June 2010 -- Dallas County -- Secured 11-1 defense verdict on behalf of hand orthopedic surgeon involving post-op MRSA infection of the hand. Plaintiff had an uncomplicated thumb arthroplasty procedure and was discharged on post-op Day 2. Following her discharge, she began having pain, swelling, and other non-specific symptoms. She returned to the ER on post-discharge Day 1, where she was seen by the ER doctor who loosened the splint with good results. On post-discharge Day 2, the surgeon saw her in the ER, removed the splint, saw some bloody drainage, and took a culture and sensitivity. He placed her on Augmentin for a suspected superficial skin infection. The lab results came back the following day showing presumptive MRSA. The surgeon obtained a consult from an infectious disease specialist and changed the medication to oral Doxycycline. The Plaintiff's pain continued, and she finally returned to the surgeon's office on post-discharge Day 5 where the surgeon recognized that there was a full-blown MRSA infection. He immediately took her to surgery and performed the first of several I&D procedures. Plaintiff was followed by an infectious disease specialist and placed on IV Vancomyacin. She stayed in the ICU for 6 days and in the hospital for close to three weeks. She continued following with the surgeon for over eight months, during which time she had occupational therapy (OT), infectious disease consults with continued antibiotics, and orthopedic surgeon consults. She then decided to see a different hand surgeon, who then performed at least six reconstructive surgeries on the hand in the next five years.
Plaintiff's theory was that the orthopedic surgeon was negligent for failing to timely diagnose the infection post-discharge. She relied on after-the-fact created diaries/journals from herself, her spouse, and adult daughter. These diaries/journals told a story of immense pain, redness, swelling, fever, and purulent drainage, none of which was supported by the medical records with the exception of what was deemed to be normal pain and swelling post-op. The surgeon testified that, if the Plaintiff's version of events was accurate, he agreed he would have acted sooner in starting IV antibiotics and taking the Plaintiff to surgery for I&D. The jury believed that the surgeon had used ordinary care in diagnosing the infection and treating the symptoms.
April 2010- Todd Allen secures dismissal of all charges against OB/GYN at Texas Medical Board involving allegations of standard of care violations during laparotomy and subsequent bowel perforation.
March 2010- Todd Allen secures dismissal of all charges against a physician at the Texas Medical Board involving allegations of improper use of DEA number on controlled substance prescriptions.
February 2010 - Dallas County -- Plaintiff asserted a premises liability claim after she slipped in milk at the Defendant’s grocery store. As a result of this incident, Plaintiff sustained injuries to her left knee including a torn meniscus. The jury returned a unanimous defense verdict for our client after finding that the Plaintiff’s contributory negligence in failing to keep a proper lookout was the substantial cause of the Plaintiff’s fall.
October 2009 - Dallas County -- Secured defense verdict on behalf of tow truck driver who rear-ended a pickup truck while an unrelated accident was unfolding ahead on I-30 in Grand Prairie. Both drivers were slowing down to avoid a pile-up when the collision occurred. Plaintiff testified that the Defendant, going very fast, hit him in the far left lane apparently due to inattentiveness. Defendant testified that he was in the far left lane, but Plaintiff moved in front of him suddenly from the middle lane in an apparent attempt to avoid the pile-up. The police officer's report and deposition revealed that the Defendant had told him at the scene that both drivers moved from the middle lane to the left lane, then the Defendant came to a complete stop, then the Defendant was rear-ended by an unknown vehicle that fled the scene. Plaintiff attempted to demonstrate that the Defendant was changing his story and testifying falsely despite the fact that the version of events per the police officer appeared to absolve the Defendant. Plaintiff appeared to be fine at the scene despite having some pain. He did not seek any medical attention until two days after the accident, then a few days later, and did not return to his family doctor for another six weeks before seeking orthopedic consultation. He undisputedly had preexisting degenerative findings in his cervical spine, but his surgeon testified that he also had abnormal signal findings which he attributed to acute trauma. Plaintiff argued that he was the classic "eggshell" claimant and that this accident initiated cervical pain that he had never previously had. He underwent a cervical laminectomy. Surveillance video was shown to the jury demonstrating that he was back to work and appeared to be doing fine more than six months post-surgery. Before showing the video, Plaintiff had testified that he was having severe neck and back problems on the job and had to quit his job. The jury believed that the Plaintiff had not proven negligence on the part of the Defendant driver.
