Defense Verdict In Favor of Hospital in Montgomery County

by | Aug 20, 2012 | Hospital Liability, Montgomery County, Successes

Dan Ryan and Carolyn Bohmueller secured a defense verdict in favor of a hospital following a six day jury trial in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. The plaintiff, a prominent local celebrity, alleged that a hematologist/oncologist failed to properly diagnose her rare condition called POEMS (polyneuropathy, organomegaly, endocrinopathy, monoclonal gammopathy, and skin lesions) syndrome and failed to offer her appropriate treatment. The hematologist/oncologist was on staff at the hospital, and alleged to be an ostensible agent of the hospital. Plaintiff claimed that the standard of care required that she should have been referred for a second opinion, she should have been diagnosed with POEMS, and high dose chemotherapy with autologous stem cell transplantation should have been recommended. Plaintiff claimed that, as a result of the alleged negligence, she suffered a loss of earning capacity which exceeded $7,000,000, as well as pain and suffering and loss of life’s pleasures. The defense for the hospital rebutted agency and substantive claims, and presented evidence that the use of high dose chemotherapy with stem cell transplantation for POEMS syndrome was experimental at the time, and is still not considered to be the standard of care for treatment of POEMS syndrome. The jury determined that neither the hospital nor the physician were negligent.

Defense Verdict in Favor of Hospital in Bucks County

by | Aug 20, 2012 | Bucks County, Hospital Liability, Successes

Marshall L. Schwartz obtained a defense verdict in favor of a hospital following a four day jury trial in Bucks County, Pennsylvania.

Plaintiff alleged that the decedent suffered a retroperitoneal bleed as a result of a cardiac catheterization procedure and that defendants were negligent in the post-procedure management of the bleed. Plaintiff’s expert witnesses alleged that defendant physicians failed to obtain appropriate consultations and failed to order appropriate diagnostic studies to determine the extent of the retroperitoneal bleed.

The defense argued that the care provided to the patient was appropriate as the patient did not exhibit signs of an ongoing bleed; therefore, surgical intervention was not warranted. Plaintiff further claimed that the cardiologists on staff at the hospital were ostensible agents of the hospital. The defense for the hospital rebutted plaintiff’s allegations of negligence and further asserted that there was insufficient evidence to establish a claim for vicarious liability through ostensible agency. Plaintiff had claims for wrongful death and survival, including a claim for lost earnings.

The jury determined that neither the physicians nor the hospital were negligent.