About 80 malpractice claims that forced an Alamogordo hospital to seek bankruptcy court protection last summer have been settled for more than $33 million.
The Albuquerque Journal reports that that settlement lets the Gerald Champion Regional Medical Center, the largest hospital in Otero County, to emerge from bankruptcy protection.
Former patients alleged in lawsuits that they were injured when a Plexiglas-like cement that was used in spinal procedures and supposed to act as a cushion in the disk space and relieve spinal pain had seeped into other areas of the spine before it hardened, or hardened and later cracked into pieces.
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Information from: Albuquerque Journal, http://www.abqjournal.com
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.