Tennessee Jury Awards Family $7.8 Million in Hospital Negligence Suit

A Dyer County, Tenn., jury awarded $7.8 million in damages to the family of a child who suffered severe brain damage as a result of an improperly treated wound at Dyersburg Regional Medical Center.

The Dyersburg State Gazette reported that the lawsuit was filed against the medical center and others. It stemmed from when then-12-year-old Jonathan Reynolds was treated in 2004 after falling on a nail. The lawsuit claimed that proper procedures were not taken to avoid infection and the hospital personnel failed to give him the proper antibiotics.

The boy caught a flesh-eating bacterium that required numerous skin grafts. He also developed severe brain injuries after slipping into a coma. After a 15-day trial, the jury returned the verdict Aug. 3.