Medical Malpractice Award: Florida Woman Awarded $8.25 Million for Botched Breast Implant Surgery
A Florida jury awarded a Lee County (Naples) woman $8.25 million in a medical malpractice case against her plastic surgeon after she lost both her breasts in a botched breast augmentation surgery.
Naples surgeon Dr. Luciano Boemi attempted to give the 28 year-old Plaintiff a breast lift and augmentation in 2003. During the surgery, the Plaintiff's blood supply was cut, resulting in her breasts turning black and forming a hard, dry tissue. Incredibly and tragically, thirteen surgeries were required to remedy the Plaintiff's open wounds and to try to reshape some of the tissue that remained on her breasts.
For whatever reason, Florida juries are the most generous in the nation. The median personal injury verdict in Florida is $100,000, according to Jury Verdict Research. No wonder personal injury lawyers and medical malpractice attorneys flock to Florida. In contrast, the median verdict in Maryland is $12,813. While I have indicated in the past that I think this statistic is somewhat what misleading because of the number of small claims type personal injury cases in Maryland that Plaintiffs' lawyers end up trying in Maryland Circuit Court, it does not make up the nearly tenfold difference between Maryland and Florida. If there are any Florida personal injury lawyers reading this, I would be interested in your thoughts on why juries are far more generous in Florida accident and medical malpractice cases.
Bookmark: 
Comments
I don't know the answer exactly. But it really depends on the jurisdiction. Florida's Dade County Circuit Court is a personal injury lawyer's haven, no doubt. The juries awards are just through the roof. But Florida is a big place. The story is very different in central Florida. Years ago in Lake County in central Florida, a guy got accidentally shot in the head by his neighbor. With the bullet still lodged in the guy's head, the jury awarded like 8 grand. Medical malpractice cases are nearly impossible in counties like this - it really has to be egregious conduct.
Posted by: Cindy Reyes | August 30, 2006 9:29 AM
I'm not a FL lawyer but I considered moving there some years ago. In FL automobile case you cannot sue unless there is a permanent injury. There is a no-fault system for non-permanent injuries so for auto cases (which make up the bulk of low verdicts) the low cost verdicts get weeded out. Thus med mals, products, etc. which have higher awards make up a higher percentage of the verdicts. I think.
Posted by: Emo Cobb | August 31, 2006 2:00 PM
Thanks for the comments, Emo and Cindy. I'm sure getting rid of some of the soft tissue non permanent injuries helps the median, for sure. I also think it is what drags down verdicts in Maryland, that we have so many small cases that defense lawyers "bump up" to circuit court. So the plaintiffs' lawyers are forced to try smaller claims in front of a jury. But even so, the median of 100k in personal injury cases is still stunning to say the least.
Posted by: Ron Miller | August 31, 2006 4:52 PM
I think that any amount of money does not compensate the injuries from a medical malpractice case.
Posted by: Robby | September 2, 2006 4:10 AM
Because of the high cost of medical malpractice insurance in Florida, many clainless physicians go bare. I am wondering what your thoughts on that are?
Posted by: sheehan | September 7, 2006 11:33 PM