Jury Awards Former Portland, Oregon News Anchor in Malpractice Lawsuit

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Medical Malpractice Lawsuit against OHSU results in the first jury award against OHSU exceeding the $200,000 liability cap that had protected OHSU doctors from liability.

Early in September 2006, an Oregon jury awarded Ken Ackerman, a former Portland TV personality, $412,000 plus another $1 million in compesatory damages.

The jury award in th case is the first since the Oregon Court of Appeals overruled the $200,000 liability cap that had been used to shield OHSU doctors.

The former Oregon news anchor sued the hospital and doctors for $5 million claiming that because they had "botched" the surgery, he had to live with constant pain in his right arm and little use of his right hand.

The lawyer for OHSU claimed that Ackerman's pain and and difficulty with fine motor skills in his right hand were "a known risk of surgery" and not the result of medical malpractice.

The jury awarded $412,000 in addition to another $1 million in compensatory damages.

The main doctor in the case was found liable. The internist who assisted was not found liable.

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