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Two UW hospital doctors found guilty of medical malpractice
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by Michelle Orris
Friday, November 7, 2003
A Dane County jury found two University of Wisconsin hospital doctors guilty of negligence Wednesday morning in a civil lawsuit alleging medical malpractice.
After deliberating all night from 8:30 p.m. until nearly 5 a.m., the jury awarded $680,000 in damages to plaintiff Karen Suchomel. Suchomel charged the doctors with negligence for a medical accident during surgery on her spine four years ago meant to alleviate chronic back pain.
The doctors cut into blood vessels that should not have been touched, causing profuse bleeding and near loss of life, according to Suchomel’s attorney Pam Smoler.
Suchomel charged another doctor, whom the jury found guilty for negligence, in failing to inform her of the surgery’s risks ahead of time. She said if she had realized all of the potential risks, she would not have consented to the operation.
Attorney Smoler said the state of Wisconsin and UW Hospital insurers would fund Suchomel’s compensation.
“There is a systematic problem in that the University is trying to shove things under the rug, and this applies in other cases,” Smoler said in an interview. “The only way she could get information was to file a lawsuit, and I think the University System should have patients entitled to know what happened.”
Defense attorney David McFarlane said there was no indication of a mistake, and rather there was a complication in the surgery.
“It is the strong conviction of the defense that this was a momentary period of time and nothing could have been done to prevent it,” McFarlane said.
Smoler said permanent side effects of the surgical accident include pain and swelling in Suchomel’s legs, and she must take medication and periodically wear braces similar to blood-pressure cuffs on her legs.
Suchomel sought damages for all medical expenses and potential wage losses, as well as compensation for her husband, who would never be able to engage in sexual relations with his wife again.
The doctors determined to be guilty included Daniel Resnick, an assistant professor of neurological surgery, and John Sandin, a UW alum who graduated in 2000 and now works as doctor and Chief Neurosurgery Resident at UW hospital.
Assistant professors of surgery Michael Schurr and Jon Gould were found not guilty.
