In 2015, Elza Garzon had sued Dr. Steven Batash of negligence while performing the diagnostic procedure to examine her upper digestive tract. She had alleged that Dr. Batash inserted the scope and took a biopsy sample too quickly, breaking a sac in the wall of her duodenum…law360, NY Court Partly Reverses Slash Of $2.5M Med Mal Award, Y. Peter Kang, 2020
After experiencing pain and nausea due to the procedure, she was later diagnosed with an intestinal perforation in the duodenum and a surgery performed on her to prevent the contents of the intestine from spilling through the opening into the rest of the body and causing sepsis, a potentially deadly infection.
In March 2017, the Queens County jury awarded Elza Garzon a total of $2.5 million in damages. However, Queens County Judge Joseph J. Esposito’s in a post-trial decision had reduced a $1 million award for future pain and suffering to $100,000.
The New York appeals court panel said that although Judge Esposito did not err by reducing a $1.5 million award for past pain and suffering to $550,000, the judge’s decision to drastically cut the future pain and suffering award did not result in reasonable compensation given the nature and extent of Garzon’s injuries.