Medical Malpractice: (Brain damage, asphyxia)
VERDICT $14,623,575 (total value); $5,594,605 (present value)

Plaintiff was a 41-year-old man with severe psoriatic arthritis. He went to defendant for bilateral knee replacement surgery. Post-operatively he developed neurologic problems and pulmonary insufficiency associated with decreased blood oxygen levels. By the time defendants recognized the problem and its seriousness, plaintiff was severely hypoxic. Then, defendants were unable to establish an airway, resulting in further delay, until an emergency tracheostomy could be performed.