Verdict: $1,000,000

The plaintiff's estate sued the defendant surgeon for the failure to timely perform exploratory abdominal surgery to determine the cause of the morbidly obese patient's diarrhea, cramping, and lower abdominal pain for past three days. The defendant claimed he could not obtain an abdominal CT scan because the patient weighed 350 pounds making him too large for an abdominal CT-scan. The patient died of peritonitis which had resulted from a delayed diagnosis and repair of a perforated bowel.

Estate of Lucas v. Roper, M.D.