Naugatuck Principal Receives $500,000 Jury Award in Doctor's Negligence Case

Attorney says his client nearly lost her life.
Naugatuck Patch
Brian McCready
March 31, 2016

NAUGATUCK, CT - Connecticut Middle School 2014 Principal of the Year Johnna Hunt, who is Hillside Intermediate School's principal, was awarded a $500,000 verdict Thursday by a jury that concluded a doctor's negligence during surgery put her life at risk, according to Hunt's attorney.

Timothy P. Pothin of the Faxon Law Group in New Haven told Naugatuck Patch in a phone interview that the verdict was just handed down in Superior Court, Waterbury after a three-week trial involving John Kaczmarek, M.D., an OB/GYN in Waterbury.

On March 25, 2011, Dr. Kaczmarek of Specialists in Women’s Healthcare, P.C., performed a hysteroscopy dilation and curettage (D & C) on Hunt as part of an outpatient procedure.

"During the surgery, Kaczmarek made an improper cut into the patient’s uterus, causing her to hemorrhage. Kaczmarek finished the procedure and, failing to recognize or disclose his grave error, simply sent Hunt home," Pothin said in a news release.

"Later, after losing an enormous amount of blood, Hunt was admitted to Waterbury Hospital where it was discovered that, due to the doctor’s negligence, the patient’s uterine wall had been cut during her procedure," the news release continues.

With her life in danger, she was forced to undergo a hysterectomy, Pothin said. The plaintiff was only 40 years old at the time.

A phone call left at Kaczmarek's medical office was not immediately returned Thursday.

“These past five years have not been easy ones for my client,” Pothin said. “This doctor is very fortunate that his careless mistake did not kill her. Johnna and her husband, Steven, are grateful to the jury for holding him accountable.”

Despite the numerous other medical setbacks this negligence caused, Hunt has maintained an excellent reputation in the Naugatuck School system and serves as a beloved school administrator, Pothin said.

Prior to trial, the plaintiffs would have accepted a fraction of the jury verdict but the doctor and his insurer refused to settle, Pothin said.