- Defense Verdict - Medical Malpractice
- Defense Verdict - Premises Liability
- Defense Verdict - Medical Malpractice
- Defense Verdict - Legal Malpractice
- Summary Judgment for Defendant - Legal Malpractice
- Defense Verdict - Products Liability
- Defense Verdict - Products Liability
- Defense Verdict - Premises Liability
- Defense Verdict - Medical Malpractice
- Defense Verdict – Asbestos Litigation
- Defense Verdict - Medical Malpractice
- Defense Verdict - Automotive Products Liability
- Defense Verdict - Automotive Products Liability
- Defense Verdict - Medical Malpractice
- Defense Verdict - Medical Malpractice
- Defense Verdict - Premises Liability
- Defense Verdict - Medical Malpractice
- Defense Verdict - Automotive Products Liability
- Defense Verdict - Automotive Products Liability
Attorneys for Defendant: | Jeffrey T. Davis and Jeffrey D. Upp |
Type of Action: | Medical Malpractice |
Type of Injuries: | Lower leg wounds; Failure to diagnose/treat infection. |
Court: | Circuit Court of Newton County, Missouri |
Dates of Trial: | May 23-26, 2022 |
Verdict: | 12-0 Defense Verdict |
Facts and Issues: |
Plaintiff was injured after her legs were rolled over by her own vehicle at low speed as she thought the vehicle was in park when it was not. On the day of the incident, Plaintiff received emergency room treatment and was discharged. In the weeks following the incident, Plaintiff followed up at an outpatient clinic on multiple occasions. Due to the crush injury to her left leg in the incident and her preexisting medical conditions of chronic venous insufficiency and chronic leg edema, wounds to her left leg experienced a prolonged healing process. Plaintiff claimed that her prolonged healing process was the result of the negligence of the outpatient clinic providers, in failing to timely discover and treat an infection in her leg caused by pseudomonas bacteria, a pathogen rarely found in skin infections. Plaintiff claimed the clinic fell below the standard of care by failing to refer Plaintiff to the emergency department for administration of intravenous antibiotics or take a wound culture at any of Plaintiff’s three clinic visits in the weeks immediately following the accident. Turner Reid attorneys disputed liability and causation, and each of Defendant’s three experts, from the fields of emergency medicine, family practice, and infectious diseases, testified that Plaintiff’s prolonged healing process was due to her preexisting conditions of chronic venous insufficiency and chronic leg edema, as well as the crush injury she sustained in the accident. They also testified that pseudomonas is a pathogen that is rarely found in skin wounds, treatment of Plaintiff at all three clinic visits met the standard of care, and nothing in Plaintiff’s clinical presentation indicated that a either a wound culture or a referral to the emergency department for administration of intravenous antibiotics was necessary. Testimony of Plaintiff’s treating wound care physician was also presented, and such testimony aligned with that provided by Defendant’s experts. Plaintiff sought past non-economic damages only and requested a verdict in her favor in the amount of at least $350,000.00. The jury ultimately returned a unanimous verdict in favor of Defendant and against Plaintiff. |