Medical malpractice verdicts have reached nine-figure amounts, including the largest single verdict of $412,005,149 in Sanchez v. NuMale Medical Center (New Mexico, November 2024).
The biggest medical malpractice cases share common characteristics: catastrophic permanent injury, documented provider negligence, and expert testimony establishing direct causation.
This article compiles the 20 biggest medical malpractice cases ever recorded. Many involved documentation failures that contributed to liability findings.
What Drives Record-Setting Medical Malpractice Verdicts
Four evidentiary pillars must converge for medical malpractice recovery: documented standard of care breach, proximate causation established through timeline documentation, quantifiable damages through life care plans, and objective medical records providing time-stamped evidence of provider actions.
Certain case categories dominate nine-figure verdicts:
- Birth injury cases represent the largest award category, with verdicts ranging from $10.2 million to $120 million.
- Diagnostic failures generate substantial verdicts when stage progression can be tied to diagnostic delay.
- Surgical errors often involve objective documentation, such as retained instruments or unsterilized equipment.
Largest Medical Malpractice Verdicts and Settlements in U.S. History
The following cases represent the highest verified medical malpractice verdicts and settlements in U.S. history.
These figures represent initial jury verdicts, which may differ significantly from final recoveries due to damage caps, remittitur, appeals, or settlement modifications.
1. $412 Million: NuMale Medical Center Penile Injection Complications (New Mexico, 2024)
In November 2024, a Bernalillo County jury awarded $412,005,149 in Sanchez v. NuMale Corporation (Case No. D-202-CV-202006336), including $375 million in punitive damages. Sanchez was misdiagnosed with erectile dysfunction and administered unnecessary penile injections by an unlicensed physician's assistant, causing priapism lasting over 60 hours and permanent injury, though actual recovery was $96.5M after bankruptcy.
Failure pattern: Procedural error with systemic fraud and negligent credentialing.
2. $229 Million Overturned: Delayed C-Section (Maryland, 2019/2021)
In July 2019, a Baltimore City Circuit Court jury awarded $229.6 million in Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center v. Byrom (No. 1585, Sept. Term 2019) after a child suffered brain damage from oxygen deprivation during delivery, later reduced to $205 million under state caps. The Maryland Court of Special Appeals reversed the verdict in February 2021, finding the mother voluntarily declined cesarean section.
Failure pattern: Informed consent defense succeeded on appeal.
3. $216.8 Million: Stroke Misdiagnosis (Florida, 2006)
A Hillsborough County jury returned a $216.8 million verdict in Navarro v. Austin (No. 02-6154, Fla. 13th Jud. Cir. 2006), including $116.7 million compensatory and $100.1 million punitive damages.
Failure pattern: Diagnostic failure with emergency department credentialing breakdown.
4. $190 Million: Johns Hopkins Hospital Class Action Settlement (Maryland, 2014)
Johns Hopkins Hospital agreed to a $190 million class action settlement in Jane Doe No. 1 v. The Johns Hopkins Hospital (Case No. 24-C-13-001041, Baltimore City Circuit Court) involving gynecologist Dr. Nikita Levy, who used concealed cameras to record patients during pelvic examinations over 25 years.
Failure pattern: Systemic institutional negligence — 25 years of undetected misconduct.
5. $120 Million: Delayed Cesarean Section Brain Injury (Michigan, 2024)
In March 2024, a Wayne County jury awarded $120 million in Drake v. Henry Ford Health Systems (Wayne County Circuit Court, filed December 2020) after a 2-hour-19-minute delay between detecting non-reassuring fetal heart tones and performing a cesarean delivery. The oxygen deprivation caused severe cerebral palsy, leaving K'Jon non-verbal, legally blind, and requiring 24-hour care.
Failure pattern: Birth injury from delayed cesarean section.
6. $70 Million: Bilateral Amputations from Vasopressin Overdose (Georgia, 2025)
On April 23, 2025, a Dougherty County jury awarded $70 million in Powell v. Morgan et al. Jessica Powell, a 28-year-old teacher admitted for sepsis and shock, was administered Vasopressin at two and a half times the recommended maximum dose for over 40 hours, resulting in bilateral above-the-knee amputations.