August 2009 - McLennan County - A unanimous defense verdict was obtained on behalf of a Baylor University student that struck a bicyclist with his vehicle. The Defendant was driving at night through an intersection at approximately 40 miles per hour when the Plaintiff suddenly entered the roadway from the driveway of a fast food restaurant and attempted to cross four lanes of traffic. The Defendant's vehicle struck the Plaintiff's bicycle before he reached the median and the impact caused him to land on the Defendant's windshield. The Plaintiff was transported from the scene by ambulance and was treated at the hospital for multiple injuries to his head, neck, back, shoulders, and knees. Plaintiff claimed permanent injuries to his right shoulder and back and asked the jury to award damages in excess of $125,000.00. Plaintiff claimed that the Defendant was negligent for failing to keep a proper lookout and driving too fast. On behalf of the Defendant, we presented evidence that the accident was caused by the Plaintiff's negligence in attempting to cross the roadway outside of the designated cross walk and for failing to yield the right-of-way to the Defendant's vehicle which was proceeding through the intersection with a green light. In less than 30 minutes, the jury returned a unanimous defense verdict and placed 100% of the fault for the accident on the Plaintiff.
August 2009 - Dallas County - In a case involving alleged medical negligence, defended a local gynecologist against allegations arising from the improper removal of a woman's right ovary and lack of informed consent. At trial, plaintiffs (husband and wife) claimed that the surgeon improperly removed a diseased, right ovary without first checking to make sure that the left ovary was intact, and that the physician did not provide informed consent respecting the risks of sterility and loss of hormonal function. The surgeon maintained that removal of the diseased ovary was appropriate before attempting to lyse dense adhesions which were covering the left adnexal area, and that she had given adequate oral consent regarding the possibility of ovarian cancer. The case was submitted to a jury of twelve. A unanimous defense verdict was received from the jury after approximately one hour of deliberation.
July 2009 - Dallas County - Secured defense verdict in multi vehicle collision on I-635 in Dallas. Unknown or "phantom" vehicle suddenly moved into the lane directly in front of Defendant's tractor and trailer, suddenly braked, and caused Defendant to move into the right lane to avoid this vehicle. At the same time, the unknown vehicle swerved to the right, directly in front of Defendant, causing Defendant to try to return to his lane to avoid the vehicle for the second time. While doing so, Defendant swiped another car on his right, lost control of his truck, the trailer started fishtailing, and his vehicle traveled somewhat perpendicular to traffic. At almost the same time, another tractor and trailer t-boned Defendant, causing Defendant's truck to disconnect from the trailer and the truck to flip over on its side. The four Plaintiffs were in a Lexus in the far left lane and hit the Defendant's truck at the same time going approximately 60 mph. Another tractor/trailer then hit the Plaintiffs in the rear.
The Plaintiffs concentrated on raising doubt as to the existence, color, and make of this unknown vehicle. They also tried to prove that the left front brake of Defendant's truck, which was found to be out of adjustment after the collision, played a causative role in the evasive maneuvers of Defendant, despite the fact that Plaintiffs' expert accident reconstructionist could make no such connection. At the scene, the investigating police officer initially determined that the main contributing factor was faulty evasive action by the Defendant, but then later amended his official police report to indicate that the actions of the unknown vehicle were the main cause. Another witness, who was up ahead of the collision, stopped to render aid and saw a minivan which appeared to have been involved in causing the collision -- and may have been the unknown vehicle that initiated the collision. When this witness tried to point out the minivan to police personnel, it fled the scene and was never found.
