A Mercer County jury has awarded more than $5 million to the family of man who died following a hip replacement surgery.

On July 21, the jury hearing the case Masters v. Piston found four defendants partially liable for the death and awarded nearly $5.1 million to the family of Thomas Natale Jr. The award included $2 million to each of Natale's children for loss of comfort, companionship, guidance and tutelage. Both children, according to the attorney who tried the case, were in their 30s.

The verdict is the largest award out of the county for a medical malpractice case involving a death in at least two decades. According to a review of The Legal's archives dating back to 1994, the only Mercer County award that was larger was a $12.8 million medical malpractice verdict from 2001 involving misdiagnosed breast cancer.

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