The parents of a 12-year-old boy that was left with lifelong injuries due the improper care he received at a local medical center, as reported by the Dyersburg State Gazette, have been awarded $7.8 million in a medical malpractice lawsuit.
The judgment was handed down by a jury after a 15-day long trial in Dyer County Circuit Court. Named as liable, for their negligence and failure to properly care for J.R.'s injury that led to his brain damage, are: Dyersburg Regional Medical Center, (DRMC); D.C., the owner of Upon This Rock Amusement; J.F., M.D.; and A.H., ARNP.
J.R.'s parents filed the original complaint in 2004 following an accident that occurred on January 17, 2004 at Upon This Rock Amusement.
J.R. was at Upon This Rock Amusement, a business that has since closed, to play a game of laser tag. In the course of the game J.R. fell on an exposed nail head and had to be taken to DRMC. Dr J.F. and A.H. treated him at DRMC.
The suit states that J.F., A.H., and other DRMC medical personnel failed to take the proper precautions that would prevent infection, including dispensing antibiotics. J.R. left the hospital on the same day he entered it.
On January 19 J.R. was admitted to DRMC with a chief complaint of unbearable leg pain coupled with a redness and swelling that was slowly making its way up his leg. The complaint names Dr. R.I., the doctor that treated J.R. on the 19th, for failing to diagnose his patient with necrotizing fascitis – a flesh-eating bacteria.
On January 22, when J.R. was then treated by another doctor, who deemed his illness as "significant", he was transferred at once to Memphis' Lebonheur Children's Hospital.
The complaint states that lack of the proper care and diagnosis while at DRMC caused J.R. to endure loosing his flesh from knee to groin, extensive removal of tissue and skin grafts, followed by intense brain injury.
In March of 2007, during the civil trial, Jackson-based child psychologist Dr. R.K. testified that J.R. would only qualify for 16 percent of jobs available, and that his injury had left his memory severely altered.
The current trial began July 16 and the verdict was delivered by jury on August 3. A large focus of the testimony was about J.R.'s knee injury and allegations of improper treatment that led to further, more severe, injuries.
Dr. J.F. and A.H. settled for undisclosed amounts. DRMC settled during the trial, also for an undisclosed amount.
J.R. was determined by the jury to be eligible for $7,816,740 in damages.
The jury's decision, according to court documents, laid 13 percent of the responsibility on Upon This Rock Amusement's owner D.C., 20 percent to Dr. J.F., 20 percent to A.H. and 47 percent to DRMC.
The court has sealed the final settlement amounts.
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