Two of the four main Plaintiffs suffered fairly extensive injuries during the collision, including broken bones. The two male Plaintiffs in the front seat suffered only minor injuries. The total medical bills were extensive based on the hospitalization at Parkland and rehab at Zale Lipshy Hospital. Life care plans were submitted for both female Plaintiffs which totaled almost $1 million. However, none of the Plaintiffs had followed any of the items on the life care plans at the time of trial, with only very minor exceptions. The Plaintiffs asked the jury to award all four Plaintiffs an amount in excess of $2.5 million for all economic and non-economic damages. The driver of the truck that hit the Defendant and flipped him over was also a Plaintiff at the time of trial, but only asked the jury for soft-tissue damages.
The jury placed all negligence on the "phantom" vehicle that cut off Defendant's tractor and trailer and returned a unanimous defense verdict in under two hours after eight days of trial.
May 2009 - Dallas County - Secured subrogation verdict for insurer who had overpaid its share of defense costs in underlying personal injury matter. Court granted judgment in favor of our client for total amount of claimed damages, including full amount of attorney fees.
May 2009 - Collin County, Texas - Represented an Internal Medicine physician who was the admitting physician for a patient with acute bronchitis and possible pneumonia. Patient was treated in the hospital and continued on a Methadone prescription for chronic back pain that had been started by a pain specialist the day before her admission to the hospital. She was discharged on the 6th hospital day. The morning after her discharge, the patient died in her sleep. The medical examiner determined methadone toxicity as the cause of death. Plaintiff's alleged that physician allowed an excessive and toxic dose of methadone to be administered in the hospital. Defense Verdict.
March 2009 - Wichita County, Texas - Defense verdict obtained in a case against an OB/GYN physician who encountered a shoulder dystocia complication. Plaintiffs claimed that, based on a birth video and the permanency of a brachial plexus injury, the physician used excessive traction on the fetal head during the management of the shoulder dystocia. Plaintiffs claimed damages in a life care plan near $500,000, and asked the jury to award the child $1.2 million in total damages. At the conclusion of the five-day trial, the jury returned a unanimous decision in favor of the physician in approximately 35 minutes.
March 2009 - Tarrant County, Texas - Defense verdict obtained in an alleged negligent supervision case against a general surgeon acting as an attending physician. Plaintiff brought a medical malpractice claim against the hospital for the conduct of its resident doctor and the attending surgeon for the insertion of an initial trocar during an appendectomy. Plaintiff claimed that the attending physician was negligent in his supervision of the resident doctor who inserted the initial trocar into Plaintiff's abdomen, resulting in a laceration of Plaintiff's aorta. Plaintiff argued that the attending doctor failed to properly supervise the resident or failed to properly retract Plaintiff's abdomen during the initial trocar placement. The defendants argued that the surgical plan was appropriate and within the standard of care. The defense also maintained that Plaintiff suffered an unfortunate, but known complication of an appendectomy, namely injury to a blood vessel. Plaintiff had sustained significant physical injury to his abdomen and required extensive subsequent medical care, including nine surgeries. Plaintiff asked the jury to award approximately $1.8 million in damages. The jury returned a unanimous defense verdict after one and a half hours of deliberations.
February 2009 - At an Informal Settlement Conference at the Texas Medical Board Peter Anderson and Todd Allen obtained a Dismissal of allegations of Non-Therapeutic Prescribing of Pain Medications against a Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Physician. The allegation was not brought by the patient, but by the insurance company which felt the expense for the medication was too high. The Board was presented with evidence that the medication (OxyContin) had effectuated pain relief, while allowing the chronic pain sufferer to again begin participating in activities of daily living without any adverse drug reaction. The chronic pain sufferer had been acutely injured some 20 years prior, sustaining serious head/facial injuries. Multiple surgical procedures, a morphine pain pump, and other interventions had failed to achieve any relief from the pain. The compassionate care of the PM & R Physician in treating the pain with an effective dose of OxyContin was appropriate and the complaint dismissed.
January 2009 - Texas Medical Board Panel recommended dismissal of all claims against our client, an orthopedic surgeon, at the ISC proceeding. The complaint/investigation stemmed from allegations that the surgeon improperly failed to personally see the patient in his office following a surgical procedure. Instead, the surgeon properly utilized an extremely qualified physician's assistant who provided excellent post-op care.
