Indiana Widower Receives $2.2 Million Medical Malpractice Settlement

A surgical mistake in Marion County, Indiana, left a 68-year-old woman dead in the wake of a liver transplant and heart bypass surgery. Now, the Indiana woman's widower has successfully sued for medical malpractice and won $2.2 Million in damages from Marion County jury.

During her heart surgery and heart value replacement, her Indiana doctor inadvertently left a surgical foam pad in her chest cavity. By the time the medical mistake was found a month after the botched surgery, it was deadly. After five painful weeks of suffering, the woman died from complications from her surgical error as her organs failed. The Indiana Medical Malpractice Act capped the damages at $1.25 million.

Those representing the doctor and the hospital responsible for the patients death did not argue that medical malpractice did not take place, but did try to decrease the value of the case by arguing that the patient's life expectancy was short given her history of medical issues and her age.