The emergency room doctor then ordered neck x-rays, which the doctor interpreted as showing no abnormalities (a second reading by a radiologist two days later also resulted in a report of normal findings)…medicalmalpracticelawyers, $22M Georgia Medical Malpractice Verdict For Man Whose CT Scan Was Cancelled Because He Was Unable To Lie Still Following Car Accident
The man returned to his job as a truck driver four days later and subsequently developed severe neurological problems involving his legs, resulting in him collapsing in a parking lot. He was transported to the emergency room where a CT scan showed fractures in his neck and upper back as well as an epidural hematoma compressing his spine. He was transported to a trauma center where he had emergency surgery but suffered paraplegia nonetheless. He remained in a wheelchair for six years, being cared for by his wife, until he died in July 2024, from complications of his paraplegia.
The Georgia medical malpractice lawsuit was filed in 2020 and resulted in a $22 million verdict after an eleven-day trial that ended on June 26. 2026.
The defense argued at trial through expert testimony that the man’s fractures were not from the car accident and that he developed a spontaneous bleed in his spine unrelated to the trauma, or that the man injured himself when providers were moving him during his medical care following the accident.