A Baltimore City jury unanimously sided with a man who sued an emergency room physician and physician's assistant who misdiagnosed his dislocated knee. As a result of the reported negligence, the man had to have an above-the-knee amputation of his left leg. As a result of his medical malpractice lawsuit, the plaintiff, whose initials are K.T., was awarded $5.2 million by a jury.

Court papers say that while walking away from work, a loading dock gate triggered, pinning and twisting the plaintiff's left leg. He was transported by ambulance to the hospital, where he was transferred to the Urgent Care section and told he had only suffered a sprain.

According to the case, the physician's assistant (PA) knew that K.T. was unable to move his foot and was feeling numbness. Under oath, the PA said that the diagnosis of a dislocated knee had crossed her mind, but she had only ordered an X-ray and no other tests. There was also a failure to see how much mobility K.T. had in his left leg. This led to wrong diagnosis of knee sprain.

The physician confirmed that diagnosis, though there is no medical chart that shows the physician ever assessing the patient for herself, but instead signing a chart for K.T. ten days after he had left the hospital.

The patient's claim further says that he had to return to the hospital two days after he was discharged: he couldn't feel his left foot anymore. The hospital found that the knee ligaments and tendons had almost all been torn, and that his popliteal artery had been torn as well. This artery tear meant that the leg had been deprived of blood for two days: some of his tissues had already died. K.T. had to be sent to another hospital for a leg amputation.

The jury was informed that in order for the emergency room personnel to have fulfilled their duties of medical care, they should have ordered a diagnostic test as soon as they thought the patient's knee was dislocated. There should have been a test to see if the popliteal artery had been torn or not. A surgical expert for the plaintiff explained that the test could have caught the artery tear in time to treat it, which would have saved the patient's leg.

It took the jury only 3 hours to agree with the plaintiff and to decide on a multi-million dollar award.

If you or a loved one has been injured at by the negligence of a medical professional, do not wait to speak to a medical malpractice attorney today! Start learning how strong your case is and discussing your legal options to get the compensation you need.