$4 Million Jury Verdict for Wrongful Death Caused by Medical Malpractice

This week, a jury compensated $4 million to the family of Paul Hustig, who died of colorectal cancer on August 1, 2001. The verdict amount was reduced to $1.25 million by Judge J. Patrick Mullen to comply with Nebraska’s medical malpractice awards cap. Brothers Patrick and Joseph Cullan represented Paul Hustig’s wife, Phyllis, and the rest of the Hustig family in their lawsuit against the Methodist Physicians Clinic and Dr. Michael J. Domalakes.

They successfully argued that Dr. Domalakes did not remove a polyp found in Paul Hustig’s rectum in 1991, knowing that there was a history of colon cancer in Hustig’s family and that the same polyp became cancerous, ultimately killing Paul Hustig. The Cullans are considering an appeal, as they believe the medical malpractice cap on jury compensation to be unconstitutional and unfair to people who suffer damages at the hands of doctors.

The Hustig family and the Cullans hope this substantial verdict will urge the Methodist Physicians Clinic and its doctors more aggressively and attentively perform biopsies and remove polyps so that other families do not suffer the same loss.