WATERTOWN â A state Supreme Court jury in Jefferson County has awarded a former Fort Drum soldier $13.5 million in damages after determining that a misdiagnosis in the emergency department at Samaritan Medical Center later led to the amputation of his right leg above his knee.
The lead attorney representing the former soldier said Thursday he was told by Supreme Court staff that the award is believed to be the largest ever rendered by a jury in Jefferson County in a medical malpractice lawsuit, although that has not been confirmed.
Jeffrey D. Lewis, 50, now of Blackstone, Va., filed a medical malpractice suit in January 2017 claiming that he presented at Samaritanâs emergency department May 27, 2014, complaining of pain in his right lower extremity. According to court documents, he was diagnosed with tendinitis and discharged, when in fact he was suffering from an arterial occlusion, or blood clot.