Arizona Woman Awarded $12M for Alleged Hospital Error

A jury has awarded $12 million to a Tucson, Ariz. woman who was severely incapacitated by an alleged hospital medical error.

Pima County Superior Court jurors ruled in favor of Esmeralda Tripp and against the University of Arizona Health Network, now Banner-University Medical Center Tucson.

Lawyers for the hospital told the Arizona Daily Star that an appeal of the verdict is likely.

The 46-year-old Tripp is a mother of four and grandmother of seven.

Her lawyer says Tripp now is in a persistent vegetative state.

Lawyers for the hospital and other defendants had argued that Tripp didn’t provide accurate information about her medical history when she went to the emergency room with pain and thin blood in September 2013.

They also say they acted appropriately based on the available information.