September 2008 - Hunt County, Texas - Defense verdict obtained in a case involving the failure to diagnose a heart attack. Plaintiffs brought a medical malpractice claim against a gynecologist for failing to appropriately clear a patient for surgery and for then failing to diagnose a heart attack. Plaintiffs claimed that, with pre-existing history of diabetes, hypertension, obesity, and anemia, a pre-operative EKG, stress test, and cardiology consultation were required. This theory was proven false when defense counsel established that Plaintiff's coronary arteries did not have blockages, and thus the suggested pre-operative work-up would have not prevented the heart attack. Plaintiffs then shifted the case to focus on a telephone report from the nurse to the obstetrician that the patient had "chest discomfort across the chest and shoulders." Between the defendant and the experts for both sides, there was over 90 years of experience and thousands of instances performing this surgery, and no one had heard of a heart attack following this type of surgery despite the fact that they had all frequently seen this type of chest pain. The patient's heart sustained significant damage, and the patient could no longer work. Plaintiffs asked the jury to award about $2,000,000. The jury returned a defense verdict after about an hour of deliberations.
September 2008 - Texas Medical Board Panel recommended Dismissal of the Investigation of our client, a General Surgeon, at the Informal Settlement Conference/Show Compliance Proceeding. The complaint/investigation stemmed from the death of a 30 year-old patient following a laparoscopic appendectomy at a local Dallas-area hospital.
August 2008 - Dallas County, TX - Health care liability claim brought by 25 year old patient arising out of a surgery April 19, 2006 at Presbyterian Hospital of Dallas by Defendant Physician to correct an aberrant left subclavian artery coming off a diverticulum of kommerell which was compressing Plaintiff's esophagus and making it difficult to swallow. In making this repair, the diverticulum of kommerell unexpectedly ruptured. The Defendant controlled the bleeding, and completed the surgical procedure. After surgery, Plaintiff was discovered to have an ischemic spinal cord injury called bilateral incomplete lower extremity paraparesis. Plaintiff's expert asserted that a different surgical plan could have prevented the injury. However, Plaintiff's expert had never bothered to even look at the pre-operative studies that Defendant had reviewed in order to make his surgical plan. More troubling, Plaintiff's expert could not even identify this unusual structure known as the diverticulum of kommerell. After a 4 day trial, the jury deliberated for a little more than an hour before reaching the decision that Defendant's care and treatment of this patient was reasonable and appropriate.
While a serious injury occurred, the Defendant was not negligent and no act of negligence caused the injury.
May 2008 - Wrongful death medical malpractice lawsuit in which Plaintiffs (the decedent estate, his wife and two daughters) sued the Defendant Physician for failing to diagnose lung cancer and misdiagnosing tuberculosis. The decedent was referred to Defendant, a board-certified pulmonologist, due to a possible diagnosis of tuberculosis, after the decedent had been exposed to his son-in-law, who had a known diagnosis of tuberculosis, had a positive Tb skin test, and a chest x-ray consistent with Tb. Defendant saw the decedent twice in his office and confirmed the clinical diagnosis of Tb. The decedent subsequently moved out of the area and ceased being Defendant's patient. He later developed hemoptysis (spitting up blood) and was ultimately diagnosed with squamous cell lung cancer - only fourteen weeks after his last visit with Defendant. At the time of the diagnosis, it was determined the lung cancer had already metastasized outside the lung. The patient died less than six months after his lung cancer diagnosis.
We submitted the issue of contributory negligence to the jury, based upon the decedent's failure to follow medical advice, including failing to quit smoking. The jury returned a 10 to 2 defense verdict after approximately 6-7 hours of deliberation. They found that the negligence of the decedent, was the proximate cause of his death, not Defendant.
January 2008 - After 2 days of testimony, an ad hoc committee of a Plano Hospital rejected an initial erroneous decision by the hospital to fail to recredential our physician client. Based upon the ad hoc committee's recommendation, the hospital took appropriate action in January 2008 and has now recredentialed our client. In our experience, such a reversal of course by a hospital is unusual and only occurs when presented with overwhelming evidence.
