Trial Attorneys E.J. Hammann and Christopher Casciano of Brown & Barron, LLC have secured a $35 million jury award for our client in a hard-fought medical malpractice case. Our client suffered a post-operative infection that her treating healthcare providers failed to diagnose and treat. She ultimately suffered from sepsis and necrotizing fasciitis, both of which would have been avoided had the healthcare providers noticed the signs of the infection during her post-operative visits. The case went through a two-week trial before Senior Judge Beverly Woodard in Prince George’s County, Maryland.

Details of the Plastic Surgery Office Infection & Sepsis Case

Our client, a Zambian immigrant who came to the United States in search of a better life, worked her way through school to earn a business degree from College Park and was pursuing her MBA and CPA license. She decided to undergo elective cosmetic surgery, including liposuction and a BBL. The result was nothing short of a catastrophe.

Our client developed a post-operative skin infection, which went unrecognized at two different post-operative visits. About 10 days after surgery, concerned friends and family found our client in her bed, in septic shock, with an altered mental state, lying in her own urine and feces. She was rushed to a local hospital, diagnosed with necrotizing fasciitis, and underwent two debridement surgeries. Our client was decompensating, and realizing it was more than they could handle, the hospital urgently arranged for a med-evac to a shock trauma clinic. She was in a coma and spent three and a half months there.

She had 11 debridement surgeries, countless skin grafts, dressing changes that had to be done under anesthesia, physical and occupational therapy, and more. Throughout these procedures, the pain was unimaginable. All who were there will never be able to unsee the scarring and disfigurement our client has to look at in the mirror every day. Her life will never be the same, and her dreams of a better life are shattered.

Taking the Medical Providers to Court

Attorneys Hammann and Casciano focused on how to best tell our client’s story through a medical malpractice lawsuit. An important part of this case was bringing the doctor, Paul Dillon, and the practices, Lexington Plastic Surgery and Premiere Surgical Pavilion, into the foreground of the lawsuit. This practice, with locations nationwide, is led by celebrity surgeon Michael E. Jones, who serves as the face of the practice and was the Chief Medical Officer of the Maryland location. In reality, Dr. Jones was rarely at the practice, and it has been described as nothing more than a surgery mill.

Dr. Dillon, a traveling doctor, attended the surgery and then disappeared, leaving an untrained physician’s assistant to handle all post-operative care. Our client asked to see Dr. Dillon when she didn’t feel well post-operatively butwas denied access to her surgeon. Despite obvious signs of infection, the physician’s assistant did not contact Dr. Dillon and sent our client home, telling her she was progressing normally. Dr. Dillon, who had flown off to Chicago, never looked at our client’s chart again and never spoke with the P.A. at all about the patient he had just performed surgery on. He also never bothered to even call his own patient. Once the surgery was over, Dr. Dillon walked out of the operating room, and never thought about his patient again until this case.

Never willing to let a defendant off easy, Attorneys Hammann and Casciano informed the jury about the shoddy hiring practices, inadequate training, insufficient supervision, and unsanitary and unsafe conditions in the surgical center. They successfully painted the clinic as the medical “horror show” that it was for our client.

After deliberating for 90 minutes, the jury returned with the award, broken down into separate parts:

• $736,535 for past medical costs
• $2,191,626 for future medical costs and lifecare needs
• $1,463,431 for lost wages
• $621,916 for lost household services
• $30,000,000 for non-economic damages (pain and suffering)

Even after a damage cap on jury awards is used – which we feel the need to say, once again, should be viewed as a travesty of justice – Brown & Barron, LLC could not be prouder of how Attorney E.J. Hammann and Attorney Chris Casciano have helped our client. She was given the chance to tell her story and gain the means to get the assistance and care she will need for the rest of her life. We are also hopeful that the $35 million result will send a clear message to all medical practitioners, especially celebrity-status plastic surgeons: “Take the well-being of your patients seriously or answer to our trial attorneys.”

Want to know more about the incredible wins that Brown & Barron, LLC has achieved for clients throughout Maryland? Be sure to browse our case results and testimonials. We’ve obtained more than $90 million for our clients since 2017! Need our help for a medical malpractice case or personal injury lawsuit? Call (410) 698-1717 and request a free and confidential case evaluation.