A Georgia woman has been awarded $3 million by a jury related to her husband's heart attack. The jury gave the award after finding that his doctor should have issued him a warning that strenuous activity, such as the group sex act he was participating in when he died, could have potentially devastating consequences.
According to WXIA-TV, William Martinez, 31, who was a police officer, died when he and a male colleague were participating in a sordid threesome with another woman - who was not his wife. The three conducted the affair at an Atlanta airport motel in 2009, but Martinez collapsed and died due to the pressures on his heart.
A court jury found that Dr. Sreenivasulu Gangasani and the medical group he worked for, were 60 percent to blame for the death of the cop, which occurred due to atheroschlerotic coronary artery disease.
The jury agreed with the wife's lawyers who had argued that the defendant doctor had not properly diagnosed Martinez and offered him suitable treatment. The jury believed that the doctor should have identified and issued relevant treatment for Martinez's high blood pressure, chest pains, shortness of breath and irregular heartbeat.
The Martinez family attorney Rod Edmond said on Friday, "The type of sex that he was engaged in is the type that's totally unacceptable to our community. But the fact of the matter is this man could have died running on the treadmill, running after a criminal."
The jury found the doctor guilty of medical negligence, but also ruled that Martinez should take responsibility for 40 percent of his own death - therefore reducing the award to his wife from $5 million to $3 million.
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An appeal by the doctor is expected.
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