Jury awards Valpo couple $25.8 million in medical case

A Lake County jury awarded a Valparaiso couple $25.8 million late Thursday after a four-day trial before Lake Superior Court Chief Judge John M. Sedia in Hammond.

George “Tim” Yaros, 70, had a blood test performed on Oct. 4, 2017, at St. Mary Medical Center in Valparaiso. The tests showed that Yaros had localized cancer, but St. Mary Medical Center never sent the test results to the specialist who ordered the blood test, according to a news release from the Allen Law Group, the firm representing Yaros and his wife, LaVonne.

Tim Yaros' cancer was not discovered until 13 months later, when he suffered kidney failure because the tumor had by then reached stage IV and spread to his spine and kidneys, the release said. Yaros will require dialysis and lifelong treatment due to the delayed diagnosis and treatment, his lawyers said.

The jury recognized that Yaros' wife, LaVonne, to whom he was married for 43 years, also suffered serious harm and awarded her $4 million for the loss of marital union with her husband, according to the couple's lawyers.

Before the trial began, an independent medical review board required by Indiana state law concluded that St. Mary Medical Center “failed to meet appropriate standards of care,” the press release said.

St. Mary Medical Center was represented by the law firm Johnson & Bell.