Football
Associated Press 19y

Diaco found not liable

TAMPA, Fla. -- A jury on Friday cleared a surgeon who serves
as the team doctor to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of mistreating a
carpenter's infection following hernia-repair surgery.

Joseph Diaco dabbed tears as the jury announced its verdict
after a weeklong trial.

Thomas Christian, 53, had faulted Diaco for not aggressively and
properly treating the infection, which raged for months and
required a series of additional surgeries. He had sought an
unspecified amount of money for lost wages, medical expenses and
suffering.

"This is an outrage," Christian said. "What little life I had
is now gone."

Diaco told jurors that he treated Christian as he has other
patients with similar infections. He denied that he was less
careful with Christian because he was not of the same prominence of
many of the professional athletes he usually treats.

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