GILLETTE, Wyo. — A $9 million medical malpractice verdict in the case of an oil-field worker with a broken neck is thought to be the largest in Wyoming history.
The Casper Star-Tribune reports Sunday that the award against Campbell County Memorial Hospital in Gillette far eclipses the state's previous medical malpractice high of $1.5 million.
The newspaper reports that in 2008, Montana resident Louis Prager was driving a truck for his employer at the time, Conquest Energies Co., when he got into a rollover accident. Prager complained of neck pain and was taken to the hospital.
Prager was discharged the same day. Four days later, he returned to the hospital with severe pain, and tests showed he'd broken his neck. He has permanent nerve damage.
The jury verdict, returned Oct. 27, awarded Prager $7 million. It also awarded his wife $2 million for harm to her marriage.
© Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.