Oakwood Hospital in Dearborn, Michigan could pay dearly for a “mistake” that cost an 81-year-old woman her life. A jury ruled against the hospital earlier this month, awarding the victim’s family $21 million in damages.
The hospital wrongly performed brain surgery on Bimla Nayyar who was admitted to the hospital in January 2012 for treatment of a temporomandibular dislocation. Instead of caring for Nayyar’s minor jaw condition, the hospital removed the right side of her skull before realizing they were operating on the wrong patient. The mistake was reportedly caused by a mix-up with another patient’s CT scan.
The hospital, which has yet to admit any wrongdoing, plans to appeal the verdict. They released a statement expressing their concern over how the details of the case were portrayed in court. Geoffrey Fieger, the family’s attorney, told The Detroit Free Press the case is the “worst mix-up and cover up” by a hospital he has seen in his 37 years of practice. Fieger alleges the hospital failed to tell the victim's family about the mistake and did not report it to the state health department.
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