$8 a day for pain and suffering for rest of life determined insufficient.
A New Jersey appeals court ordered a new trial in a medical malpractice case because the award for pain and suffering was too low to adequately compensate the plaintiff for the rest of her life. The jury awarded $100,000 for pain and suffering. The Appellate Division ordered a new trial finding the award "grossly insufficient and a miscarriage of justice," but left in place the liability verdict and $800,000 in economic damages.
Maureen Walsh saw a succession of doctors starting in 1995 for circulatory problems in her toes. By the time she met with vascular surgeon George Constantinopoulos in early 1998, she was in severe pain. He recommended an arteriogram, saying it should be done promptly but that another doctor should arrange it because he was not in her health plan. A subsequent bypass operation showed that amputation might be necessary because painful gangrene had set in. First she lost her foot, then part of her leg and finally, in 1998, most of her leg as the gangrene advanced upward and her leg began to turn colors.
She was 50 at the time, and federal government estimates give a woman of that age a life expectancy of 32.5 years.
