Prince George's Jury Awards $18M in Hospital Amputation Malpractice Case

A Prince George's County jury awarded a 29-year-old Washington, D.C., mother $18.65 million after concluding that Prince George's Hospital Center and two affiliated medical groups provided inadequate care following a fall that ultimately cost her left leg, though Maryland's strict cap on pain-and-suffering damages will reduce her actual recovery to less than $4.5 million.

The verdict came after a monthlong trial before Prince George's County Circuit Judge Todd Steuart. The jury found three defendants liable: University of Maryland Capital Region Health, Shock Trauma Associates, and Maryland Emergency Medicine Network Physicians. Their attorney, Mark Thomas Foley of Sasscer, Claggett and Bucher in Upper Marlboro, did not respond to a request for comment.

Ms. White, who has two children ages 5 and 8, went to Prince George's Hospital Center after a fall left her with a dislocated knee. Over the next eight months, she underwent nearly 30 surgeries in an attempt to save her leg. None worked. The leg was amputated above the knee. For two years afterward she relied on a wheelchair; she has since obtained a prosthetic leg but said she has struggled to find a comfortable fit despite hundreds of fittings.

"It was just a relief. It felt really good that they actually took the time to listen to the evidence and just rule in our favor," White said after the verdict. "This was the last bit of closure that I needed from it all."

The jury's $18.65 million award broke down as $578,094 for past medical expenses, $3.07 million for future medical expenses, and $15 million for noneconomic damages, including pain and suffering. Under Maryland law, that last category is capped at $830,000, cutting the total she will actually collect to roughly $4.48 million. The gap between the jury's moral judgment and the legal ceiling on recovery is stark: the jury valued her suffering at $15 million; state law limits compensation for it to a fraction of that.

Not all defendants were found liable. Surgical Associates and vascular surgeon Kunda Biswas were cleared, though the jury did find they had breached the standard of care. The panel concluded that breach was not a "substantial factor" in White's injury. Their attorney, Trevor Shaw of The Wiggins Law Group, declined to comment.

Michael Schwartzberg, a spokesperson for the University of Maryland Medical System, defended the hospital's conduct in a written statement: "While we are sensitive to the fact that Ms. White suffered a significant injury, we strongly believe the evidence clearly showed that Ms. White was treated in a very timely manner and the care rendered to her was excellent."

Her attorney framed the verdict as a rebuke of any lower expectations for care at a county hospital. "The standard of care should be the same, no matter where you get care. If you go to Prince George's Hospital, you should still be entitled to the same care you'd get at a suburban hospital, that you'd get at Johns Hopkins Hospital. There is no lower standard of care for the residents of Prince George's County," attorney Evanss said.

White said the money, reduced as it is by the cap, will still make a real difference. "It's going to help me and my family out tremendously," she said.

The verdict is not the first large malpractice award against the Cheverly hospital. A law firm analysis noted that Prince George's Hospital Center previously faced a $16.5 million malpractice verdict in a cerebral palsy case, making this the second eight-figure jury finding against the institution in recent years.