$4 Million Compensation follows $5.7 millions
January 29, 2008
Everyone hears about the “McDonald” case ad nauseum but this sort of cases where the doctor is simply negligent again and again and people die again and again is not heard of much.
$4 Million Awarded in Wrongful Death Suit after 45 Minutes Deliberation
A Wetzel County jury deliberated for about 45 minutes before deciding a New Martinsville doctor should pay $4 million to the surviving children of a woman who died from what one witness called an “intra-abdominal catastrophe.”
The wrongful death verdict is the second multi-million dollar decision against Dr. Anandhi Murthy in the past 10 months.
Just last spring, the law firm Bordas & Bordas of Wheeling obtained a $5.7 million award against Murthy on behalf of another plaintiff.
In the most recent case, Elizabeth Karpacs, 76, came to Wetzel County Hospital in June 2001 with serious abdominal symptoms and complaints, according to testimony in the case. Testimony during the four-day civil trial showed that surgery would have been needed to correct a life-threatening ischemic bowel condition, Karpacs’ attorneys said. Murthy instead treated Karpacs with fluids and antibiotics, the patient went home for the evening and Murthy did not see her again. She died the next morning.
So in both cases, the jury was duped and the evidence was insufficient to find the “good gal” liable? Experience tells me that it is hard to fool one person, and it is even harder to fool twelve strangers that have nothing to lose one way or another. A verdict of this magnitude reached in 45 minutes can only mean the existence of overwhelming evidence showing negligence.