HAMMOND | A jury awarded $4.45 million to a Highland family Friday after finding a St. Catherine's Hospital emergency doctor responsible for medical malpractice, plaintiff's attorney Holly Wojcik said.

The family sued Dr. Rajeev Sareen after the Dec. 22, 2001, death of 45-year-old Roger Vuckovich, Lake civil court records show.

The former Inland Steel security supervisor died of an abdominal aortic aneurysm about 12 hours after being discharged from St. Catherine's Hospital, Wojcik said. The Times was seeking comment from St. Catherine's and attorney's for Sareen on Monday.

Wojcik and attorney Barry Rooth argued Vuckovich's death could have been prevented if Sareen had ordered a CT scan to accurately diagnose Vuckovich's condition. Vuckovich was misdiagnosed as having a kidney stone, Rooth said.

The Lake Superior Court jury found Sareen responsible after about an hour of deliberations, Wojcik said. The verdict followed a five-day trial in Judge William Davis' courtroom in Hammond, court records show.

Vuckovich's wife, Cynthia, and three daughters were plaintiffs in the lawsuit.