A Laurens County Jury has awarded close to $3 million in damages to a 51-year-old Laurens area woman in a Medical Malpractice case against a former Laurens County OB/GYN Doctor. The case cites a November, 2009 hysterectomy at Laurens County Hospital by Dr. Byron A. Brown. It stipulated that additional procedures were also performed, and that serious complications developed from the surgery. Records indicate at least four corrective surgeries were required, including cases performed at the Medical University of South Carolina.
Court records indicated the trial began Monday, July 21st and concluded with a Jury Verdict in the local woman’s behalf around 7:30 last Friday evening. Dr. Brown resigned from all privileges at the hospital on May 12, 2011 and since that time has reportedly moved to the United Kingdom. He was not present for the trial last week, but did appear in a three-hour video deposition.
The jury verdict last Friday evening instructs Dr. Brown to pay the former patient $500,000 to cover Medical Expenses and $2,450,000 for “non-economic causes.”
Last week’s trial was the first of five cases pending against 42-year-old Dr. Byron A. Brown. A second is set to begin in Laurens County Civil Court on August 25th. In that case, the patient is suing Dr. Brown and the Laurens County Health Care System. Court records indicate that there have already been two Default Judgments against Dr. Byron A. Brown with awards of between $1.4 and $1.5 million for those two plaintiffs.