2004 Trial Results

16 Defense Verdicts

November 18, 2004

Gerald Toner successfully defended a Louisville ER physician from charges of medical negligence.  In this case, the physician’s failure to diagnose a flesh-eating infection in a patient’s buttocks allegedly allowed the disease to spread, leaving the Plaintiff with a permanent and gait-changing deformity.  The defense successfully argued for the competency of the physician’s standard of care, pointing out that the doctor’s diagnosis was reasonable and that there was no adequate proof that the course of infection would have turned out different had the infection been correctly diagnosed in the ER.  The Jefferson County jury’s verdict awarded the Plaintiff none of his over $4,000,000 claim.

November 17, 2004

Christopher O’Bryan and Donald Brown successfully defended an ER doctor from allegations of  medical malpractice after purportedly failing to diagnosis a deadly pulmonary embolus.  The physician discharged the patient with a diagnosis of pneumonia, but the next day the patient died of a pulmonary embolus.  The Plaintiff alleged the physician should have correctly diagnosed the embolus, but the defense successfully counter-argued that (1) the pneumonia diagnosis was reasonable and (2) the embolus was not even present when the patient was at the ER.  The Paducah Federal jury agreed, exonerating the doctor of all liability.

November 8, 2004

A jury in Louisville, Kentucky found in favor of a local dermatologist.  The Plaintiff argued that the dermatologist was negligent in failing to diagnose a fatal melanoma of the ear after having been treated by the same physician for other non-cancerous legions for over two years.  The physician, represented by Donald Brown, successfully countered-argued that 1) it was no fault in missing the cancer because of its concealed location in the ear and 2) even if the dermatologist had noticed the cancer, it had already fatally metastasized.  Thus, the defense argued that it was the cancer, not the diagnosis, that was fatal, and the Jefferson County jury agreed, returning a unanimous defense verdict.

October 14, 2004

In this auto negligence case, a Louisville man let off his clutch at a stoplight, colliding with the car in front of him.  The passenger of that car suffered a radiating back injury and she ultimately had to undergo a diskectomy.  Complications ensued, and she was rendered blind in one eye.  The Plaintiff’s chain of liability blamed the defendant’s inattention to the road for her troubles.  The defense, led by Andrew Clooney, successfully convinced the Jefferson County jury that the crash was really nothing more than a tap and that such a collision was too minor to cause the disk injury blamed on it.

October 10, 2004

A Jefferson County Jury found in favor of a Louisville Emergency Room doctor.  The physician examined a man experiencing testicular pain and diagnosed the man with a bacterial infection, epididymitis .  Soon afterwards, however, it was realized that the man in fact suffered testicular torsion, and his last remaining testicle (he was already one short) had to be amputated.  The Plaintiff alleged negligence in failing to diagnose the torsion, and asked for more than $2,000,000 in damages.  The physician, represented by Andrew Clooney, successfully argued that the diagnosis of epididymitis was reasonable considering its prevalence, and that by the time the patient came to the ER, the testicle was already torsed beyond repair, so a correct diagnosis would not have salvaged the testicle anyway. 

September 24, 2004

Andrew Clooney and David Strite successfully defended a Louisville man from charges of auto negligence after he suddenly stopped in an intersection, causing a chain reaction crash.  After the pile-up, the Plaintiff, who was in the third car of a total of six, suffered radiating neck pain and sought more than $700,000 in damages.  The defense argued that (1) the Plaintiff’s simple neck strain should have healed quickly, so any ongoing pain was caused by degenerative conditions and (2) since the man was one car removed from the Plaintiff, it was not his fault that the cars behind him didn’t stop.   The Jefferson County jury saw eye to eye on the liability issue with the defense and awarded the Plaintiff no damages.

August 27, 2004

A Louisville cardiologist attempted a transesophageal echocardiogram to get a clearer view of a patient’s cardiac function.  The procedure went poorly, however, and the physician inadvertently perforated the esophagus.  The esophagus was correctly repaired, but the patient died a month later.  The Plaintiff alleged the doctor did not properly anesthetize the patient before the procedure and the doctor should have proceeded more carefully considering the patient’s medical history.  Gerald Toner defended the cardiologist, positing that (1) the perforation was a well-known complication, (2) once perforated, the esophagus was promptly and properly repaired, and (3) it was a cerebrovascular incident that caused the patient’s death, unrelated to the perforated esophagus.  The Jefferson County jury found for the defense, returning a unanimous verdict for the cardiologist.

August 18, 2004

A Louisville surgeon performed a kidney transplant and removed a peritoneal dialysis catheter.  Six years later, after years of the patient suffering abdominal pain, a CT scan revealed a mass in her abdomen which turned out to be part of the dialysis catheter cuff, left inside the patient from earlier.  The Plaintiff alleged negligence in leaving the cuff inside, but the defense, led by Donald Brown, argued that the retention was a relatively common surgical risk, most often not presenting the patient with injurious consequences.  The Jefferson County jury concurred, awarding no damages to the Plaintiff.

August 13, 2004

A Fayette County jury unanimously found in favor of a Lexington vascular surgeon.  The surgeon performed a routine operation to remedy varicose veins in a patient’s legs.  Afterwards, the patient experienced pain in her arm, later found out to be an ulnar neuropathy.  The Plaintiff accused the surgeon not of causing the ulnar neuropathy, but rather of improperly monitoring the patient’s condition during surgery.  Donald Brown successfully argued that it was not the surgeon’s responsibility to keep an eye on the patient’s arm positioning during surgery, which supposedly caused the ulnar neuropathy. 

