$750,000 Jury Verdict for Orthopedic Malpractice Resulting in Drop Foot
NEW JERSEY LAW JOURNAL
SUITS & DEALS – MARCH 11, 1996
Feigel v. Murphy et. al.: A Monmouth County jury awarded $750,000 Tuesday to a Tinton Falls woman who claimed that she was injured after a hip-replacement surgery at Riverview Medical Center in Red Bank.
Sybil Fiegel, now 54, sued the doctor who performed her surgery on Nov. 7, 1990, Bernard Murphy, and his medical group, Orthopedic Consultants Inc. of Middletown. The suit alleged that a post-operative splint placed around her left knee caused a condition called “drop foot,” according to Feigel’s attorney. The condition prevents Feigel from lifting her foot, according to her attorney, who says that she wears a leg brace so she can walk.
Feigel claimed that Murphy placed the splint so tightly that the peroneal nerve, which allows the foot to move, was damaged.
The jury reached its verdict on the sixth day of trial before Monmouth County Superior Court Judge John D’Amico Jr., whose law clerk confirmed the amount of the verdict. According to her attorney, interest brings the total to $861,000 for Feigel’s pain and suffering.
Murphy’s attorney, Richard Grossman, a partner with Grossman & Krutschnit in Brick Township, did not return a telephone message left at his office.
By: Deseree Graham