Six months after a jury found Dr. Nadine Haddad liable for a botched vaginal procedure called the O-Shot, the case is being dismissed.
Jaime Herwehe won $800,000 after filing suit in San Diego Superior Court, claiming “excruciating pain” from the orgasm shot with expired anesthetic administered by Haddad, her boss.
She also alleged loss of sexual function, which led to the breakup with her boyfriend of almost eight years and the father of her daughter.
Now Herwehe, 32, has reached a monetary settlement with Haddad and her B Medical Spa and Wellness Center in the Marston Hills neighborhood near Balboa Park.
On Sept. 25, Herwehe attorney Josh Gruenberg filed a request for dismissal of all causes of action, including ones that led to the judgment — medical battery and lack of informed consent.
“The case settled,” he said.
In April, Haddad lawyer Jack Reinholtz said a state medical-malpractice law known as MICRA, dealing with noneconomic damages, would reduce the payout from $800,000 to $250,000.
“This means Ms. Herwehe will receive 1% of the $25M she sought from the jury,” he said at the time. “Prior to trial, I advised Mr. Gruenberg that I felt the case should settle in that range. He summarily rejected that concept, so no offer was presented.”
In fact, Judge Carolyn Caietti — who oversaw the 2 1/2-week trial — rejected Haddad’s bid to limit her payout to the MICRA limit.
On July 19, in that three-page ruling, Caietti wrote that since the “medical battery claim is not based on professional negligence, MICRA’s limitation on noneconomic damages does not apply and Plaintiff’s damages will not be reduced.”
Haddad and a new attorney — Blandin Wright of Boca Raton, Florida — didn’t respond to requests for comment on the settlement.
But in an earlier note to Times of San Diego, Wright said: “Dr. Nadine Haddad is a respected medical professional who has served her community with dedication and integrity. … It is crucial to clarify that Dr. Haddad has never been convicted of medical malpractice or negligence.”
Alluding to the settlement, he added: “The legal matter in question has been resolved without any findings of wrongdoing on her part. Dr. Haddad is eager to put this unfortunate chapter behind her and move forward with her life and career.”
Herwehe attorney Gruenberg said the settlement is confidential, but his law firm will still be paid.
“We are contingency fee lawyers, so we get paid a percentage of whatever we win,” Gruenberg told Times of San Diego this week.
Settling a medical case after trial isn’t uncommon, according to legal experts.
“As strange as it sounds, cases are quite frequently settled after trial,” says Nora Freeman Engstrom, a professor at Stanford Law School.
“Once a verdict is returned, both sides have a clear sense of what the case is worth in the eyes of a jury — and yet, with a costly appeal looming, both sides still face some risk and expense. That combination of factors — some certainty, some risk and a shared interest in avoiding legal fees — can spur settlements.”
Concurring was Michelle M. Mello, another Stanford Law School professor.
“Typically, post-trial settlements occur because one of the parties has indicated they will appeal the verdict and the other wishes to avoid the risk that the verdict will be overturned on appeal,” Mello said.
“Presumably, if the defendant strongly wished to keep details of the litigation and incident secret, settlement (with a confidentiality provision) would have occurred much earlier.”
Professor Thaddeus Mason Pope of Mitchell Hamline School of Law in St. Paul, Minnesota, told me that most medical malpractice cases settle before trial — or are voluntarily dismissed.
“Few cases go all the way to trial,” Pope said via email. “Of those that do, some settle after trial. That happens, especially when the losing party has grounds for appeal.”
But Pope says a settlement wouldn’t avoid other sanctions — such as ones levied by the Medical Board of California. (The board hasn’t responded to my queries.)
“Any adverse action (which includes settlements and not just judgments) must be reported to the Board and to the National Practitioner Database,” he said. (Haddad is currently licensed by the state medical board through March 31, 2025.)
Herwehe attorney Gruenberg said settlements “generally” are sparked by concerns over an appeal, “though I will tell you that although the defendant threatened an appeal (they always do), we were not worried about it in the slightest.”
On Friday, a spokeswoman for the state Medical Board wouldn’t comment on whether Haddad is subject of any complaint or investigation.
But the rep said the board, in any matter, takes “the totality of facts and circumstances into account, based upon the available evidence, when it considers whether, and to what degree, it will discipline a licensee.”
If the board proves at hearing that a violation of the Medical Practice Act occurred, a range of actions can be taken, including issuing a public reprimand, ordering a period of probation with terms and conditions the physician must follow, imposing a suspension, or revoking the physician’s license.
“Pursuant to Business and Professions Code section 2229, protection of the public is the Board’s highest priority,” the spokeswoman said. “However, when disciplining a physician, this section requires the Board to, whenever possible, take action intended to rehabilitate the licensee, so long as such rehabilitation efforts are not inconsistent with public protection.”
At the center of this case was Haddad giving Herwehe (pronounced HER-way) the experimental O-Shot to the clitorius and vagina, which promised improved sex drive and “oh-my-God orgasms.” using the patient’s own blood platelets.
As of Friday afternoon, B Med Spa’s website still offers the O-Shot.
“With amazing results and little-to-no pain, O-Shots® is a great option for increasing sexual confidence, comfort and enjoyment,” the spa says.