Defense Verdict on Behalf of Family Practitioner

Obtained a defense verdict in a medical malpractice action against our client, a family practitioner, following a seven-day trial in Pennsylvania. The plaintiff's decedent had presented to our doctor complaining of stress and fatigue.  While taking the plaintiff decedent’s history and conducting a physical examination, our doctor elicited a complaint of chest pain, for which he conducted an EKG, which was normal.  As the plaintiff's decedent had no risk factors for cardiac involvement other than his age, our doctor concluded that his complaints where most likely stress-related, and after an extensive discussion with the patient, it was agreed that he would get lab work, begin taking an anti-depressant, seek counseling for his stress and return in four weeks for follow-up.  The patient did none of these things and died six months later.  The plaintiff then filed suit, claiming that her decedent's death was attributable to an 80-85% occlusion of the left anterior descending artery or from ventricular fibrillation caused by a prior myocardial infarction. 

At trial, the defense established that there was no evidence of the "risk factors" claimed by the plaintiff's standard of care expert, who was decimated on cross-examination when confronted with the extent of his earnings for medical legal consulting work.  The plaintiff's cardiology expert further conceded that there was no evidence of any such risk factors in the medical records, while the forensic pathologist who performed the autopsy and who testified on behalf of the plaintiff was contradicted in a compelling presentation by the defendant's forensic pathologist, who was able to rebut many of the coroner's findings.  The jury returned a verdict in which they found no negligence on the part of the doctor.