Failure pattern: Medication overdose with inadequate monitoring.
7. $60 Million: Paralysis from Epidural Injection (New York, 2025)
In May 2025, a Nassau County jury awarded $60 million to David Gangaram, a 64-year-old former electrical mechanic, after a routine lumbar epidural steroid injection caused a spinal cord infarction resulting in permanent paralysis from the waist down. The plaintiff alleged the physician used Kenalog without appropriate imaging guidance.
Failure pattern: Procedural error with improper medication selection.
8. $48.1 Million: Cerebral Palsy from Prolonged Labor (Missouri, 2025)
A St. Louis Circuit Court jury awarded $48.1 million, including punitive damages, after hospital staff failed to respond to documented fetal distress during a prolonged labor lasting approximately 12 hours before a cesarean section was performed. The delay caused hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy and a permanent cerebral palsy diagnosis.
Failure pattern: Birth injury with delayed C-section.
9. $45 Million: Delayed STEMI Transfer (Florida, 2025)
A Seminole County jury awarded $45 million to the family of James Sada after Orlando Health clinicians delayed transferring a STEMI patient to a PCI-capable facility. The jury accepted the argument that institutional referral practices overrode clinical judgment, contributing to Sada's death.
Failure pattern: Institutional negligence — patient retention over clinical need.
10. $35 Million: Unnecessary Hysterectomy from False Cancer Diagnosis (Pennsylvania, 2025)
A Philadelphia jury awarded $35 million to Isis Spencer after contaminated biopsy slides at Main Line Health falsely indicated advanced endometrial cancer, leading to an unnecessary hysterectomy. A subsequent biopsy at Penn Medicine showed no malignancy, but Spencer alleged she was urged to proceed before conflicting results were reconciled.
Failure pattern: Diagnostic failure, unreconciled conflicting pathology results.
11. $29 Million: Cerebral Palsy from Midwife Negligence (Wisconsin, 2025)
A Wisconsin jury awarded $29 million after a certified nurse midwife failed to recognize significant fetal heart rate decelerations and delayed calling the on-call obstetrician. The resulting oxygen deprivation caused permanent neurological injuries, including cerebral palsy requiring lifelong care.
Failure pattern: Birth injury, midwife failed to escalate to physician.
12. $25.4 Million: Cerebral Palsy from Pitocin Over-Administration (Missouri, 2022)
A Kansas City jury awarded $25.4 million after an obstetrician delegated Pitocin administration to a student doctor who failed to adjust dosing when the mother exhibited signs of uterine hyperstimulation. The excessive Pitocin restricted oxygen supply to the fetus, causing permanent brain injury and a cerebral palsy diagnosis.
Failure pattern: Birth injury, Pitocin mismanagement with inadequate supervision.
13. $25 Million: Fetal Death from Preeclampsia Mismanagement (Georgia, 2025)
A Georgia jury awarded $25 million to Shanta Hinnant and her husband after the treating physician discharged the mother without adequate monitoring of severe preeclampsia, and the condition progressed to fetal loss upon her return days later.
Failure pattern: Obstetric negligence, premature discharge with inadequate monitoring.
14. $20.6 Million: Career-Ending Leg Infection from Unsterilized Implants (Oregon, 2025)
A Multnomah County jury awarded $20.6 million to Jacob Gleeson, a former Portland Timbers professional soccer goalkeeper, after a surgeon substituted improperly sterilized replacement implants mid-procedure when the correct hardware was unavailable. The contaminated implants caused a deep infection requiring multiple corrective surgeries and permanently ended Gleeson's career.
Failure pattern: Surgical error, intraoperative substitution without sterilization.
15. $17 Million: Hernia Surgery Death from Undetected Bowel Perforation (Massachusetts, 2025)
A Massachusetts jury awarded $17 million to the family of a 57-year-old woman who died after an undetected bowel perforation during elective hernia surgery. The surgical team failed to identify the perforation intraoperatively and relied on inadequate post-operative monitoring.
