Medical Malpractice Award: Florida Woman Awarded $8.25 Million for Botched Breast Implant Surgery

A Florida jury awarded a Lee County (Naples) woman $8.25 million in a medical malpractice case against her plastic surgeon after she lost both her breasts in a botched breast augmentation surgery.

Naples surgeon Dr. Luciano Boemi attempted to give the 28-year-old Plaintiff a breast lift and augmentation in 2003. During the surgery, the Plaintiff’s blood supply was cut, resulting in her breasts turning black and forming a hard, dry tissue. Incredibly and tragically, thirteen surgeries were required to remedy the Plaintiff’s open wounds and to reshape some tissue that remained on her breasts.

For whatever reason, Florida juries are the most generous in the nation. The median personal injury verdict in Florida is $100,000, according to Jury Verdict Research. No wonder personal injury lawyers and medical malpractice attorneys flock to Florida. In contrast, the median verdict in Maryland is $12,813. A Mack truck fits through that gap.

While I have indicated in the past I think this statistic is somewhat misleading because of the number of small claims type personal injury cases in Maryland that the Plaintiffs’ lawyers end up trying in Maryland Circuit Court, it does not make up the nearly tenfold difference between Maryland and Florida.

If any Florida attorneys are reading this, I would be interested in your thoughts on why juries are far more generous in Florida tort cases.