$13.9 million won in malpractice case

A Harris County state district court jury has awarded $13.9 million to a 13-year-old Houston girl and her parents for extensive brain damage the girl suffered during a 1983 tonsillectomy.

The largest portion of the verdict, $8.9 million was for future medical care for Monica Kominczak, who is unable to communicate or function on her own following a June 1993 operation at Heights Hospital.

After a one-month trial and two day’s deliberation, a jury in Judge Reagan Cartwright’s court ruled Monday against anesthetist Enrique Villalobos of Sugar Land and pediatrician Stephen S. Ho of Houston.

"Thank the good lord, we had a jury that would listen, see the problem and more or less undid the wrong, " said Monica’s father, Richard Kominczak.

The girl’s attorneys, John Tavormina and Mike Saunders, alleged that her physical condition was not properly monitored before, during and after surgery. Their lawsuit asked for $22.5 million actual damages and $10 million punitive damages. The jury awarded no punitive damages.

Villalobos, who administered the anesthesia-oxygen mix that allegedly harmed the girl, was found 90 percent liable. His attorney said the injury was an unpredictable reaction to normal treatment.

Ho, who treated the girl afterward for the damage suffered in the operating room, was found 10 percent liable. His attorney said at the trial that Ho did everything possible to limit harm to the little girl, and should be held accountable for irreversible injury in the operating room.

The hospital, a medial supply company and two other physicians settled with the Kominczak for undisclosed amounts.