August 17, 2009 - $60 Million for Botched Thigh Operation
Who's the biggest loser? In this case, the doctor.
A Bronx jury has awarded $60 million in damages to a woman who lost 200 pounds after a gastric bypass, went to a plastic surgeon to remove flab on her thighs, and woke up with the inner leg tucked so tightly that her groin was mangled.
Besides pounds, Allison Hugh, 44, a physician's assistant and event planner, shed tears on the witness stand in Bronx Supreme Court, as she recalled that Dr. Ferdinand Ofadile, of Queens, promised to cut only from the outside to the front of her legs.
She was shocked to learn the surgeon had sliced into her inner thighs, mutilating her genitalia, at Harlem's North General Hospital in 2005.
After an eight-day trial, jurors deliberated for five hours this week and awarded her $10 million for past pain and suffering and $50 million for future pain and suffering.
Ofadile's lawyers said they would appeal.
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