William S. Jacobson, Partner

After a four day trial, a jury awarded $2,287,000 on behalf of the husband, two minor children, and an adult daughter of a 46-year-old woman who died as a result of the negligence of Marietta Emergimed, Inc.

On March 23, 2002, the emergency room group of Marietta Memorial Hospital failed to inform a patient that she might have lung cancer. The patient went to the emergency room complaining of cough and fever. The results of a chest x-ray showed pneumonia and a shadow that potentially could be cancer. The patient was given discharge instructions to follow-up with a primary care physician and obtain a repeat chest x-ray. However, the discharge instructions appeared to be the routine discharge instructions for nothing more than pneumonia. A legal dispute ensued over whether or not the patient was told that she might have cancer and whether or not the patient was herself responsible for not obtaining a repeat chest x-ray.

The jury found that the emergency room group "failed to adequately convey potential severity of abnormal x-ray findings (increased markings) and need for immediate follow up to the patient." The jury also apportioned some fault on the patient for "failure to take responsibility of her own health care." The jury found the emergency room group 90% at fault and apportioned 10% responsibility on the patient, reducing the overall award down to $2,058,300.

Plaintiffs' child suffered a stroke the day before her first birthday. The stroke left her with right-sided paralysis and weakness. The cause of the stroke was investigated and was discovered to be moya-moya. Moya-moya is a disease which is characterized by smaller blood vessels than normal in the brain. In February 1996, the child went to University Hospitals of Cleveland for a revascularization of her brain. The procedure was successful and Lauren showed some improvement. The physician at University Hospitals of Cleveland had asked the family to return to Cleveland in August, 1996, for a cerebral angiogram to check on the status of her brain revascularization. The cerebral angiogram is done by injecting dye into the body's arterial tree through the femoral artery (in the groin area) and then viewing that dye on fluroscopy as it reaches the cerebral vessels. The routine post-operative surveillance for an angiogram includes neurovascular checks of the leg into which the dye is injected. The reason for this is that an occasional complication of this procedure is a blood clot forming in the femoral artery as a result of the interruption of the vessel when the dye is injected. Neurovascular checks include checking the pulse in the foot of that leg, as well as checking the temperature of the leg and the capillary refill (pinching the skin and timing how long it takes for the color to return). Plaintiffs alleged in their lawsuit that the post-operative surveillance done on the child was inadequate and that she was permitted to leave the hospital with compromised circulation in her right leg as a result of a blood clot. The defendant denied this allegation, pointing out that a resident had documented very positive findings in that leg on the morning of discharge. Plaintiffs argued that the nurses had found otherwise and that this dispute between physician and nurses should have been addressed by the attending physician. Two days after the child was discharged from University Hospitals, she returned with an obvious clotting problem in that leg. Over the next seven years, the child had multiple procedures to improve the circulation of her right leg, one of which procedures led to a complication known as compartment syndrome. As a result of the compartment syndrome, the child's right lower exteremity became deformed and the muscle wasted away. Ultimately, in July of 2003, she was requried to undergo a below the knee amputation.

Our client had a drinking problem most of his life, and in the days leading up to his injury, had attempted to quit on his own. In doing so, he began to undergo delirium tremens, which caused family members to take him to the local community hospital. After being hospitalized for a day, the patient became agitated and began hallucinating. He was treated with Haldol, an anti-psychotic drug. After about two days of Haldol administration, his sister, who is a licensed practical nurse working in the psychiatric unit of the same hospital, and who was familiar with the side effects of Haldol, believed her brother was having an adverse reaction to the drug. She thus requested that the Haldol be discontinued. Despite this request, the physician continued to dose the patient with Haldol for an additional three week period. Ultimately, the patient was left with a severe neurological condition similar to Parkinson's Disease which has left him completely disabled.

The defense argued that the patient's injury was due to a lack of oxygen to his brain during a seizure he had while undergoing delirium tremens, and that the administration of Haldol was proper as the patient was agitated and threatening the staff.

The case was settled with certain defendants in the amount of $2.65 million. Trial against the remaining defendants resulted in a defense verdict.

Our client's child was born at a Columbus-area hospital in the summer of 2002. His mother was a gestational diabetic and he was born a month prematurely. About a week prior to delivery, his mother was admitted for prenatal testing. During that admission, the fetal heart monitor registered troublesome signs that the resident failed to communicate to the attending physician. As a result, the mother was discharged. The mother returned four days later for a routine appointment, at which time the fetal heart monitor showed that the child was under a significant amount of stress. The plaintiff argued that a cesarean section should have been ordered immediately and that, had that been done, the child would have been delivered within about a half hour's time. Instead, due to the resident's inexperience, the delivery was not effectuated until some 2-1/2 hours later. About 20 minutes prior to delivery, the fetal heart rate dropped from normal down to zero and there were approximately 20 minutes with no heart rate prior to delivery. The child was born into a severe state of birth depression and was resuscitated.

The child is now 4 years old and suffers from mental retardation. His motor skills are relatively good. Plaintiff argued that the mental retardation was due to an asphyxial process which occurred in the 20 minutes prior to delivery.

The defense argued that the mother's gestational diabetes gave rise to a significant amount of lesions in the placenta which compromised the baby's health long before delivery, and that the child was destined to have a poor result. The defense also argued that there was a congenital abnormality in the child's brain that was partially responsible for his difficulties, and that this was demonstrated by the brain imaging films. The neuro-radiologist retained by plaintiff, however, did not agree that there were any congenital anomalies on the brain film.

Decedent had many risk factors for coronary artery disease. He developed chest pain, went to emergency room, and was admitted under his family doctor's service for cardiac work up and stress test. Decedent checked himself out against medical advice before the work up. His family doctor rescheduled the stress test for nine days later. On the sixth day, decedent again developed chest pain, saw his doctor, and was told he had a muscle strain. Decedent was found dead the next morning. No autopsy. Plaintiff's experts opined that the defendant physician should have admitted decedent instead of diagnosing the condition as a muscle strain.

Plaintiff was a 60-year old woman, who was hospitalized for angioplasty and got an infection for which she received IV Gentamicin for four days. Plaintiff claimed that the dose was calculated improperly, i.e. based on ideal body weight rather than actual body weight. The plaintiff sustained vestibular dysfunction and diminished hearing due to Gentamicin overdose. This resulted in vertigo and imbalance requiring the use of a cane.

Plaintiff's decedent went to defendant emergency room with wife for psychiatric and delusional episode. Telephone consult with psychiatrist was had and he was discharged with instructions to follow up in two days. The next day, he killed himself. He had expressed some suicidal ideations which was relayed to the emergency department. Plaintiff's expert opined that it was negligent for the psychiatrist to speak to decedent over the phone rather than a face-to-face assessment.