Oliver Maner law firm, which represented Palazzolo, sent an email that said the partners who handled the case were away from the office on Monday afternoon, and there was no response from the firm that represented Morgan and Ungarino.
Phoebe was not part of the verdict, and reportedly entered a settlement for an undisclosed sum earlier. Negotiations between the attorneys during the trial did not result in a settlement for the three physicians.
Since 2013, Powell, now 40, has gone on with her life, Shane Lazenby of the Lazenby Law Group in Gainesville, who also represented the plaintiff in the case, said.
“She’s doing really well,” he said. “She’s an amazing person. She went back to work and continued to work. She’s a strong person.”