Montgomery County Jury Awards $451,054 in Dental Malpractice Case
A Montgomery County jury has awarded $451,054 to Avery Colleen O’Neill, a teenager who suffered permanent nerve damage during a routine wisdom tooth extraction. The verdict was against oral surgeon Dr. Gary J. Funari, DMD, and his practice, Affiliated Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons of Maryland, P.C. The case, Avery Colleen O’Neill v. Gary J. Funari, et al., was tried in the Circuit Court for Montgomery County, Maryland, before Judge Michael J. McAuliffe. Ms. O’Neill, who was seventeen at the time of the procedure, experienced a complete severance of her lingual nerve. Despite subsequent nerve repair surgery, she has been left with chronic numbness, loss of taste on the right side of her tongue, and neuropathic pain requiring lifelong medication. Plaintiff’s experts presented compelling testimony and an animated reconstruction demonstrating the negligent manner in which the nerve was severed. A key moment in the trial occurred during cross-examination when Dr. Funari admitted that if he had performed the e...
