Max
05-16-2003, 07:19 AM
Doctor hurt in OR awarded $4 million
By BRIAN MARTINEZ
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
A surgeon injured when a 30-pound overhead lamp fell on his head as he operated on a patient was awarded $4 million by a jury Thursday.
John Shamoun, 43, a reconstructive plastic surgeon, had sued Burton Medical Products Inc. and Tenet Health Systems in Orange County Superior Court.
Burton, the lamp's manufacturer, settled out of court for $3.6 million without the jury's knowledge.
Tenet was left to pay the $400,000 balance.
"As brilliant as he is, Dr. Shamoun can no longer perform the type of complex trauma-center surgery that he is trained for," said his attorney, Wylie Aitken. "Now he can only perform cosmetic surgery, but that is not his passion and that is not what he had 18 years of formal higher education for."
Shamoun declined to comment.
The doctor was repairing a 3-year-old boy's cheek at Tenet-owned Irvine Regional Hospital and Medical Center in August 1999 when the surgical lamp fell from the ceiling. The boy was not hit.
Shamoun's spinal cord injury impaired his fine-motor skills and restricts him from performing microsurgery procedures, such as sewing nerve endings together, Aitken said. The doctor also complained of a burning sensation in his arms and hands.
Burton officials could not be reached Thursday.
Irvine Regional Hospital spokeswoman Sharon Capell said the facility was not to blame.
"We maintain high-quality maintenance procedures," she said.
http://www2.ocregister.com/ocrweb/ocr/article.do?id=39462§ion=LOCAL&subsection=LOCAL&year=2003&month=5&day=16
By BRIAN MARTINEZ
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
A surgeon injured when a 30-pound overhead lamp fell on his head as he operated on a patient was awarded $4 million by a jury Thursday.
John Shamoun, 43, a reconstructive plastic surgeon, had sued Burton Medical Products Inc. and Tenet Health Systems in Orange County Superior Court.
Burton, the lamp's manufacturer, settled out of court for $3.6 million without the jury's knowledge.
Tenet was left to pay the $400,000 balance.
"As brilliant as he is, Dr. Shamoun can no longer perform the type of complex trauma-center surgery that he is trained for," said his attorney, Wylie Aitken. "Now he can only perform cosmetic surgery, but that is not his passion and that is not what he had 18 years of formal higher education for."
Shamoun declined to comment.
The doctor was repairing a 3-year-old boy's cheek at Tenet-owned Irvine Regional Hospital and Medical Center in August 1999 when the surgical lamp fell from the ceiling. The boy was not hit.
Shamoun's spinal cord injury impaired his fine-motor skills and restricts him from performing microsurgery procedures, such as sewing nerve endings together, Aitken said. The doctor also complained of a burning sensation in his arms and hands.
Burton officials could not be reached Thursday.
Irvine Regional Hospital spokeswoman Sharon Capell said the facility was not to blame.
"We maintain high-quality maintenance procedures," she said.
http://www2.ocregister.com/ocrweb/ocr/article.do?id=39462§ion=LOCAL&subsection=LOCAL&year=2003&month=5&day=16