EXTRA CONTENT: Jury awards $3.3 million to family in medical malpractice case

To read court documents from this case, click here.

A Whitley Circuit Court Jury recently handed down a $3.3 million verdict in a medical malpractice case involving a Corbin doctor.

The lawsuit stems from the Oct. 30, 2005 death of Sherry Ayers, who died in Whitley County.

On Oct. 10, 2006, Rick Ayers filed suit against doctors Abdulkader Dahhan, Jose M. Echeverria, each of Harlan, and Bryan T. Curd of Corbin on behalf of the couple’s daughter, Peyton Ayers.

The three doctors treated Sherry Ayers at various times from January 2001 through Oct. 30, 2005, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit claimed that the three doctors were each negligent in their care and treatment of Sherry Ayers and that the negligence caused her death.

On Aug. 20, jurors found that both Curd and Echeverria failed to exercise the degree of care and skill ordinarily expected of a reasonably competent physician specializing in internal medicine and acting under the same or similar circumstances, according to court documents.

Jurors also found that their failure to comply with that duty was a "substantial factor" in causing injuries alleged by the plaintiffs, according to court documents.

The jury also ruled that Dahhan did not fail to comply with his duty to provide reasonably competent care and wasn’t at fault.

The jury also ruled that Sherry Ayers failed to comply with her duty to exercise ordinary care for her own safety, but that this didn’t play a substantial factor in causing the injuries, according to court documents.

The jury ruled that Curd and Echeverria were each 50 percent at fault.

The jury awarded $8,105 for funeral expenses and $1.3 million out of a possible $1,814,733 for destruction of Sherry Ayer’s power to earn money. Jurors also awarded the maximum $2 million to Peyton Ayers for loss of aide, society and companionship, according to court records.