New York City Professional Malpractice Lawyers Korngut Paleudis LLC HomeWhite Plains Jury Awards Dental Patient Almost $10 Million Over Botched Tooth Extraction
A White Plains jury recently awarded a dental patient $9.8 million following an allegedly bungled wisdom tooth extraction. In February 2007, William Moody, DDS reportedly extracted a wisdom tooth from the mouth of 49-year-old Harold Hagins in an effort to relieve his tooth pain. Unfortunately, Moody allegedly left a portion of the tooth inside of the patient's mouth. According to Moody, Hagins' wisdom tooth was not fully removed because a portion of it was fused to his jaw bone. Following the oral surgery, Hagins was hospitalized with facial swelling and pain.
Moody later performed an additional oral surgery on Hagins to remove the remaining portion of tooth that he previously left inside of the man's mouth. Following the second surgery, Hagins was repeatedly hospitalized with facial swelling, pain, and numbness over the course of several months. Although another dentist allegedly performed a third oral surgery on Hagins, his symptoms reportedly failed to improve. In July 2007, a neurologist at New York Medical College purportedly performed brain surgery on Hagins in an effort to alleviate his pain.
In 2008, Hagins filed a lawsuit in the Bronx against Moody and another dentist, Michael Miller. In his lawsuit, Hagins claimed that he suffered a fractured jaw, oral nerve damage, chronic pain, migraines, memory loss, the inability to taste, and other maladies. According to Hagins, he is also no longer capable of maintaining gainful employment due to his condition. After the case was removed to White Plains, a jury found that the two dentists failed to obtain Hagins' informed consent prior to the oral surgery procedures. As a result, the jury awarded Hagins $9.8 million in damages.
Health care providers practicing in the State of New York have a duty to provide each patient with a certain standard of care. When a dentist, doctor, nurse, hospital, or pharmacy breaches that duty and a patient is hurt, he or she may have a medical malpractice claim. You are advised to contact a skilled New York personal injury attorney if you were hurt by the negligent actions of a dentist or other health care professional.
Contact the knowledgeable lawyers at Korngut Paleudis LLC if you or a family member was hurt by a medical provider. At Korngut Paleudis LLC, our White Plains medical malpractice attorneys are available to help individuals who were hurt by someone tasked with their care receive the compensation they deserve. Our capable attorneys have more than 45 years of experience assisting clients who are located in New York and New Jersey. To speak with a diligent lawyer about your personal injury claim, please contact Korngut Paleudis LLC through the law firm's website or call our hardworking attorneys at (212) 835-6768 in New York City.
