Case Results
DISCLAIMER: Please note that every case is different and these verdicts and settlements, while accurate, do not represent what we may obtain for you in your case.
Verdict Against A Radiologist in Farmville
In February 2009, Jonathan Petty obtained a $3.7 million jury verdict on behalf of his client in a medical malpractice trial in Prince Edward County (Farmville, Virginia). The plaintiff was a 36 year old mother who had a CT scan of her abdomen approximately 11 hours after a motor vehicle accident. Her chief complaint was abdominal pain. The defendant radiologist interpreted and reported the study as showing kidney fracture and retroperitoneal hematoma. Based on the report, the emergency physician consulted a urologist, who in turn admitted the patient to the hospital for observation.
Five days later, the patient returned to the ER after experiencing uncontrollable nausea and vomiting. Repeat CT scan demonstrated a bowel injury in the area of the duodenum. She was airlifted via helicopter to VCU, where she underwent emergency surgery followed by a lengthy hospitalization. In the two years since the accident, she has been hospitalized 5 times, undergone 10 surgeries on her abdomen, experienced multiple complications -including abscess and fistula formation, suture line dehiscence, and ventral hernia development – and incurred over $690,000 in medical expenses.
The defendant radiologist had failed to recognize and report obvious signs of bowel injury that was present on the original CT scan. Our client’s treating doctors testified at trial that the original injury was small and uncomplicated, and that timely diagnosis and treatment would have required only a single definitive surgery followed by a brief hospitalization and recovery period. The 5 day delay in diagnosis resulting from the radiologist’s mistake was the reason our client suffered as she did.
At trial, the defense lawyer argued that it was OK for the radiologist to miss the obvious signs of a bowel injury. He also argued that, as a radiologist, the defendant was just one member of the treatment team who did not make treatment decisions for the patient. In other words, some of the other doctors involved in her care should have been held responsible for the mistake, too.
The insurance carrier never made a settlement offer in the case. The jury returned a verdict against the defendant for $3.5 million plus interest from February 1, 2008. The verdict exceeded our request for a verdict of $3 million.
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Jonathan represents victims of medical malpractice, defective products and other serious injuries throughout Virginia including Farmville, Richmond, Petersburg, Fredericksburg, Hampton Roads, Charlottesville, and northern Virginia. For a free consultation please call us at (804) 288-1661 or click here to email us.
