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Our partner, George “Skip” Finkbohner, was recently interviewed on the Great Trials Podcast for his achievement in securing the largest medical malpractice verdict in Alabama history.
The case arose when a diabetic woman, Sharron Juno, was given an improper insulin dosage at a rehabilitation center, which led to her cardiopulmonary arrest, coma, and death.
The Case
Initially pursued as a medical malpractice case against the nurse and rehabilitation center that dosed Ms. Juno, the case quickly expanded into litigation against Dr. Douglas Amare, Thomas Hospital in Fairhope, Alabama; Mercy Medical, Precyse Solutions in Atlanta, Precyse Solutions International, Medusind in Mumbai, India; and Samtech in New Delhi, India.
The Investigation
Skip and his team conducted an international investigation and collected evidence in India on orders from The Hague. A long process of discovery revealed a heavily outsourced transcription that listed the patient’s bedtime insulin dosage as 80 units of Levemir®, instead of the 8 units dictated by her original doctor. The transcription also had 2 other “critical errors,” that could have affected Ms. Juno’s health.
Protecting Patient Safety
During the podcast, Skip cited the systematic error that took Ms. Juno’s life as a threat to patient safety. Attorney Finkbohner took this case not only to pursue justice for our client but also to prevent these kinds of life-threatening transcription errors in the future, pursuing both the maximum amount of punitive damages and proving the negligence of several companies.
In trial, Skip showed that administrators at Thomas Hospital outsourced their transcription services to cut costs, saving about $0.02 per line on overseas services and ignoring the higher rates of error associated with overseas transcription. As evidence was admitted to the case, our legal team removed defendants, like Dr. Amare and Mercy Medical, to help ensure liability fell on the correct parties. Hospitals like Thomas Hospital, for example, have a duty of care to investigate 3rd party contractors – a duty of care Thomas Hospital clearly violated in this particular case.
About the Verdict
Skip recovered a $140 million verdict on behalf of Juno’s estate. It is the largest verdict achieved in Baldwin County and the highest amount ever achieved during a medical malpractice trial in Alabama.
Despite his tremendous win, Skip asserts that Juno’s death never should have happened.
Holding Wrongdoers Accountable
This impressive verdict is only one instance of our commitment to pursue justice at Cunningham Bounds, LLC.
If you’ve been harmed by a preventable medical mistake, call our attorneys at (844) 417-0930 and schedule a free consultation.