By Lisa Coryell

SPECIAL TO THE TIMES

LAWRENCE -- A township man has been awarded $2.8 million in damages by a jury for injuries he sustained during a kidney stone removal surgery in 2005.

The man, who asked that his name not be published, filed a medical malpractice suit against Steven Orland, a urologist who has an office on Brunswick Avenue in Trenton.

The suit alleged that the plaintiff sustained damage to his urethra during the surgery that was exacerbated by sub-standard post-operative care.

During a seven-day trial in Civil Court that ended last Wednesday, a medical expert testified that post-operative management of the plaintiff's injury failed to meet acceptable standards of medical care. The negligence led to the need for numerous surgeries and resulted in debilitating scarring and other permanent injuries, said attorney Eric Chizmar, who represented the plaintiff.

"My client went in for a simple kidney stone removal surgery," said Chizmar. "As a result of the negligence of his physician, he has and will suffer mentally and physically for the rest of his life."

Neither Orland, nor his attorney could be reached for comment yesterday.

The surgery took place at Capital Health's Regional Health Facility on Brunswick Avenue. Capital Health was originally named in the suit but was dismissed before the case went to trial because it was determined that Orlando has hospital privileges at Capital Health but is not employed by the medical system.

At the time of the incident, Orlando had an office on Colonial Lake Drive in Lawrence.