December 2007 - Texas Medical Board proceeding - Obtained dismissal of all recommended sanctions against internal medicine physician following ISC hearing based upon complaints of improper prescription of medications for a suspected STD.
August 2007 - Texas Medical Board proceeding - Obtained dismissal of complaint following ISC hearing involving issues alleged by Plaintiff's attorneys of improper and unprofessional behavior in supplying medical records.
November, 2007 - Texas Medical Board proceeding - Following recommendation of harsh sanctions at the ISC level against a rural family practitioner, based upon a complaint made against the physician by the wife of a former patient who suffered abdominal injuries and death as a result of a fall from a platform, obtained very favorable result on appeal to the State Office of Administrative Hearings at mediation stage with Administrative Law Judge prior to full evidentiary hearing. Recommended sanctions of public reprimand and monetary fines were withdrawn.
October 2007 - Bell County, TX - Represented a national poultry company in a lawsuit involving a motor vehicle collision in Bell County where the Plaintiff, who suffered from a genetic condition known as osteogenesis imperfecta, alleged neck and back injuries. Plaintiff incurred over $14,000 in medical expenses for primary care, chiropractic care, physical therapy, injections, and surgical consults. Negligence was not stipulated but not heavily disputed. Evidence was presented at trial of preexisting injuries and treatment. Jury answered NO to the question on negligence and proximate cause. Defense Verdict.
Rockwall, County - Defense of an Otolaryngologist who performed endoscopic sinus surgery on a thirty-one year old female with chronic sinusitis. She experienced strabismus of her right eye on post-operative day three. Injury to the eye is a known and accepted risk of endoscopic sinus surgery. Further, Plaintiff had also suffered strabismus of her right eye as a child, requiring surgical repair of the right eye muscles at that time. Plaintiff's subsequent eye problem, following the Defendant's surgery ultimately required surgical repair to the muscle as well. Plaintiff alleged that our physician performed the sinus surgery with an inappropriate instrument, exposing Plaintiff to an unwarranted risk to her eye during the surgery. The defense maintained that Plaintiff suffered an unfortunate, but known risk of sinus surgery, and that the surgery was warranted and performed in an appropriate manner with appropriate instrumentation. Plaintiff claimed permanent disability related to the injury to her right eye. The jury returned a unanimous defense verdict after only thirty-five minutes of deliberation.
May 2007 - Wood County, TX - Represented a national poultry company in a lawsuit involving the death of a 23 year old due to injuries sustained in a tractor accident while working on a poultry farm. Suit was brought by deceased's mother against poultry farmer alleging failure to properly train employee and failure to maintain equipment. Tractor manufacturer was sued on a product liability theory and settled following voir dire. Suit against poultry company was based on joint venture/joint enterprise theory of liability. Jury found no negligence. Defense Verdict.
April 2007 - Denton County - Defense of steel company which loaded flat-bed trailer in Ballinger, Texas, containing a 55 gallon steel barrel strapped down to trailer. Plaintiffs sued steel company for improperly securing steel barrel and contract tractor driver for improperly checking load. Barrel fell off trailer in Denton on frontage road and driver did not know that load has fallen off. Good Samaritan, who was also sued, pulled his truck up to fallen barrel and began cleaning up contents of barrel which consisted of 1,000 purlin clips. Samaritan's headlights were shining into the oncoming traffic on frontage road. Plaintiffs were in pickup truck on frontage and saw headlights but failed to slow down sufficiently to avoid purlin clips and barrel. Plaintiffs hit clips and barrel and went airborne into ditch. Plaintiffs claimed mostly soft-tissue injuries and treated with an attorney-referred chiropractor. Jury found 52% responsibility on driver Plaintiff and split remaining 48% equally between steel company and driver. The only award for any medical to any Plaintiff was for an $800 ER bill for the 4-year-old Plaintiff who cut his lip. However, all passenger Plaintiffs had previously settled a contribution claim against the driver Plaintiff for $875 each, thus resulting in a settlement credit for a take-nothing judgment.