August 13, 2004

Andrew Clooney successfully defended a Louisville car dealership from alleged premises negligence.  A man dropped off his car in the early morning dark for repair work, then walked through what looked like a pathway though the grass to the parking lot.  The man then tripped over what were actually decorative stepping stones, tearing his rotator cuff and causing ongoing pain.  The Plaintiff alleged that the pathway was not sufficiently lit and unreasonably dangerous.  The defense disputed the facts, arguing that the pathway was properly lit and that the Plaintiff tripped on his own fault.  In the end, the Jefferson County jury found in favor of the dealership.   

August 10, 2004

A Jefferson County jury found in favor of a Louisville pediatrician accused of violating the reasonably competent pediatrician standard after a toddler died of a rectal abscess gone septic.  The pediatrician debrided and drained the wound at the hospital, but the Plaintiff alleged that the doctor should have called in a surgeon to have the abscess drained under anesthesia.  When the pediatrician sent the child home, he died the next night when the abscess ruptured and traveled to his heart.  James Grohmann represented the doctor, and successfully argued that the pediatrician actually exceeded the standard of care in draining the abscess and that the particular heart pathology that killed the child could not have been foreseen. 

July 8, 2004

Mark Hammond was successful in defending a Clark County, IN gynecologist accused of ignoring Plaintiff's allergy to surgical, adhesive tape during the course of performing an oophorectomy. Plaintiff claimed the defendant physician ignored her specific oral reminder of the allergy. Plaintiff also claimed that the physician failed to recognize the documented allergy in the initial intake form, completed by hospital personnel at the time of her surgical procedure, and on the wristband she wore during the procedure. Plaintiff suffered a severe allergic reaction to the surgical tape after the procedure was performed. Hammond defended by submitting the history taken by the physician, wherein no reference to the allergy at issue was mentioned by Plaintiff. Additionally, Plaintiff’s arms were covered through the surgical procedure preventing the physician from viewing the wristband in question.  The physician steadfastly denied being advised of any allergy by the Plaintiff prior to the procedure.  Finally, medical records revealed that no adhesive tape was utilized by nursing personnel at Clark Memorial Hospital.  The physician's standard dressing was not applied.  Thus, hospital personnel did recognize the allergy and paper tape was utilized per Plaintiff’s instruction. The jury returned a unanimous verdict for the defense.

June 8, 2004

Donald Brown successfully defended a Louisville internist from charges of medical negligence when the internist missed a breast cancer diagnosis.  When the internist did finally detect the cancer, the patient had to undergo a bilateral mastectomy and chemotherapy treatments, and now suffers from reduced life expectancy.   Plaintiff asked for over 3.7 million dollars in damages, claiming that if the cancer were caught earlier, the outcome would not have been as severe.  The defense effectively counter-argued that when the Plaintiff alleged the doctor missed diagnosing the cancer, there was in fact no cancer apparent, and when the cancer finally manifested itself, the internist detected it, and a satisfactory recovery was made.  The jury awarded the Plaintiff no damages.

March 17, 2004

A Lexington surgeon recommended an abdominal MRI for a patient suffering from abdominal pain.  The radiologist who interpreted the MRI found a mass on the patient, but incorrectly diagnosed it as nonmalignant.  Three years later, the patient now suffers from terminal kidney cancer.  The Plaintiff alleged the surgeon should have followed up independently to rule out cancer, and requested over 9.1 million dollars in damages.  The defense, led by Clay Edwards, successfully argued that it was no fault of the surgeon in not catching the cancer; rather, any responsibility lay with the radiologist.  The Fayette County jury agreed, completely exonerating the surgeon.

March 3, 2004

A Louisville Ob-Gyn recommended surgery for treatment of a vaginal prolapse.  The surgery proceeded routinely, but afterwards the patient complained of chest pains.  The physician prescribed anti-heartburn medicine, but soon thereafter the patient died of a myocardial infarction.  The Plaintiff argued that, (1) since a pre-operative EKG indicated cardiac abnormalities, the physician should not have operated in the first place, and (2) when the patient complained of heart pains, the doctor should have examined the patient’s condition more closely.  James Grohmann led the defense’s rebuttal, arguing that that the patient was indeed a suitable candidate for the surgery, adverse heart condition and all.  Furthermore, the defense argued that after the myocardial infarction, there was no amount of medical intervention that would have changed the end result.  The Jefferson County jury agreed with the defense, awarding no damages.

February 13, 2004

A patient reporting abdominal pain received a CT scan.  The scan was read by a radiologist, who suspected Krohn’s disease.  After the patient still reported pain, however, it was found that the patient actually had a super mesenteric blood clot.  The patient underwent an immediate surgery but lost a part of his bowel during complications.  The Plaintiff thought the radiologist should have noticed the blood clot after the scan.  The defendant, represented by Tracy Prewitt, argued that the physician’s missing the clot was not a deviation from the standard of care because such a blood clot is exceedingly rare in a patient so young, and that the patient’s complications were unrelated to the delay in diagnosis. The Hardin County jury concurred, awarding the Plaintiff no damages.