On Aug. 25, 2003, plaintiff William J. Orton Jr., 41, a court bailiff, underwent a colon resection to repair a stricture. The procedure was performed by general surgeon Guillermo Ponce De Leon. Orton, who had Crohn’s disease, alleged that Ponce De Leon accidentally perforated his colon during the surgery and then failed to diagnose it. Ponce De Leon performed two subsequent operations: an open laparotomy on Aug. 27 and a fistula repair on Jan. 14, 2004.
In late April 2004, Orton’s family physician, a close friend, removed him from Ponce De Leon’s care and paid Orton’s airfare to see Dr. David B. Sachar, a gastroenterologist in New York. Sachar diagnosed a leak related to one of Ponce De Leon’s surgeries and referred Orton to abdominal surgeon Adrian Greenstein. Greenstein operated, and Orton’s condition greatly improved.
Orton sued Ponce De Leon for medical malpractice, alleging that, for eight months after the Aug. 25 surgery, Ponce De Leon told other physicians that Orton did not have a leak or perforation and that the multiple infections Orton developed were attributed to Crohn’s disease.
The defense denied negligence and argued that Orton’s complications resulted from Crohn’s disease.
From shortly after the initial operation until the one performed by Greenstein, Orton developed multiple abscesses, infections, phlegmons and fistulas, all of which Orton claimed resulted from Ponce De Leon’s failure to recognize an ongoing infection process. He was hospitalized for more than 100 days over the course of nine hospitalizations between August 2003 and May 2004 for treatment of these addition ailments.
Orton claimed past medical bills of $794,051.11, as well as $500,000 for past pain and suffering, $500,000 for future pain and suffering, $250,000 for past physical impairment, and an unspecified amount for future physical impairment.
Orton’s former girlfriend, another close friend and neighbor, and a former sheriff testified about how the injuries affected Orton’s life.
Orton’s attorneys asked the jury to serve as “police officers” in the case — to determine whether Ponce De Leon and his experts were “speeding with the facts” and, if they were, to “write them a ticket.”
The defense maintained that Orton’s problems resulted from Crohn’s disease, rather than an ongoing infectious process.
The jury found Ponce De Leon negligent and that Orton’s damages were $4,044,051.11.
William J. Orton, Jr.
$794,051 Personal Injury: Past Medical Cost
$250,000 Personal Injury: Past Physical Impairment
$2,000,000 Personal Injury: Future Physical Impairment
$500,000 Personal Injury: Past Pain And Suffering
$500,000 Personal Injury: Future Pain And Suffering