Quinn Wins Rhode Island’s 1st Civil Trial Since Pandemic’s Start

Our attorney team at Decof Barry Mega & Quinn, P.C. is very proud to announce that Attorney Michael P. Quinn, Jr., a shareholder at our firm, has won the very first civil jury trial in Rhode Island since the COVID-19 pandemic hit in March 2020. In this case, he fought tirelessly for a woman who suffered severe injury in a negligently performed laparoscopic cholecystectomy, a surgery in which the gallbladder is removed.

At age 25, the client sought professional medical help after experiencing intense abdominal pain. She was quickly diagnosed with symptomatic gallstones, then recommended gallbladder removal surgery to clear them out. Unfortunately, the general surgeon failed to remove the gallbladder without cutting, or “transecting,” the ductwork above it. The general surgeon also failed to identify his error and, later that afternoon, sent our client home.

The pain of the surgical error soon became unbearable for our client. She visited Kent Hospital, where she had first sought help for her abdominal pain. Hospital staff had a hard time finding the root of the problem—but soon concluded that she was leaking bile from a presumed injured bile duct. They transferred her to Rhode Island Hospital for definitive treatment.

At Rhode Island Hospital, our client was found to have a completely transected common duct.. The damage was so severe that the injury could not be surgically repaired at the time it was discovered. She required extensive medical care and was admitted to the hospital for approximately a month and a half.

First, our client had to undergo bile replacement, a treatment that involved her first having to drink her bile and then, when that became unbearable, to have it drained into her abdomen via a tube. Then, her biliary/intestinal anatomy had to be completely reconstructed via a Roux-en-Y gastric bypass, a surgical procedure in which her small intestine was cut and rerouted and her biliary system diverted.

Not only was this experience traumatic and painful for our client, but her abdomen is now a completely altered and scarred. There is also a a risk of future injury because of it.

Throughout litigation and at trial, the defense fought back expertly and vigorously, but in the end, our firm’s hard work paid off: Attorney Quinn achieved a unanimous verdict of $1.2 million for our client. With interest, the judgment totaled $2.136 million.

We would like to congratulate Attorney Quinn on his excellent work in this medical malpractice case! At Decof Barry Mega & Quinn, P.C., we never give up when it comes to advocating for our clients; Attorney Quinn is a prime example of this.