A jury awarded $17 million to a woman who sued Lansing, Mich.-based Sparrow Hospital for malpractice after a routine outpatient procedure, the Lansing State Journal reports.
Kathleen Bashore was treated at Sparrow Hospital in March 2015 to improve blood flow in her legs and relieve leg cramping. She sued the hospital and cardiovascular surgeon Ara Pridjian, MD, in early 2017, alleging malpractice caused her to lose a leg and become paraplegic.
On Nov. 6, a jury awarded Ms. Bashore $7.1 million for past economic and noneconomic damages and an additional $9.9 million for future damages. The amount could be "significantly reduced by several million dollars in accordance with Michigan law," Sparrow said in a prepared statement to the Journal.
"Patient safety and helping ensure the very best outcomes are always our top priority," a Sparrow spokesperson said in the statement. "This particular case was incredibly challenging, and our hearts go out to the patient and family."
Hospital nurses allegedly left surgical sheaths in Ms. Bashore's legs for too long, leading to a blood clot in her left leg.
Ms. Bashore's attorneys also alleged that Dr. Pridjian delayed treatment of the clot and over-inflated angioplasty balloons and stents, which caused internal bleeding and poor blood flow, necessitating amputation.
Ms. Bashore was 70 at the time of the initial procedure. Since then, she has undergone 35 surgeries and requires around-the-clock care, her attorneys told the Journal.