Failure pattern: Surgical error with post-operative monitoring failure.
16. $16.75 Million: 13-Inch Surgical Retractor Retained for 58 Days (New Mexico, 2025)
A New Mexico jury awarded $16.75 million — including $15 million in punitive damages — after physicians left a 13-inch metal surgical retractor inside a patient's abdomen for 58 days, causing severe complications and contributing to the patient's death.
Failure pattern: Surgical error, instrument count protocol failure.
17. $16 Million: Delayed C-Section Resulting in Newborn Death (South Carolina, 2025)
A Spartanburg County jury awarded $16 million after hospital staff failed to perform an emergency cesarean section despite documented fetal distress, resulting in the newborn's death.
Failure pattern: Birth injury, failure to escalate to emergency delivery.
18. $15.5 Million: Paralysis and Death from Teleradiologist Misread CT Scan (Georgia, 2025)
A Georgia jury awarded $15.5 million after a teleradiologist misread a CT scan, failing to identify critical findings that would have prompted immediate intervention, leading to progressive deterioration, paralysis, and death.
Failure pattern: Diagnostic failure, remote interpretation error.
19. $13.75 Million: Anesthesia Death During Pre-Bariatric Surgery (Georgia, 2025)
A Bibb County jury awarded $13.75 million to the family of Bennie Moore after an anesthesiologist's assistant administered excessive anesthetic during an exploratory procedure, causing fatal brain injury and cardiac arrest. The jury assigned 82.5% fault to the anesthesiologist's assistant and 17.5% to the supervising anesthesiologist, Dr. David McKinney.
Failure pattern: Anesthesia error with inadequate supervision of non-physician provider.
20. $10.2 Million: Cerebral Palsy from Pitocin Overdose (Wisconsin, 2025)
In February 2025, a Racine County jury awarded $10.2 million in Cerna v. Ascension All Saints Hospital after nurses and an obstetrician administered excessive Pitocin during labor induction, causing brain injury and cerebral palsy. Ka'Mya Minor, now six years old, is nonverbal and requires lifelong care.
Failure pattern: Birth injury, Pitocin mismanagement (third Pitocin case on this list, with #8 and #12).
Failure Patterns and Damage Cap Impact in High-Value Malpractice Cases
Cross-case analysis reveals four recurring failure categories: delayed cesarean deliveries and Pitocin mismanagement, missed or delayed diagnoses, surgical and procedural errors, and systemic institutional negligence.
The gap between jury verdicts and actual recovery depends heavily on jurisdiction. Understanding state damage cap laws is essential for case valuation, with caps ranging from $350,000 (South Carolina) to $500,000 (Massachusetts) and documented reductions exceeding 90% in Michigan. States including New York, Pennsylvania, Florida, Georgia, and Oregon allow full non-economic damage recovery. Multi-state claims require analysis of varying filing deadline requirements.
Medical Records and Documentation in High-Value Verdicts
Across these cases — many involving thousands of pages of records from multiple providers — documentation quality was central to outcomes. Treatment timelines, objective monitoring data, and conflicting records requiring reconciliation formed the foundation of successful liability arguments. In birth injury cases, medical chronology development documenting fetal heart rate patterns and nursing notes on provider response times directly supports verdict size, as the Michigan $120M verdict demonstrated through time-stamped records showing the precise 2-hour-19-minute delay from fetal distress detection to delivery.
High-Quality Documentation Strengthens Medical Malpractice Case Outcomes
The largest medical malpractice cases reflect recurring patterns: delayed intervention, diagnostic failures, procedural errors, and institutional negligence. Verdict size consistently correlates with documentation strength and timeline clarity.
Tavrn's AI-powered platform automates medical record retrieval, chronology development, and demand letter preparation, capabilities supporting the same documentation workflow that underpins high-value malpractice outcomes.
Book a demo to see how Tavrn supports malpractice case preparation.
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