A medical malpractice lawsuit brought by a Staten Island couple against a New Jersey hospital and its medical staff over the amputation of their young son’s leg due to complications from tonsil surgery was settled for $12.5 million.
According to the court filings, the boy was 5 years old at the time of the surgery. The child underwent surgery to remove his tonsils and adenoids at a medical center in Livingston, in April 2015.
During the surgery, complications arose, and doctors punctured both of the boy’s femoral arteries, trying to establish lines in them after which he was placed on a ventilator and put in the pediatric intensive care unit. Doctors and nurses were required to closely monitor the circulation in the boy’s legs to make sure it was not impaired by blood clots. But clots developed in his right leg, cutting off its blood supply and making the leg cold and discolored.
As no proper treatment was administered, the boy was taken to a children’s hospital in Philadelphia, where his right leg had to be amputated below the knee.
The medical center agreed to the settlement that will provide for the future medical care and needs of the boy, who is now 10 and uses prosthesis and a wheelchair.
In 2013, a newborn suffered multiple injuries that included hypoxic-ischemic brain damage due to careless medical authorities. The medical malpractice lawsuit was settled for $73.2 million by the Santa Fe jury a record amount to be awarded for a medical malpractice suit in New Mexico.
