Attorney Boone Callaway Discusses Punitive Award in Knee Injury Case
$7.5 Million Punitive Damages Awarded in California Medical Malpractice Case
A California woman scored another legal victory recently when a jury awarded her an additional $7.5 million in punitive damages, on top of the initial $5.2 million dollar award the jury handed her last month. The case was based on a defective cold-therapy device she used, and the negligent care she received from her doctor.
In 1999, a patient sued Dr. David Chao and his company, Oasis Sports Medical Group, along with medical device manufacturer Breg Inc. over injuries suffered as a result of the patient’s use of Breg’s cold-therapy device called the “Polar Care 500,” which Chao prescribed. The lawsuit settled three years later, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported.
Doctor Continued Prescribing Device Despite the Previous History of Injuries
Despite this incident, Chao continued prescribing the Polar Care device, including to Whitney Engler, a 15-year-old on whom he’d performed knee surgery in 2003. Chao did not disclose to Engler’s family the device’s history of injuries to other users, nor did he tell her that he stood to gain financially from her purchase of the unit, USA Today reported. Engler used the device as directed but developed frostbite on her knee, causing her to suffer permanent injuries including disfigurement, she claimed in a medical malpractice and product liability lawsuit filed in 2006. The jury in that case last month found the doctor 50 percent responsible and awarded the woman $5.2 million. Early this month, the jury tacked on an additional $7.5 million in punitive damages, placing $500,000 of that amount on Chao. The jury assessed the remaining $7 million in punitives against Breg.
Bob Frank, who represented Chao, argued unsuccessfully that the issue was strictly one of Breg’s liability for its defective product. “Dr. Chao used the Breg Polar Care device as recommended and exactly like thousands of other doctors nationwide,” Frank stated to the Union-Tribune in an email.
Marc Stern, Engler’s attorney, told the Union-Tribune that the facts in his client’s case were “egregious,” and pointed out that Chao should have been on notice about the dangers of the Polar Care after the 1999 lawsuit.
Proceedings To Revoke Doctor’s License
Problems continue to mount for Chao, who currently functions as the team doctor for the NFL’s San Diego Chargers. Based upon his care of three other patients between 2007 and 2010, the California Medical Board has begun proceedings to suspend or revoke the doctor’s license. The Union-Tribune report states that one patient suffered nerve damage from a hip resurfacing procedure in 2007, another 2007 hip resurfacing patient incurred “significant blood vessel lacerations,” and a third patient, undergoing knee replacement, suffered a blood clot and a pseudoaneurysm in 2010.
According to the board’s report, Chao failed to advise the 2010 patient properly regarding the risks of the procedure and was not available or properly managing postoperative complications.
Request a Free Consultation with a Medical Malpractice Attorney
Risks are a part of any medical procedure. A patient must accept them when she decides to undergo treatment. What a patient should not have to accept, though, is risk posed by unsafe medical devices or substandard care from her doctors. Our San Francisco medical malpractice attorneys are available to help you if you’ve been harmed by a doctor’s negligence or a defective medical device. Call 415-541-0300 to request your free initial consultation with an attorney.
Boone Callaway is a personal injury & medical malpractice lawyer in San Francisco who has been working with clients in the Bay Area for over 25 years. Mr. Callaway is one of only a few personal injury litigators in San Francisco who is a Super Lawyer, AV Rated and is also a member of ABOTA – American Board of Trial Advocates.
