Paralyzed woman wins $56 million verdict against Rockland doctors after botched spinal surgery
By LEONARD GREENE / New York Daily News – August 12, 2019
A woman whose botched spine surgery left her paralyzed from the neck down won a $56 million malpractice verdict against a team of neurosurgeons, including the brother of former Gov. Eliot Spitzer.
Patricia Jones, 67, won the award after a jury determined that Hudson Valley Brain and Spine, a well-known neurosurgical group in the Hudson Valley, bungled the delicate operation. Daniel Spitzer, the former governor’s brother, was among the defendants.
Jones, a former payroll manager from Rockland County, went to the surgeons in 2009 seeking relief for a herniated disc, said Jones’ attorney, Evan Torgan.
But during the procedure, a monitoring signal between her brain and extremities failed to alert doctors of a blood clot that ultimately resulted in damage to Jones’ spinal cord. The mistake left Jones a quadraplegic, but instead of being honest about what happened, doctors told her she suffered a coincidental stroke, according to the lawsuit.
