$21 Million Verdict in Wrong-Patient Brain Surgery
A Michigan jury on May 6 issued a $21 million verdict against a hospital accused of performing brain surgery on the wrong patient in 2012. The 81-year-old patient died after spending 60 days on life support, her lawyer told the jury.
The attorney for Bimla Nayyar’s family, Geoffrey Fieger, said the woman was hospitalized at the hospital in January 2012 with jaw joint problems.
“Oakwood Hospital claimed that it mistakenly thought that Mrs. Nayyar was bleeding in her brain and needed an immediate brain operation.” Fieger said in a release. “She was taken to the operating room where five holes were drilled into her head and the right side of her skull was sawed out. At that time, they realized that there was nothing wrong with her, but did not inform the family that they had operated on the wrong patient.”
Oakwood has been reported to be considering an appeal.
