$11 million verdict in Pennsylvania malpractice case

A Philadelphia jury has decided that three emergency-room doctors from Temple University Health System hospitals were negligent in their care of Yanira Montanez, leaving her blind, paralyzed, and brain-damaged. The verdict was for $11.2 million, including $5.9 million for future medical expenses that can be paid over time. In the medical-malpractice suit against ER doctors,two hospitals, and the Temple health system, Montanez's lawyer argued that the doctors failed to order a CT scan of her head despite symptoms that suggested a brain tumor, including nausea, vomiting, headaches, and periodic numbness in her arms, legs, and face for three days prior to her first emergency-room visit.