Jury Awards $1.8 Million to Stroke Victim

By Daniel Hawn

Published on December 30, 2005

A jury in Merrimack County, New Hampshire awarded $1.8 million to a man who underwent a stroke in 2001 after receiving heart bypass surgery at an area hospital.

The medical malpractice case was filed on behalf of Harvey Bergeron, 83, of Bow, and his wife. The defendent was Dartmouth-Hitchcock Clinic, the employer of the doctors who provided Bergeron's care. The jury allotted $400,000 of the $1.8 million verdict to Bergeron's wife.

According to the lawsuit, Bergeron received bypass surgery at Concord Hospital after tests revealed coronary artery disease. After the operation Bergeron developed atrial fibrillation, a condition in which the upper chambers of the heart beat erratically.

He was released from the facility four days after the surgery without any medication to prevent blood clots, Bergeron's lawyer, Rick Fradette, said. While at home three days later, Bergeron suffered a stroke. He was taken to a hospital and treated; however his condition worsened. He now resides at a nursing home, the lawsuit states.

Fradette claims that doctors released Bergeron too soon after surgery and should have prescribed blood thinners, which, he alleges, would have prevented the stroke.

Attorneys for the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Clinic argued in court that Bergeron experienced atrial fibrillation for such a short period of time that he did not require blood thinners. After the jury made its decision, the clinic's attorneys filed a motion to have the verdict set aside or establish a new trial.

Comment on this article →