(WXYZ) — Another jury has come back with a major verdict against a metro Detroit doctor accused of falsely diagnosing children with epilepsy.
The 7 Investigators recently exposed years of complaints against Dr. Yasser Awaad and Oakwood Hospital, which is now owned by Beaumont.
That verdict was just returned late Tuesday afternoon, and the jury awarded a young woman named Claire Linzell, who is now 18, $2.77 million.
It's the second of 267 lawsuits that have been filed against Awaad and Oakwood.
#Breaking -- false #epilepsy diagnosis case: Attorney for former patients of Dr. Yasser Awaad says 2nd jury just awarded $2.77 million and found the pediatric neurologist negligent; jury also found #Oakwood Hospital negligent for credentialing and failing to supervise the doc.
— Heather Catallo WXYZ (@HeatherCatallo) October 29, 2019
In June, a jury awarded Mariah Martinez $3 million after she said Awaad falsely diagnosed her with epilepsy. The second lawsuit involving linzell has been underway this month.
Medical malpractice lawyer Brian McKeen says on Tuesday, the jury found Dr. Awaad negligent, and they found Oakwood negligent in credentialing Awaad and for failing to supervise him.
"I think it sends a message to the community that Dr. Awaad, as we’ve been saying all along, was falsely diagnosing children with epilepsy for his own selfish financial gain, and that Oakwood Hospital completely failed to supervise him and allowed him to continue doing that, despite numerous red flags that were raised by a number of physicians including his own office mate," McKeen said.
We did reach out to Beaumont for comment. A spokesperson told us, “While we respect the jury's verdict, we disagree with the outcome and will appeal this decision.”
