Surgeon, Hospital Ordered to Pay $750,000 Over Botched Hip Surgery

An Ellsworth jury on Feb. 27 awarded $750,000 to a Milbridge woman left with permanent impairment after hip replacement care at Northern Light Maine Coast Hospital, the Bangor Daily News reported.

Jurors concluded that the hospital and orthopedic surgeon Peter Copithorne provided negligent care to Mary Shea, now 71, who faces $291,000 in medical bills. Deliberations lasted slightly less than four hours following a three-day trial in Hancock County Superior Court. Three of the nine jurors did not agree with the verdict; Maine does not require unanimous juries in civil cases.

Shea's lawsuit centered on operations on her right hip in 2019. According to the suit, a complication from the first surgery that February could have been fixed easily if caught within two months, but Copithorne did not review the correct X-ray until May 24. Shea then needed a more invasive procedure, during which he left a gap of about a centimeter in her femur, the suit said. She later turned to a Portland surgeon for further repairs.

Copithorne testified that he took responsibility for missing the X-ray. His lawyer, Douglas Morgan, conceded negligence but argued it was not the direct cause of Shea's later problems. Morgan said the defense was disappointed but respected the jury's decision.

Shea's attorney, Elizabeth Kayatta, said doctors must be held accountable for mistakes "in a meaningful way."

This story was first reported by Bangor Daily News.