Facts

Paul Parks sued Daniel Lee and the Regents of the University of California.

PLAINTIFF'S CONTENTIONS:
Plaintiff alleged in his complaint that on May 16, 2007, Parks underwent a fusion surgery for the first metatarsophalangeal joint in his right foot. Lee performed the surgery. However, after the surgery, Parks began to experience pain. The hospital discovered that some hardware placed in Parks during the surgery had broken, and gave him choices on how to deal with the problem. Parks decided not to have a second surgery, and instead chose to try to heal the injury with the help of a bone stimulator. For a while, Parks showed improvement.

On May 20, 2008, Parks went to see Lee again, as his pain had returned. New imaging showed that screws in Parks' foot had begun to fail, and that his joint had not healed properly. A few months later, Parks saw Lee again, and inquired into having surgery done on some of his other toes.

In 2010, Parks consulted with another foot specialist, who informed him that his joint had never completely healed, and that he would need another surgery.

Parks sued Lee and the Regents of the University of California, who operated the hospital where Parks had his surgery. He argued that Lee had not properly performed the original 2007 surgery, and that he had committed medical malpractice. He claimed that Lee had not performed the surgery properly to begin with, and that he had given him bad advice later on when the results of the botched surgery became apparent. He further argued that Regents were responsible for Lee's malpractice.

DEFENDANT'S CONTENTIONS:
Lee argued that he had properly performed the surgery, and that other factors outside of his control had caused Parks' injuries to not heal properly. He further argued that Parks had failed to follow his instructions not to do too much activity with his knee after the surgery, which caused the injuries to heal improperly. He also argued that his advice to Parks had been appropriate.

Damages

Parks sought $60,000 in damages.

Injuries

Parks claimed that he continued to feel pain in his right foot due to the botched surgery.

Result

The jury ruled in favor of Lee, finding that he had acted appropriately in treating Parks.

Other Information

FILING DATE: Dec. 30, 2011.

Deliberation

40 minutes

Poll

12-0

Length

six days