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Jury Awards $5.6M In Screwdriver Surgery Case HILO, Hawaii -- A Big Island Circuit Court jury Monday awarded $5.6 million to the family of a man who had the shaft of a screwdriver implanted into the his spine by an orthopedic surgeon, said the family's attorney, Mark Davis. Doctor Robert Ricketson had contended he acted properly when he operated on Arturo Iturralde in 2001 because two titanium rods he planned to attach to Iturralde's spine were discovered missing during the operation at Hilo Medical Center. The stainless steel screwdriver snapped days later, and the then-73-year-old Iturralde had to have three more back surgeries as a result. He died two years later. The jury determined Ricketson was negligent, and that the hospital was negligent for credentialing him and allowing him in the operating room. Miles Takaaze -- a spokesman for the Hawaii Health Systems Corporation which runs the state's 12 public hospitals -- didn't immediately return an after-hours call seeking comment.
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