Jury awards Alabama couple $6.7 million in malpractice suit

A 10-year legal battle over the crippling ailments a Salem, Ala., man suffered after a surgeon punctured his intestine during a hernia operation resulted in a Muscogee County Superior Court jury awarding the man and his wife $6.7 million Wednesday. Thomas and Linda Jackson initially filed their claims against Dr. Kenneth Goldman and Surgical Associates of Columbus on Dec. 30, 2003, alleging that during a four-hour operation on Jan. 17, 2002, Goldman perforated Jackson’s small intestine and failed to repair the damage, leaving Jackson to endure a abdominal infection that left him bedridden in The Medical Center’s intensive care unit for almost six months. The plaintiffs also sued The Medical Center and Dr. Vincent Nicholais, who headed the hospital’s intensive care unit. The hospital settled with the Jacksons, and the jury found Nicholais was not at fault.