Jury awards Macon woman more than $9 million in lawsuit with hospital after father’s death

A jury awarded a Macon woman more than $9 million in a wrongful death lawsuit against a local hospital Wednesday after her father died following a 2017 surgery.

Atrium Health Navicent was ordered to pay Norkesia Turner, the daughter of Allen Turner, $9.278 million following a jury verdict. The suit came after Allen went to The Medical Center for surgery in March of 2017 and died 18 days later.

As laid out in a pre-trial order, attorneys from the Middle Georgia law firms Dellacona and McArthur, representing Norkesia, argued that doctors mistakenly cut a major artery in Allen’s abdomen during surgery intended to remove part of a polyp.

Allen spent the next 18 days in the ICU dealing with side effects including pneumonia, hypothermia and various infections before his death. He also had seven additional surgeries during that time, according to court documents.

Norkesia and the law firms said the two Navicent surgeons should have known the importance of the artery and that it was in the area of Allen’s body they were operating on, court documents read.

The 18 days following Allen’s surgery were “filled with pain and suffering, and procedures to try and fix the problems these doctors caused,” Norkesia and the law firms noted in pre-trial documents.

The hospital defended their surgeons, one a fifth-year chief resident and the other a longtime board-certified surgeon, stating the surgeons accidentally cut the artery when they tried to remove an unexpected cancerous tumor discovered during surgery.

Removing the tumor was “the best chance Mr. Allen had for long term survival,” Navicent said in the suit. Hospital attorneys also said Allen signed a risk disclosure before the operation.

The jury sided with Norkesia after a short trial in late January. The judgment ordered the payment Feb. 1, placing 70% fault on the certified surgeon and 30% on the fifth-year resident.

“Every day, our medical teams are called upon to make lifesaving decisions,” Navicent said in a statement to the Telegraph after the lawsuit. “Unfortunately, there are often unknown and unforeseen variables that arise during the course of treatment that cannot be overcome, as was the case in this particular series of events. While we certainly empathize with the Turner family for the loss of their loved one, we respectfully disagree with the conclusion reached by the jury.”

Dellacona called the settlement a “significant victory” in a statement on their website.