Medical Malpractice - Failure to Treat
Helping other attorneys obtain a fair settlement. Part of our practice is trying difficult cases for attorneys who have handled a case through discovery but are not equipped to spend the time and resources in court necessary to overcome defense resistance to offering a fair settlement. This case is an example of that part of our practice where we are trial counsel to other attorneys.
We obtained a $950,000 settlement after four weeks of trial in a case we tried for another firm. This difficult medical malpractice case involved a forty-eight year old diabetic man who had developed osteomyelitis (bone infection) of the foot, which had progressed and ultimately required a below-knee amputation. During trial, evidence was presented against three surgeons for failing to timely and adequately perform surgical debridements of the wound and bone. The surgeons contended that it was a matter of surgical judgment as to how extensively the debridement should have been performed, and that the amputation was the product of the patient's obesity, unhealthy lifestyle, and diabetes, which he poorly controlled. Regarding the defendant infectious disease doctor, Ed argued that the dosage and method of administration of the antibiotics were insufficient, in that a 300 pound diabetic patient with vascular insufficiency in the foot who was diagnosed with osteomyelitis, required intravenous antibiotic coverage for at least six weeks. The defense attorney claimed that discharging a diabetic patient with an intravenous line in place for home administration of antibiotics would unnecessarily subject the patient to risk of infection at the IV site.
As for damages, we proved that our client could no longer return to his former position with the New York Stock Exchange. We believe the defendant's decision to offer the amount realized was the product of effective representation, utilizing highly credentialed expert witnesses and a cutting-edge demonstrative evidence tool known as the "Smart Board" which projects medical records, drawings and charts onto a screen, portions of which can be selectively blown up and highlighted by simply touching the screen The jury appeared to be enthralled by the presentation.