The National Trial Lawyers
  • Home
    • Meet Our Team
    • Contact Us
    • Mission & Goals
    • FAQ
  • Webinars
  • News
  • Membership Directory
    • Top 100 Map – Civil Plaintiff
    • Top 100 Map – Criminal Defense
    • Top 40 Under 40 Map – Civil Plaintiff
    • Top 40 Under 40 Map – Criminal Defense
  • Top 100
    • Civil Plaintiff Officers / Executive Committee
    • Criminal Defense Officers / Executive Committee
    • Benefits
    • About
    • Top 100 President’s Message
    • Diplomat
    • Membership Renewal
    • Member Profile Updates
    • Top 100 Badge
    • Media
  • Top 40
    • Civil Plaintiff Officers / Executive Committee
    • Criminal Defense Officers / Executive Committee
    • Top 40 Under 40 Trial Academy Bootcamp
    • Benefits
    • About
    • Top 40 President’s Message
    • Membership Renewal
    • Member Profile Updates
    • Top 40 Badge
    • Media
  • Specialty Assoc
    • About
    • Shop
    • Officers
    • Membership Renewal
    • Member Profile Updates
    • Media
  • Nominate
    • Top 100
    • Top 40
    • Specialty Association
    • Trial Lawyer Hall of Fame
    • Trial Lawyer of the Year
    • Trial Team of the Year
    • America’s Most Influential Trial Lawyer
    • America’s Most Influential Law Firm
    • Lifetime Achievement Award
  • Shop
  • Magazine
    • A-List
  • Education and Networking Agenda
    • Trial Lawyers Summit
      • Summit Sponsors
    • Top 40 Under 40 Trial Academy Boot Camp
    • Mass Torts Made Perfect
    • The Lanier Master Class 5.0 Trial Academy 2021
    • Webinars
  • Hall of Fame
    • Trial Lawyer Hall of Fame

Defendants Blame Each Other after Connecticut Woman Awarded $12M in Medical Malpractice Case

Posted on June 17, 2014 by Larry Bodine

 

medical malpractice, american association for justice

The hospital and a surgical resident blame the primary surgeon, who has already settled claims against him.

By Mitchell J. Birzon

Danbury, CT – 65-year-old Vivian Gagliano of Redding, Connecticut, was awarded $12 million on May 30 by a jury in a medical malpractice case. A doctor had punctured her colon during a routine hernia operation, in which she lost most of her large intestine as a result of the negligence.

The jury ordered Danbury Hospital in Connecticut to pay the amount to her for the botched surgery, which sent her into a month-long coma. The surgery, which took place in 2008, led to a massive abdominal infection as well as multiple other surgeries.

The award was handed down last Friday by jurors in Danbury Superior Court in Connecticut after about 3 hours of deliberations.

After the surgery, Gagliano’s surgical wound was closed, but the doctors never realized that her colon was punctured at that time. It was after the surgery when the doctors realized that her colon was punctured when she developed a massive abdominal infection.

According to her attorney, medical malpractice lawyer Joshua Koskoff, Gagliano went into septic shock. She even had a heart attack and her organs began failing before she was sent into a month-long coma. Today, she continues to have abdominal problems which hinder her movement and she still cannot properly digest food.

Defendants blame each other

 

Andrea Rynn, the spokeswoman for Danbury Hospital, stated that the hospital officials are considering an appeal as they disagree with the verdict. “This verdict is an unfortunate example of the litigious environment in health care that hinders progressive reform and affects our ability to reduce health care costs for those we serve,” she said in the statement.

After her operation, Gagliano sued the hospital and two doctors, Venkata Bodavula and Joseph Gordon in 2010. Medical malpractice lawyer Joshua Koskoff said that Dr. Bodavula was the one at fault and who perforated her colon. At that time, he was a surgical resident. According to Koskoff, Gagliano was not aware that a surgical resident would be taking part in the operation.

During the trial Bodavula denied Koskoff’s allegations and said that Dr. Gordon was responsible for the surgical mistake. Moreover, the hospital lawyers are arguing that the hospital cannot be held responsible for the acts of a surgical resident and that instead, Dr. Gordon should be held responsible.

According to Dr. Bodavula, he was not the one who punctured her colon and he helped Dr. Gordon begin a procedure on Gagliano. He is now a hand surgeon in St. Peters, Missouri, near St. Louis. According to court records, Dr. Gordon settled all claims against him before the start of the trial. The terms of settlement were not immediately available.


Mitchell J. Birzon is the founding partner of The Birzon Law Group in Smithtown, New York. He is a graduate of Georgetown University and the New England School of Law. He practices in discipline against health care professionals, personal injury, healthcare law and medical practice mergers & acquisitions.

Posted in Blog, Medical Malpractice

Comments are closed.

Recent Posts

Intel Ordered to Pay a $2.2B Settlement in Patent Infringement Case

Intel Ordered to Pay a $2.2B Settlement in Patent Infringement Case

March 3rd, 2021

Intel was told to pay $2.18 billion after losing a patent-infringement trial over technology related to chip-making.Intel inf[Read More...]
What is Sexual Harassment?

What is Sexual Harassment?

March 1st, 2021

Sexual Harassment Defined: Legally, sexual harassment is a form of sex discrimination that violates Title VII of the [Read More...]
Facebook Pays $650M to Settle a Privacy Dispute

Facebook Pays $650M to Settle a Privacy Dispute

March 1st, 2021

WASHINGTON: A US federal judge has given final approval to Facebook's US$650 million payment to settle a privacy dispute betw[Read More...]
Pharmaceutical Giant Johnson & Johnson is Preparing $3.9B for Talc Settlements

Pharmaceutical Giant Johnson & Johnson is Preparing $3.9B for Talc Settlements

February 26th, 2021

Pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson has set aside $3.9 billion for talc-related litigation, according to a regulatory [Read More...]
Alaska Airlines Will Pay $3.19M Following the Death of a Passenger

Alaska Airlines Will Pay $3.19M Following the Death of a Passenger

February 24th, 2021

Seattle-based Alaska Airlines has been ordered to pay more than $3 million to the family of a passenger of reduced mobility w[Read More...]

Contact Us | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy

Attorney information and content provided on this website is provided for the benefit of members of The National Trial Lawyers and as a public service by Legal Associations Management, Inc. The website and all data are the property of Legal Associations Management, Inc. Data, including without limitation attorney information and content, on the site may not be mined, sold, or used commercially for any purpose without the explicit written consent of Legal Associations Management, Inc. This site may not be accessed by any automated program for extracting data for any use. By accessing and using the site you agree that you will not develop, support or use software, devices, scripts, robots, or any other means or processes (including crawlers, browser plug-ins and add-ons, or any other technology) to scrape data or otherwise copy profiles and other data. Unauthorized use or attempted unauthorized use of this system may subject you to both civil and criminal penalties.