$2.9 Million Medical Malpractice Awarded to Woman for Hip Surgery

June 11, 2009

LOS ANGELES – A jury has awarded $2.9 million in non-economic damages to a woman who had a hip surgery that resulted in a damaged sciatic nerve.

Erica Rockabrand sued and won against UCI Medical Center following a hip surgery that left her with chronic pain.

Court record showed that on April 14, 2005, Rockabrand went to have a joint in her hip fixated since hurting it in cheerleading when she was 14. The surgeon, Dr. Guy Paiment drove two screws into her hip and one of the screws damaged Rockabrand’s sciatic nerve.

Her attorney, Sean M. Burke said that the procedure is not accepted by many orthopedic surgeons. Further, he alleged that Dr. Paiment knew that the procedure carried other risks but didn't tell her. Following the surgery, when Rockabrand woke up in pain, she made a number of calls to the doctor and UCI which was never returned.

Rockabrand went in for a CAT scan the next day and was scheduled for a follow-up surgery to replace the screw with a shorter one. However, she went to another doctor to have both screws replaced.

The representative of UCI and Dr. Paiment, Mark Franzen said that while the procedure performed on Rockabrand is “unique”, Dr. Paiment is highly specialized to be able to perform it. Franzen also said that Paiment warned his patient of the risks during the two-hour pre-surgery conferences.

Franzen said that the surgery was rightly recommended, properly performed and was dutifully observed post-operatively. He also claimed that the real cause of her pain is having the two screws removed which left her original injury intact.

The jury however, found in favor of Rockabrand and awarded her $89,000 for economic damages such as corrective surgeries but also gave a whopping $2.9 million for non-economic damages such as pain and suffering.

California law however, caps damages for pain and suffering in medical malpractice suits at $250,000. So according to Rockabrand’s attorney, she will only be receiving a few hundred thousand dollars as a result.