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Fourth malpractice trial set to begin
Gloria Gomez reports
TAMPA, Fla. - Three years ago, Lisa Maria Carter was awarded $109 million in a malpractice suit. After two hung juries, the third trial was finally a win.
The former Department of Defense analyst was able to hold her University of South Florida doctor accountable for a botched surgery that left her without arms and legs.
But after a huge victory, she suffered a huge setback last year. USF, the defendant in this case, won an appeal and now Carter will have to endure a fourth trial.
During a virtual court hearing on the eve of the trial, the same attorneys who have battled it out for nearly a decade were at it again, fighting over evidence.
"I can't schedule when my client is going to need surgery while we wait for trial," argued Carter's attorney, Ken Dandar.
PREVIOUS: Routine procedure leaves woman without arms and legs, lawsuit says
Back in November of 2010, Carter was headed to Iraq for assignment, but first she had to have an ovarian cyst removed. During the surgery, court records show, her small bowel was accidently cut, but her doctors didn't discover it until it was too late.
A massive infection had spread, and all four limbs had to be amputated. During the third trial, she told the jury how a physician’s assistant, not her doctor, delivered the horrible news.
"Your feet and your hands were gangrene, and your stomach got a little messed up," Carter recalled hearing.
At the time, her surgeon, Dr. Larry Glazerman, said he wasn't to blame,
"I believe that I would have seen it," testified Glazerman.
But now a fourth jury will decide if that’s the case. Carter's fourth trial gets underway tomorrow.