NYC Multiple Amputee Wins $18M from City, Hospital

By Stephanie Rabiner, Esq. at FindLaw.com Tue Mar 6, 2012 9:08pm EST

How much is a hand worth? What about a foot? An eye?

All of these body parts are invaluable, but when it comes to the law, they have a price. For Tabitha Mullings, that price is $17.9 million. The mother of three sued New York City and Brooklyn Hospital Center for a medical error that left her a quadruple amputee and blind in one eye.

After three years, the defendants agreed to settle the claim, worrying that the so-called NYC amputee would garner too much sympathy from a jury.

Tabitha Mullings’ story starts in 2008, when she went to the Brooklyn Hospital Center’s emergency room. She was diagnosed with kidney stones and given painkillers, reports the New York Daily News. But she was in so much pain the next day, she called 911 twice. NYC medics refused to take her to the hospital both times.

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