After a four-day trial and two hours of deliberation, the jury returned a verdict in favor of all defendants.
This medical malpractice trial involved the death of a patient after an arrest and code during an upper endoscopy. Plaintiff alleged that the defendants were negligent in their preprocedure planning, performance of the sedation and endoscopy, and that the resuscitative efforts did not meet the standard of care.
Plaintiff’s decedent, 60, was scheduled for an outpatient upper endoscopy with the defendant gastroenterologist.
Several minutes into the procedure, the patient retched or coughed, and the gastroenterologist removed the endoscope. She coded, and ultimately, a breathing tube was successfully placed by an EMT. The patient was transferred to the hospital, where she was diagnosed with anoxic brain injury and passed away six days later.
The plaintiff filed a motion challenging the verdict based on an allegation of juror misconduct and outside influence. An alternate juror alleged that a fellow juror had told her she had consulted with a third-party physician friend during trial. The issue was briefed and affidavits were presented. After a hearing with testimony from the jurors, the trial court denied plaintiff’s motion and upheld the verdict.
Defense team:
