A jury has awarded $450,000 to a man who suffered a spinal cord injury as a result of a doctor’s mistake during a spinal x-ray.
James Halloway, 81, filed the suit against Dr. Samuel Essma at Alton Memorial Hospital. The mistake, according to Halloway, caused him to develop a serious condition known as arachnoiditis.
The Suit’s Basis
Dr. Essma’s mistake occurred when he performed a spinal x-ray, known as a myelogram, on Halloway at Alton Memorial Hospital. Dr. Essma admits that he accidentally injected the wrong chemical dye – a substance injected into patients to make x-ray results easier to see – into Halloway’s spine.
As a result, Halloway suffered massive muscle spasms and had difficulty breathing. He was hospitalized for two weeks after the injection. The suit claimed that the mistake caused Halloway’s development of arachnoiditis.
The Injuries
Records show that Halloway’s health since the mistake in 2004 has fluctuated greatly. As a result of the mistake, the suit claims Halloway suffered the following injuries:
· Disabled legs
· Debilitating chronic pain
· Sexual dysfunction
· Reliance on a walker
· Bladder problems
· Spasms
All of these are possible symptoms of arachnoiditis, testified expert witnesses.
“(The defendants) have cause this man pain so bad he could barely walk,” said Rex Carr, Halloway’s attorney. “They said it was just a mistake. That was gross negligence.”
The Award
The suit originally sought $2.4 million, but surprisingly, the jury only awarded Halloway $450,000. The jury found that Halloway should only receive payment for the injuries he sustained during his time at the hospital, since they couldn’t be sure which of the other problems were age-related, or related to other health problems Halloway had.
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