Patient Claims Botched Surgery Led To Home Foreclosure; Jury Awards $548K In Malpractice Suit

In Springfield, Illinois, the Springfield State Journal Register reports:

• Toni Pratt said she’s “very pleased” with [last] week’s decision by a Sangamon County Circuit Court jury to award her $548,000 in her medical malpractice lawsuit against a former Springfield surgeon whose mistake in 2002 led to chronic, disabling pain and the loss of her right kidney. Pratt, 59, a Springfield resident and former child-care worker, said Wednesday she didn’t enjoy suing [the] former Springfield Clinic general surgeon [...]. But she said the economic desperation she faced after the botched abdominal surgery at Memorial Medical Center gave her no choice. “I lost my home and my way of supporting myself,” she said. “At least now I can get a house.”

***

• Pratt said the chronic pain after the kidney removal prevented her from continuing in her job at a Building Blocks Day Care center. Her husband was unemployed and ill at the time, and Pratt said the loss of her ability to work led to the couple falling behind on mortgage payments. A bank foreclosed on their home, she said. Pratt’s husband died in 2006, and she is living in a rental property owned by a man she divorced before marrying her late husband.

Reportedly, [the doctor] is no longer part of Springfield Clinic, and now practices medicine in Alaska. For more, see City woman wins malpractice case (Jury awards $548,000 in lawsuit against former local doctor).