New York Jury Awards Ex-NFL Player Cox $28.5M in Medical Malpractice Case

A former NFL player has been was awarded $28.5 million by a Manhattan jury ruling in his favor in a medical malpractice lawsuit over surgery that failed to fix his injured ankle, according to the player’s attorney.

Attorney Jordan Mersen said his client, former New York Giants running back Michael Cox, sued both the late Dr. Dean Lorich and New York-Presbyterian Hospital’s Hospital for Special Surgery after a failed surgery ended his NFL career,

Cox suffered lower-body injuries in a game in November 2014, breaking his leg and injuring his ankle, causing cartilage damage. After his injury, Cox underwent surgery under Dr. Lorich, then the chief of the hospital’s orthopedic trauma service, who died a year after the lawsuit was filed.

Mersen said the surgery failed to repair Cox’s left ankle and Cox would never play in the NFL again as a result. In 2016, Cox sued both Lorich and the hospital.

On Friday, a jury in the Manhattan Supreme Court awarded Cox a total of $28.5 million — $15.5 million for future pain and suffering, $12 million in lost earnings and $1 million in past pain and suffering.

“The jury spoke with a clear and unambiguous voice that Mr. Cox received inadequate medical care and treatment and was significantly injured as a result,” Jordan stated after the verdict. “We are pleased with the jury’s decision.”