Win Myat vs. Tuomey Regional Medical Center
Sep 02, 2015OUTCOME: Plaintiff's Verdict for $2,500,000
Bill Padget and Brink Hinson represented Dr. Win Myat, an infectious disease physician, who had privileges at Tuomey Hospital. Early one morning, before visitors’ hours began, the doctor slipped and f ... ell due to a clear liquid on the floor that was located directly beside the nurses’ station. There had no evidence that Tuomey knew or should have know about the liquid being there and failed to timely clean it up. The Plaintiff relied solely on an argument that the dangerous condition was created by one of the Defendant’s employees. Although there was no direct evidence as to who spilled the liquid, Plaintiff offered strong circumstantial evidence to this regard. Plaintiff showed that all the evidence pointed to the liquid having been put on the floor by a Tuomey employee – most importantly: (1) the liquid was beside the nurses’ station; (2) signs in the area and testimony indicated that visitors were not allowed around the nurses station; (3) the fall occurred around 5:00 a.m. and visitors’ hours had ended at 9:00 p.m. the night before; (4) no one could testify as to any visitors being around the nurses’ station that night or morning; and (5) just an hour earlier and only an arm’s length from where our client fell, nurses had filled pitchers of water and ice on a cart that they wheeled around the patient rooms. The Plaintiff put up expert testimony to explain how the fall sheared off a piece of doctor Myat’s left patella and tore a lot tendons in his knee. He had emergency surgery immediately following the incident and another procedure a few months later. His recovery was far less than optimal. He never regained more than 80% flexion in his knee, has a significant limp (he essentially drags the injured leg), and cannot stand or walk without severe pain. He tried to go back to work but found the pain was too intense. He has had significant lost income and a greatly diminished quality of life. After three days of trial and a little over two hours of deliberation, the jury came back with a verdict of $2.5 million for Dr. Myat.
