Georgia Woman Wins $8.8 Million against Jacksonville Hospital

A Jacksonville, Fla. hospital must pay $8.8 million in a malpractice suit filed by a diabetic Georgia woman who says the hospital didn’t administer insulin.

The jury awarded the money to Shirlyn Gallagher of Blackshear, Ga., on March 22.

Gallagher alleged Baptist Medical Center of Jacksonville was negligent for failure to follow a doctor’s orders to administer insulin shots and carefully check Gallagher’s blood sugar levels. Her suit claimed her blood sugar spiked and she went into cardiac arrest and had to be resuscitated. She claims she suffers from brain damage.

Baptist says it intends to appeal the decision. It claims her condition was not caused by the hospital’s treatment, but her long history of diabetes, recent heart attack and previous stroke.