The Powell Law Group - Personal Injury, Corporate & Municipal Law

Settlement Ends Malpractice Trial
of Wilkes-Barre Surgeon
By Paul Krupski, Standard-Speaker

Wilkes-Barre - West Hazleton attorney Robert J. Powell achieved what some court observers believe to be a first on Wednesday when he negotiated a medical malpractice settlement rumored to be about $250,000.

The settlement ended the two-day trial of a lawsuit alleging that the left kidney of Donald Holling of West Hazleton was removed unnecessarily by a Wilkes-Barre surgeon.

Powell filed the complaint in Luzerne County Court on behalf of Holling and his wife Judy, of 201 N. Broad St. Named as defendants were Dr. Haragopal Penugonda and Wilkes-Barre General Hospital.

At the request of Penugonda, Judge Mark Ciavarella ordered the record of the settlement sealed. Participants were instructed not to divulge or discuss the details.

The doctor was the only defendant involved in the trial. Court aides said a settlement with the hospital was reached under a confidential agreement.

Court personnel said they couldn't remember a lawyer from the southern end of the county ever winning a malpractice suit in Luzerne County Court. They said only one out of every ten malpractice suits, at best, are won by the plaintiff. Also, they noted that there are few attorneys from Hazleton who represent plaintiffs in malpractice cases.

Penugonda spent four hours Tuesday on the witness stand and would have returned to give further testimony Wednesday morning had the case not been settled.

One juror, who wished to remain anonymous, said Powell "was blowing him out of the water" during "blistering" questioning. Powell's law firm, based in West Hazleton, also serves as solicitor for the City of Hazleton.

The alleged improper surgery was performed on Nov. 4, 1991, at Wilkes-Barre General. Prior to removal of the kidney, the complaint stated that diagnostic studies at the hospital revealed a mass in the kidney measuring 4.525 centimeters in diameter.

The complaint said Penugonda urged Holling to undergo exploratory surgery with planned removal of the kidney after he reviewed the results of a cystoscopy he performed on Nov. 2. An examination of the removed kidney showed it contained a benign cyst, the plaintiffs claimed.

A courtroom exhibit contained a letter from an expert witness for the plaintiffs whose opinion was that the removal of a benign kidney from a 35-year-old man was "completely unnecessary." The expert said he reviewed the pathology report of another benign kidney removal performance by Penugonda in 1989 and said it was very similar to the Hollings finding.

The expert concluded that Penugonda didn't exhaust all diagnostic procedures available to him. He said "removal of a kidney should always be a rare circumstance if proper diagnostic pathways are followed."

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