Location: Confidential
Injuries:
multiple surgeries and permanent injury
Verdict: $1,650,000
The plaintiff was a 15 year-old girl in 2017 when she was diagnosed with kidney stones. She underwent ureteroscopy for stone removal, during which she suffered an iatrogenic injury to her ureter.
Attempts to repair the ureter were unsuccessful, and the patient required a nephrostomy tube as well as multiple surgeries. Eventually, an autotransplant of the right kidney was attempted, but at the completion of that procedure, the kidney failed to perfuse and nephrectomy was required. Thus, as a result of the allegedly negligent damage to the ureter, this 15 year-old female with a propensity toward kidney stone formation was left with a single kidney.
The plaintiff’s standard of care experts testified that specific decisions made during the surgery were negligent and led directly to the ureteral injury. The plaintiff’s causation expert (a pediatric nephrologist) testified that, although kidney failure was not probable, the plaintiff was at an elevated risk for kidney issues, including end-stage renal disease, over her lifetime. No significant future damages were claimed.
This case was resolved by settlement.
