Supreme Court, Orange County

The plaintiff alleged that the defendant orthopedic surgeon had improperly reduced her intertrochanteric hip fracture which resulted in a one inch shortening of the leg, and that the defendant hospital was negligent in leaving a box of surgical gloves on a corridor railing, causing her to fall in the corridor and reinjure the hip. Both the plaintiff’s expert and the hospital’s expert were critical of the orthopedic surgeon’s initial reduction and fixation and subsequent treatment of the hip. The surgeon’s expert used a goniometer to show that the initial reduction was within acceptable limits. Demand: $350,000.

Result : Defense verdict for the orthopedic surgeon; plaintiff's verdict against the hospital in the amount of $100,000.
Defense Attorney : For the orthopedic surgeon: Sarah E. Sholes.
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