A San Diego court recently awarded $7.5 million in punitive damages to a woman who suffered frostbite to her knee from use of a cold-therapy medical device. The lawsuit was based on product defects associated with the medical device and medical malpractice by the treating physician. The product liability claim based on the defective medical device was initiated by a patient against San Diego Chargers’ physician Dr. David Chao, his medical practice and Breg, Inc., which manufactured the defective medical device. Dr. Chao prescribed the medical device Polar Care 500 to a number of patients over several years that suffered injuries. Despite the adverse impact of the medical device, Dr. Chao treated 15-year-old Whitney Engler with the faulty cold-therapy device following knee surgery. He failed to disclose past problems and injuries associated with prior procedures using the Polar Care 500 medical device, as well as the fact that he would benefit from his patient’s purchase of the medical device. Although Engler used the defective medical device as directed, her knee developed frostbite. She suffered serious permanent injury and disfigurement. In a lawsuit based on medical malpractice and product defect law, a jury originally awarded the woman $5.2 million in compensatory damages and assessed fifty percent liability to both Chao and Breg, Inc. The jury subsequently awarded Engler 7.5 million in punitive damage with $7 million in liability imposed on the medical product manufacturer and $500,000 in liability imposed on the doctor.
