A Hollywood, FL father’s family won a $14 million medical malpractice verdict against a doctor who accidentally punctured the man’s artery during surgery following his stroke, leaving the man paralyzed and bedridden, his attorneys said today.
Francis Ziadie was 46 in May 2002 when he went to Memorial Regional Hospital with slurred speech and dizziness, and his symptoms eased when doctors gave him drugs to break up a blood clot causing the stroke, said his attorney, Crane Johnstone.
Soon after, radiologist Dr. Hoang Dinh Doung surgically inserted a mesh stent to prop open Ziadie’s carotid artery to improve blood flow, but punctured the blood vessel causing heavy bleeding into his brain, Johnstone said. Ziadie now needs constant care from his elderly mother.
A jury this week awarded $5 million for Ziadie’s medical care, $8 million for pain and suffering, and $250,000 each for his two minor sons. The hospital, his health insurer and two other doctors reached earlier settlements with Ziadie, court records show.
The jury found no negligence by a surgeon in the case, Dr. David Feldbaum. Duong’s attorney, George Bunnell, could not be reached for comment with calls to his office.
