A Houston County, Georgia jury awarded $12 million in total damages to a woman who suffered permanent brain injuries after she accidentally administered the wrong type of insulin at a hospital in Perry….law.com, Georgia Jury Delivers $12M Med-Mal Verdict in Case Linking Mistaken Dose of Insulin to Brain Injury, Greg Land, 2021.
Because the jury apportioned 45% liability to the hospital and nurse there who had already settled out of the case, the actual judgment is set to be entered for $6.6 million against the surgeon, who was assigned the remainder of fault.
Plaintiff April Baxley was 40 when she was admitted to Houston Healthcare Perry Hospital in 2016 for gallbladder surgery.
Baxley also suffered from diabetes, and prior to the surgery the hospital canceled her insulin prescription, which was to be re-started afterward. But after the procedure the surgeon, Cabasares, mistakenly entered an order for a large dosage of a different, fast-acting type of insulin, Novolog.
After the dose, Baxley was found comatose, and she remained in a coma for two weeks. Afterward, she spent a month “re-learning to walk and talk” before being released for extended therapy.
In 2018, Baxley and her husband sued Perry Hospital and two nurses there, Cabasares and Sripathi, in Houston County State Court.