Charles R. “Chuck” Mullins, a partner at Coxwell & Associates, represents people who have been injured in accidents, including medical negligence cases in Jackson, Hinds County, Mississippi and all over the state. Recently, a Sargent, Texas man received a $4 million verdict from a Fort Bend, Texas jury last week from a medical malpractice case.
The verdict of $4,044,051.11 is believed to be the second-largest medical malpractice verdict returned in Fort Bend County history. The case was heard in the 400th District Court, presided by Judge Clifford J. Vacek. Orton, a Matagorda County deputy constable, filed the medical malpractice case against Dr. Guillermo Ponce de Leon, who performed a small bowel resection in August 2003 at Sugar Land Surgical Hospital. “Almost immediately, Orton became ill and went immediately back into surgery,”. After being discharged 10 days later, Orton experienced a long period of repeated hospitalizations, abscesses and infections, which the jury concluded Dr. Ponce de Leon “inaccurately attributed to Orton’s Crohn’s Disease,” the release said.
Orton’s internist, Dr. Barry Liberoni, arranged for Orton’s transfer to the care of two doctors in New York, Dr. David Sachar and Dr. Adrian Greenstein. Liberoni testified that Sachar diagnosed what he believed to be the source of Orton’s continuing illness, which was an ongoing infectious process related to a leak. He gave Liberoni this information. Greenstein’s surgery was successful, but Orton suffers today from “complications from having had much of his small bowel removed,” the press release said. Orton, now 41, said in an e-mail to the Herald that he appreciated the jury and Vacek and his staff. He said he was “overwhelmed and greatly appreciative of the jury’s verdict,” and said, “No amount of money can replace the months and years of pain and frustration I have gone through and will continue to experience, but I am relieved that this situation has been resolved, and that the courts have recognized everything I went through and responded very clearly.”
Disclaimer: This blog is intended as general information purposes only, and is not a substitute for legal advice. Anyone with a legal problem should consult a lawyer immediately.