Philadelphia Jury Awards $30,000,000.00

In 2006, a Philadelphia jury awarded $30 million the largest verdict seen in the First Judicial District in years - to the family of a 5-year-old boy whose severe cognitive and developmental deficiencies were alleged to have resulted from the misadministration of a specific medication.

The boy was treated with the medication several years ago while a patient at a well known Philadelphia hospital.

Plaintiff attorneys, Gayle Lewis and associate, Matthew Schelkopf, of the Lewis Law Firm located in Bryn Mawr, handled the case.

According to Ms. Lewis, the plaintiffs stuck to a $50 million dollar demand during the early phases of the litigation, with no official offers from the defense. The demand was later brought down to about $28 million shortly before trial.

The trial lasted approximately 15 business days over the course of three weeks. The 12-member panel reached its verdict after five days of deliberations over the course of one week.

The jury's breakdown on its $30 million verdict called for $5 million in past medical costs, $10 million in future medicals, and $15 million in pain and suffering, Lewis said. The jurors were polled at 10-2 as to the liability finding against the hospital.

The actual jury verdict in this case was the largest reported by The Legal as having been awarded to a med mal plaintiff by a Philadelphia panel in recent years.

According to statistics maintained by the state Supreme Court, there were no medical malpractice verdicts for more than $10 million in Philadelphia county during 2005, and only three in that category in 2004. As a result, it stands as the highest medical malpractice award in Pennsylvania for 2006.

If you believe you have wrongfully injured by a medical provider, please contact the Lewis Law Firm at (877) LAW-9969.