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DISCLAIMER: Please note that every case is different and these verdicts and settlements, while accurate, do not represent what we may obtain for you in your case.

Verdict and Recovery for Destruction of Kidneys, Failure to Diagnose Vessico-Ureteral Reflux

When our client was an infant she had multiple urinary tract infections. Her parents took her to see their family physician who referred her to a Urologist. The Urologist tried to conduct a test but it could not be completed. He wanted to repeat the test but no one told the parents to bring her back. When the parents did not bring her back no one in the Urology practice did anything to get her back; they did not contact either the parents or the family physician. When the child had further urinary tract infections the parents took her back to the family physician who assumed everything was OK because he had not heard back from the urologist. The child had a condition called vessico-ureteral reflux where the valve between the ureter and bladder allowed urine to flow back up the ureters to the kidneys. When the child had urinary tract infections this transmitted the infection up to the kidneys. By the time the condition was diagnosed her kidneys had been severely damaged. By the time of trial the child was on dialysis and kidney transplants were to occur later. At the time the malpractice occurred the partnership in which the family practitioner practiced and the professional corporation which employed the urologists were not considered health care providers and the court ruled that the then current VA cap of one million dollars for damages in medical malpractice cases did not apply to these defendants. This case was tried to a jury in Montgomery County Circuit Court resulting in a verdict of $1,350,000 against the urologists and their professional corporation. Because of a pretrial settlement with the family practitioner and his partnership the total recovery was $2,000,000.

Awarded: $2,000,000