By Cherrie Anne E. Villahermosa
Variety News Staff

A JURY has found the Commonwealth Health Center 60 percent liable to a man who sued the hospital for negligence and damages, saying the doctors there failed to diagnose that he had a fractured ankle.
Alvin Owens, according to Superior Court jurors, is entitled to 60 percent of $22,995, or $13,797.
The jurors determined that CHC was negligent wit respect to its failure to have the plaintiff’s x-ray reviewed by a radiologist within 24 hours.
According to the jurors, Owens could have had a better recovery if the fracture had been diagnosed and treated in a timely manner under the applicable standard of care.
But the jurors also determined that Owens too was negligent in failing to return to CHC or to seek other medical assistance within a reasonable period of time after his treatment at the hospital on March 7, 2004.
The jurors determined that Owens’ negligence was a substantial factor in causing his harm.
Owens’ lawyer, George Hasselback, in an interview, said they were happy with the verdict.
CHC’s lawyer, David Lochabay, in a separate interview, said the verdict was proper and appropriate.
“It was a very difficult case and the jury had to make a difficult decision — but it was a proper and appropriate decision,” he said.
The jury trial started on April 9 and the closing arguments were made on Wednesday.
The jurors started deliberating yesterday morning and returned a verdict late yesterday afternoon.
Owens was represented by David Banes and Hasselback while CHC was represented by Lochabay and Braddock Huesman.
Owens sued CHC and two of its doctors for negligence in failling to diagnose the fractured ankle he sustained in a motorcycle accident in 2004.
The Superior Court later dismissed the complaints against the two doctors and CHC was named as the only defendant in the lawsuit.