A colonoscopy that resulted in a 62-year-old man having more than two feet of his colon removed because of test-related perforations resulted in a $2 million verdict against two doctors who cared for the plaintiff in 2008.
A 12-member Philadelphia jury deliberated for eight hours over two days before finding this month that Michael Resnick, who performed the colonoscopy on Richard McCade, was 60 percent negligent for Mr. McCade's perforated colon and resulting surgeries. The jury found Lawrence M. Wald was 40 percent negligent for allegedly further perforating Mr. McCade's colon during follow-up procedures to fix subsequent complications from the initial tear. According to Mr. McCade's pretrial memorandum in McCade v. Wills Eye Hospital, Dr. Resnick "dramatically overinflated" Mr. McCade's colon during the Jan. 25, 2008, colonoscopy. When Mr. McCade complained to Dr. Resnick of severe pain the next day, the doctor directed him to go to the emergency room where a CT scan showed no free air, meaning there was no perforation.
