$5.6M verdict against Chevy Chase doctor

A couple won a $5.6 million jury verdict Thursday against a Chevy Chase doctor whom they alleged caused the wife serious nerve and spinal injuries.

The Montgomery County jury awarded $2.5 million for lost wages, $276,000 for medical expenses, $675,000 for loss of consortium, and $2.1 for non-economic damages against Dr. Hadi Rassael.

The verdict is likely to be reduced due to Maryland’s statutory cap on non-economic damages.

“The jury realized that a woman who looked essentially healthy while sitting in the courtroom was in intractable pain,” lawyer Alan J. Belsky said, describing his client, Nancy H. Marquez.

A lawyer for Rassael, Robert S. Morter of Wharton, Levin, Ermentraut & Klein P.A., did not return a call for comment about the case.

Belsky said that Marquez, now 33, was new to Maryland in 2005 when she experienced back pain. As she had done in the past, Marquez found a doctor of osteopathy to treat her.

When she went to Rassael, she immediately thought that “something didn’t seem right,” said Belsky, of Belsky, Weinberg & Horowitz LLC. “It looked like it was a cosmetic surgery suite.” (Rassael performs cosmetic surgery.)

Marquez asked Rassael if he knew how to treat her back problem, and he assured her that he did, Belsky said. But Rassael twisted her neck quickly and forcefully, without warning, which ripped her brachial plexus, Belsky said.

She suffered a disk injury and had to have brachial decompression surgery and disk replacement surgery.

She has been unable to resume her physical therapy practice and is in such persistent pain that she cannot work more than part time, Belsky said. Her income has gone from $76,000 a year to only $9,000 a year; she is teaching basic anatomy and physiology at a community college in Michigan, where she and her husband, James, now live.

In addition, she was a triathlete but can no longer swim or bike, according to Belsky. That’s affected her relationship with James because they met as part of a triathlon and used to participate in outdoor activities together all the time.

“This is serious stuff,” Belsky said. “This isn’t, ‘Oh, they went dancing once in awhile.’ These are young people. Their whole life was changed just by virtue of this.”

The trial lasted nine days.

Rassael testified that he does all available osteopathic manipulations for all patients, Belsky said. The plaintiffs’ experts testified that that’s not the appropriate standard of care. Marquez had never had neck problems and should not have been treated with a neck manipulation, Belsky said.

Experts also testified that, while high-velocity, low-amplitude neck manipulation is appropriate, high-velocity, high-amplitude manipulation of the type Rassael performed is not, he said.

A jury of five men and one woman deliberated for eight hours before returning with a verdict Thursday afternoon.

Marquez v. Rassael et al.

Court: Montgomery County Circuit Court
Case No: 298673V
Proceedings: Jury verdict
Judge: Marielsa A. Bernard
Outcome: Plaintiff
Dates: Incident: Feb. 19, 2005
Health Care ADR complaint filed: Feb. 18, 2008
Suit filed: Aug. 5, 2008
Disposition: June 17, 2010
Plaintiffs’ Attorneys: Alan J. Belsky and Valerie A. Grove of Belsky, Weinberg & Horowitz LLC
Defense Attorneys: D. Lee Rutland and Robert S. Morter of Wharton, Levin, Ermentraut & Klein P.A.
Charges: Negligence, respondeat superior liability, loss of consortium
Award: $5.6 million