A jury in Pomona awarded a $12 million verdict Thursday to a woman in a medical malpractice lawsuit.

Prosecutors claimed that  22 year-old Jessica Ramirez's current vegetative state could have been avoided by prompt surgery.

Ofelia Reynaga, Ramirez's mother, brought the lawsuit against Greater El Monte Community Hospital after her daughter waited hours at the facility in 2007 for surgery to remove an air-rifle pellet from her brain. Ramirez was eventually sent to another hospital for treatment. Attorney for Ramirez's mother, Dr. Bruce Fagel, said that "employees of [the hospital] delayed in their evaluation of [Ramirez's] condition and also delayed in transfer to another hospital after an x-ray showed a bullet in her brain."

The jury found the hospital to be negligent and awarded Ramirez's mother more than $10.6 million for future medical care, $373,000 for past medical expenses, and $1 million for pain and suffering.

A Philadelphia medical malpractice claim cannot undo the pain and suffering you and your family has experienced. However, legal action can help you battle the severe financial losses that victims of medical negligence commonly experience as well as prevent damage to future patients by calling attention to flaws in a particular hospital's system.

If you or someone you love has been the victim of Philadelphia medical malpractice or negligence, please contact the experienced Philadelphia medical malpractice lawyers of Lowenthal & Abrams, P.C. to learn more about the legal options available to injured patients. Please call 215-238-1130.