Washington DC Jury Awards Patient And Wife $8.35 Million After Surgeon's Failure To Recognize Loss Of Blood Flow Following Knee Replacement Surgery Caused Leg Death, Amputation
Plaintiff Eloyd Robinson, an 82-year-old male security guard, underwent a total knee replacement surgery on July 16, 2013, performed by Dr. Rida Azer at United Medical Center. Due to a loss of arterial flow to plaintiff's right leg after the surgery, his leg slowly died, and he required an above-knee amputation.
Plaintiff and his wife Clara Robinson filed a medical malpractice action against Dr. Azer and American International Orthopaedic Association on Nov. 18, 2015, in the District of Columbia Superior Court. Plaintiff claimed that Dr. Azer neglected his medical care during the post-operative period. Plaintiff also claimed that Dr. Azer was ill-equipped to perform the surgery in the first place as he was a bone doctor, not an artery doctor, and that he should have called in a vascular surgeon when he used a tourniquet to cut off blood flow during the surgery. Further, Dr. Azer failed to recognize that plaintiff had a stent placed in his superficial femoral artery in 2011 due to a wound in his toe that was not healing properly. Plaintiff claimed that a vascular surgeon would have known that a tourniquet was not to be used on a patient with his type of stent. Additionally, plaintiff claimed that Dr. Azer was negligent in failing to see him in the hospital after the surgery, despite indications of a blood flow issue and his significant pain. While Dr. Azer did see plaintiff in his office five times after the surgery over a month-long period, he failed to timely recognize that the leg was slowly dying. Opening statements for plaintiff detailed the many mistakes made along the way in Dr. Azer's care of plaintiff.
On June 15, 2017, the jury returned a verdict awarding Eloyd Robinson $6,750,000, and Clara Robinson $1,600,000, for a total of $8,350,000. Plaintiff had demanded $5,000,000, and defendants had offered $750,000.
Plaintiff was represented by Patrick Malone of Patrick A. Malone & Associates and Kenneth Trombly and Daniel Singer of Trombly & Singer. Defendants were represented by D. Lee Rutland and Tiffany Randolph of Wharton, Levin, Ehrmantraut & Klein.
Lexis Advance Subscribers may view the complete summary, including expert witness information, here: Eloyd Robinson, et al. v. Rida Azer, M.D., and American International Orthopaedic Association; 2017 Jury Verdicts LEXIS 1866.
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