Jury awards $625,000 in Augusta County dental malpractice lawsuit

STAUNTON - An Augusta County judge on Monday heard motions in a civil case where a jury awarded a family more than $600,000 in compensation last summer in a dental malpractice lawsuit.

On Monday, Circuit Judge W. Chapman Goodwin listened to oral arguments concerning the motions and said he will notify attorneys once he has reached a decision.

Dr. Corey C. Crigler and Blue Ridge Oral Surgery in Fishersville were sued in 2016 for $3 million after a botched oral procedure two years earlier, according to the lawsuit.

Following a three-day trial, in March a jury awarded the girl and her parents $625,000 in Augusta County Circuit Court. 

In the summer of 2014, a 12-year-old girl went to the practice to have her wisdom teeth extracted. Four teeth were pulled and another was surgically uprighted. Following the surgery, the girl's attorney, Anthony Russell, said she experienced immense swelling, bruising, blistering, tongue biting and numbness on the left half of her tongue, the lawsuit states.

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Two days later, Dr. Crigler reportedly prescribed the girl a steroid. When the girl returned to the practice two weeks later, Crigler sent her to a nerve injury clinic in Richmond. There, during nerve testing, an oral surgeon recorded her loss of sensory perception at 100 on a scale of 0 to 100, according to the lawsuit. "No stimulus detection on any level," the doctor documented.

A second opinion from an oral surgeon was sought in Atlanta, Georgia, and the girl underwent nerve repair surgery nearly three months after her wisdom teeth were initially extracted. During the procedure, it was discovered her lingual nerve had been completely severed, the lawsuit states.

The child continues to suffer neurological deficits and pain, and has permanent symptoms of nerve damage, according to court documents.

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In a post-trial motion, the defendants are seeking a new trial and argue that jurors weren't properly vetted because the judge nixed two questions slated for potential jurors, court files show.

A new trial was also requested on the grounds that the defense was reportedly prohibited from asking about the girl's counseling, and there was also a claim that an expert witness for the plaintiffs was allowed to testify outside of his expertise. 

Russell has filed a motion asking for the judge to issue a final order on the jury's award.

The motions were heard heard Monday afternoon.

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