An Aroostook County jury Thursday awarded $23.1 million to a Madawaska man who it found was left paralyzed from the chest down due to negligence from Northern Light Health providers.
Robert Giordano and his wife sued Northern Light and A.R. Gould Hospital — the healthcare giant’s facility in Presque Isle — claiming that doctors failed to identify bone calcification in Giordano’s spinal canal and failed to follow emergency protocols, rapidly leading to his paralysis.
A jury in Caribou agreed with their claims Thursday, awarding the second-largest medical malpractice verdict in Maine’s history, and largest north of Portland, Giodano’s attorneys said.
“Today, the jury’s verdict provided validation for our client that this tragic situation never should have happened,” Portland lawyer Travis Brennan told the Bangor Daily News.
The jury deliberated for about three hours before reaching its verdict, the culmination of a two-week trial in Aroostook County Superior Court that Brennan called “contentious.”
“We are deeply sympathetic to Mr. Giordano and his wife and recognize the profound impact that his condition is having on their lives,” Northern Light spokesperson Suzanne Spruce said in a statement Friday. “However, we disagree with jury’s verdict in this case and in particular the magnitude of this award.”
According to court documents, Giordano went to the emergency room in December of 2020 after falling on his back. He underwent a CT scan of his chest, in which a radiologist found no significant damage. Doctors sent Giordano home and instructed him to take pain medication and use topical treatments such as ice.
Six weeks later, on Jan. 29, Giordano told his primary care provider that his symptoms had suddenly progressed, his pain was worsening and that he fell every time he stood up.
The primary care provider, reviewing medical records from intervening visits that showed no neurological deficiencies, believed Giordano was exaggerating or making up the extent of his pain to “get opioids,” according to the complaint.
He diagnosed Giordano with chronic pain and prescribed him a higher dosage of Gabapentin, an antiseizure medication.
Giordano reported similar symptoms to a second doctor on the same day, who ordered x-rays and labs for the following week. The next day, Giordano called 911 and reported that his legs were completely paralyzed and he could not urinate.
Giordano was transported to Cary Medical Center by ambulance, then by LifeFlight to Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor, where an MRI showed a herniated disc that was causing spinal problems.
A neurosurgeon performed two surgeries over the following two days to ease pressure on Giordano’s spine, but he was still paralyzed. Giordano has required more surgeries and remains paralyzed from the chest down.
“As the patient developed progressive neurologic deficits over the next six weeks, people were unaware that he had this ticking time bomb in his spine,” Brennan said. “It then detonated on Jan. 30, with him becoming fully and permanently paralyzed.”
The Giordanos argued that Northern Light’s negligence caused damages including extraordinary medical expenses, pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life and emotional distress, loss of earnings and earning potential, and permanent impairment.
The $23.1 million sum the jury awarded the couple is just below a $25 million wrongful death verdict against Mid Coast Medical Group last fall. A judge later reduced that total to $15 million because of monetary caps in Maine’s Wrongful Death Act.