February 2007- Dallas County - Defense of a spine surgeon who performed a lumbar posterior, instrumented fusion in a thirty-four year old female. Plaintiff had previously undergone an anterior fusion in January of that same year. Plaintiff's orthopedic expert contended that a solid fusion was shown by CT criteria, and thus surgery was both premature and unnecessary. The defense maintained there was ample evidence of a failed fusion ( pseudoarthrosis) which required prompt intervention to correct. Plaintiff claimed that she had been permanently disabled since the surgery. The jury rendered a unanimous defense verdict.
February 2007 - Collin County - Represented an OB/GYN involving a LEEP procedure which involves surgical removal of a potential pre-cancerous lesion from the patient's cervix. Following the procedure it was discovered that a leak had developed in the patient's bladder due to surgery. The patient sought damages for medical expenses and mental anguish related to the bladder injury. In addition, plaintiff alleged excessive removal of cervix led to a cerclage in future pregnancy. Defense verdict.
January 2007 - Ellis County - Represented orthopedic surgeon involving allegations that physician and his physician's assistant failed to timely diagnose and treat an infected hematoma. Patient was 15 years old and suffered a deep thigh contusion during a football game. Physician and physician's assistant examined patient on two occasions with no indication of infection. Approximately two weeks post-injury patient was admitted to hospital with significant infection requiring multiple surgical debridement. Defense verdict.
December 2006 - Texas Medical Board proceeding - Obtained recommendation for dismissal of all charges at ISC hearing for internist facing allegations of improper prescriptions for methamphetamines and narcotics.
November, 2006 - Denton County - Defense of a plastic surgeon who performed surgery on a patient with gynecomastia, as well as other revision procedures requested by the patient. Plaintiff alleged too much tissue was removed by Defendant during the surgeries undertaken to modify the gynecomastia. Additionally, Plaintiff alleged a silicone implant was negligently placed by Defendant and required subsequent removal after an infection developed and that the other plastic surgery procedures were unsuccessful and required modification by a subsequent treater. Defense verdict.
October 2006 - Johnson County - Successfully defended two family practice physicians and their clinic against claims that they negligently gave the decedent 30-day prescriptions for Oxy-Contin and Darvocet, which was alleged to have caused the decedent's death from a mixed drug overdose. Plaintiffs in the case were the surviving spouse, two minor children, and parents of the decedent. The trial court granted a directed verdict in favor of the Defendants following one and a half weeks of trial.
September 2006 - Somervell County - Defended a family practitioner in wrongful death case involving an elderly nursing home patient in which Plaintiff alleged decedent's fall, resulting in a broken hip, was caused by over-medication and failure to monitor decedent's medications. Defense verdict.
September 2006 - Tarrant County - Defended an employer who reduced its workforce due to decrease in business levels and change in business procedures allowing for a reduced number of employees to perform the remaining work. In the course of the reduction in workforce, the employer's number of front-line supervisory positions was reduced at one facility from seven to five. Plaintiff was one of the two supervisors whose employment was terminated. At the time, he was 55 years of age and had been working for the employer for more than thirty-six years. He claimed that Defendant had discriminated against him due to his age. The other supervisor who was laid off was also 55 years of age. The five supervisors who remained employed with Defendant were 33, 35, 52, 54, and 56 years-old. Plaintiff claimed that he was replaced by the 33 year-old supervisor, who temporarily assumed a portion of his job duties. The remainder of his job duties were performed by the 56 year-old supervisor, who had been Plaintiff's supervisor at the time of the reduction in workforce. Shortly thereafter, the 56 year-old supervisor assumed all of Plaintiff's job duties. The defense centered around the evaluation by multiple persons, including the person making the determination as to whom to lay off, that Plaintiff exhibited the weakest supervisory skills of the seven supervisors at issue. Plaintiff sought over $300,000.00 in compensatory damages, plus damages for mental anguish and emotional distress. Plaintiff also sought exemplary damages, asserting that Defendant acted with malice in terminating his employment. The jury found that age was not a motivating factor in the decision to terminate Plaintiff's employment. Defense verdict.
