A recent medical malpractice trial concluded with a Maryland woman being awarded $1.1 million for medical malpractice during a gallbladder removal surgery that left the woman with severe internal injuries.  The woman filed the Baltimore-based medical malpractice lawsuit against a general surgeon from Franklin Square Hospital Center which claimed that the surgeon had cut her hepatic duct while removing her gallbladder.

"The gallbladder assists the body in the digestive process and stores bile produced by the liver." When the woman's bile duct was severed, she required additional surgeries and was hospitalized as a result in intensive care for 10 days. After leaving the ICU, she was required to wear tubes that drained the ducts for 10 months following, according to news reports.

During the trial, the accused doctor claimed that a severed duct is "a known potential complication of gallbladder surgery" and that the woman gave consent to the surgery regardless. The doctor has filed a motion for a new trial based on this fact, which he expressed was "wrongly excluded from the trial evidence." The woman claimed in court that the consent was irrelevant when the doctor failed to meet expected standards of care.

According to a recent news article on the case, "severed or punctured bile ducts during gallbladder surgery are a fairly common complication that can be caused by a medical mistake. It is one of the leading causes for medical malpractice lawsuit, since certain steps can be taken by the surgeon to reduce the risk of a severed duct during surgery."

The woman was awarded $106,000 in medical expenses and $1 million in pain and suffering damages, however, the state of Maryland has a limit on non-economic damages of $665,000.

Source: About Lawsuits.com "Gallbladder Surgery Malpractice Lawsuit Results in $1.1M Jury Award" 09/13/2010