A Georgia hospital lost a trial recently in which a jury said it was at fault for medical malpractice and negligent credentialing.
It happened at Union General Hospital Inc in northeast Georgia’s Union County. There, Anna Giacomi sued the hospital after an incident in 2015 that led to a double amputation. Giacomi lost an arm and a leg after she was attacked by a donkey while feeding it at a commercial farm. She was taken to the hospital and later Union County Nursing Home, ultimately contracting flesh-eating bacteria necrotizing fasciitis, which led to the amputations.
Giacomi sued the commercial farm after her eleven surgeries and ultimately settled for an undisclosed amount in 2017. The name of the commercial farm was not named publicly. At the conclusion of those legal matters, Giacomi announced that she would sue the hospital as well because the doctors did not promptly diagnose the contraction of the bacteria.
In 2017, the Atlanta-based Butler Kahn law firm released this statement:
“The donkey shattered the arm, bit into her limbs, and terrified Anna Maria. After being airlifted to a hospital, doctors failed to act in a proper medical manner which resulted in Anna Maria developing serious infections. She ended up having 11 surgeries in less than 2 months. On May 5, 2017 we resolved the case against the farm and its owners because they were responsible for what we call “negligent performance of a voluntary undertaking.” We are now exploring a medical malpractice case against the hospital and medical professionals.”
In late July of 2024, a Union County jury determined that medical malpractice had occurred at Union General Hospital. The following week, the same jury said the hospital was also at fault for negligent credentialing.
North Georgia News reported that:
The jury apportioned the damages as follows: 5% to Union General Hospital for the medical malpractice of multiple employees; 45% to Union General for the negligent credentialing of Dr. James Heaton; 45% to Heaton himself; and 5% to Dr. Janaki Narravula, court records show.
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Because Union General “did not call a surgeon to evaluate and treat the infection,” the progressing infection ultimately necessitated amputations of her left arm and leg after she was transported back to Northeast Georgia Medical in December 2015, per court documents.
Represented in the medical malpractice verdict, multiple alleged delays in proper medical evaluation and care by staff at both the Nursing Home and Union General caused Giacomi’s infection to reach a “point of no return,” amounting to negligence that led to her amputations.
Pertaining to Heaton, Giacomi’s lawsuit said that, as Nursing Home medical director and her assigned physician during her time in Union County, he failed to evaluate her condition in a timely fashion, resulting in delayed infection intervention.
The verdict by the jury awarded $47 million in damages to Giacomi, attributed to “past and future pain and suffering.”
