Philadelphia County Continues Trend of Large Verdicts to Sympathetic Plaintiffs in Recent Medical Malpractice Litigation

Author: Matthew Junk

In August 2024, after three years of litigation in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, a jury found Temple University Hospital (“Temple”) liable for $44.9 million in damages in a medical malpractice action. The case was identified as Hernandez v. Temple University Hospital.[i]

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The Allegations

The case involved patient Dylan Hernandez, who suffered a gunshot wound to the neck and received treatment at Temple. After discharge, the plaintiff sustained neurological damage from choking on food. The medical record reflected that, two days after he was discharged from Temple, the plaintiff choked while eating and required resuscitation. The plaintiff claimed the choking incident left the then-15-year-old with severe brain damage and injuries that required substantial future medical care.[ii]

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The Trial

The plaintiff asserted Temple improperly discharged him from treatment and provided sub-standard discharge instructions. Temple contended at trial the plaintiff received proper care and instructions and he had contributed to his own injuries by ignoring Temple’s instruction to avoid solid foods.[iii]

The defense focused on a significant inconsistency in the plaintiff’s story. To establish liability, the plaintiff had to contradict his earlier version of events. At his deposition, the plaintiff testified he had been eating fried chicken when he choked. However, at trial, the plaintiff instead testified he had been eating mashed potatoes. This was more consistent with the Temple discharge instruction for him to avoid solid foods.

To address this discrepancy during the trial, the plaintiff explained his own recollection of eating chicken was inaccurate because his neurological injuries made his own memories unreliable. The plaintiff also presented trial testimony by others confirming consumption of mashed potatoes rather than fried chicken.

Despite this contradiction in plaintiff’s testimony, the jury found for plaintiff and awarded him over $44 million in damages.[iv] The jury’s award was largely economic damages, with approximately $39.1 million for past and future medical expenses. The jury further awarded approximately $2.3 million for loss of earnings and approximately $3.5 million in noneconomic damages.[v]

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Temple’s Post-Trial Motions

Temple has moved for post-trial relief, requesting the court either reverse the jury’s award for the plaintiff or grant a new trial. In its post-trial filings, Temple has maintained: (1) there was no admissible evidence that it was the cause of the plaintiff being unable to breathe, (2) evidence of an “increased risk of harm” was insufficient for the plaintiff to satisfy his burden of proof on causation, (3) the weight of the evidence favored a verdict for Temple on both negligence and causation, and (4) the jury’s findings that the plaintiff was negligent but was not a factual cause of his own injuries, were both inconsistent and against the weight of all of the evidence. Temple further maintained the trial court committed prejudicial errors related to jury instructions and other evidentiary issues.[vi]

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Takeaways

Defendants often fight an uphill battle to overcome sympathetic plaintiffs in catastrophic injury cases. This verdict against Temple reinforces the notion juries will overlook criticisms of such plaintiffs, favoring sympathy. This verdict came on the heels of a May 2023 $30 million medical malpractice verdict in favor of a similarly sympathetic plaintiff who lost his leg.[vii]

The trend of large awards based on sympathy is unlikely to end without a change in defense strategies. This change should include a theme that frames a defendant, especially a business entity, as more personable and sympathetic. In the end, these verdicts demonstrate the importance of creating a theme not focused on a plaintiff’s shortcomings but, rather, one which highlights a defendant’s humanity.

Sources

[i] Court of Common Pleas, Phila. Cty., Docket. No. 211001422.

[ii] Aleeza Furman, Phila. Jury Hits Temple Hospital With $44.9M Verdict Over Patient’s Post-Discharge Choking Injuries, The Legal Intelligencer (August 6, 2024).

[iii] Id.

[iv] Id.

[v] Def. Temple Univ. Hosp. Brief in Supp. Of Motion for Post-Trial Relief, at 2-3 (Aug. 15, 2024).

[vi] Id., at 1-2.

[vii] Parks v. Temple University Hospital, Court of Common Pleas, Phila. Cty., Docket No. 190605457.

View this article on the Tyson & Mendes website here: https://www.tysonmendes.com/philadelphia-county-continues-trend-of-large-verdicts-to-sympathetic-plaintiffs-in-recent-medical-malpractice-litigation/

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