Successfully defended a trauma surgeon sued by the family of a 24-year-old man who died in the emergency department from internal injuries he sustained when he fell out of a moving vehicle. The plaintiff alleged that the defendant was negligent for failing to take the patient to the operating room very soon after he arrived in the ER. After the surgeon’s deposition, the plaintiff dropped the case against him.

Ashby Davis, Trip Lehn

Secured a voluntary dismissal of a radiologist who was alleged to have misread post-operative x-ray studies by failing to recognize misplacement or malalignment of surgical screws placed in a spinal fusion procedure, which allegedly resulted in severe pain, suffering, subsequent surgery and permanent injuries caused by nerve root impingement. The defense established that the studies in question were interpreted appropriately and, further, that there were no clinical indications at the time in question to suggest recommendation of definitive studies. No settlement was paid in exchange for the dismissal of the defendant radiologist and practice.

Ashby Davis, Keith Knowlton

Obtained a defense verdict for an obstetrician sued for medical malpractice and wrongful death after fetal demise was discovered at approximately 32 weeks of pregnancy. The plaintiffs alleged that the obstetrician was negligent in failing to refer her patient to a maternal-fetal medicine specialist for further evaluation after seeing an enlarged placenta on fetal ultrasound. The plaintiffs called three well-qualified experts, including an internationally renowned placental pathologist from Brown University. Despite the impressive experts who testified for the plaintiffs, the jury returned a defense verdict for the obstetrician.

Ashby Davis, Trip Lehn

Secured a dismissal on behalf of a gynecologist, his practice, and his hospital employer in a case alleging that he misdiagnosed his patient’s vaginal prolapse and negligently performed surgery to repair the prolapse. At the deposition of the plaintiff’s expert, the defense demonstrated that the expert had previously given false testimony against physicians. Soon thereafter, the plaintiff dismissed the case.

David Williford, Ashby Davis

Successfully defended a large regional hospital system sued for medical malpractice by the estate of a female patient who suffered respiratory distress and hypoxia after having a total knee replacement, which allegedly retarded her postoperative recovery and physical rehabilitation. One day after defense counsel deposed the plaintiff’s expert, the plaintiff dropped the case.

Ashby Davis, Trip Lehn

Secured a dismissal for an emergency medicine physician sued for malpractice by female patient who alleged that she should have been treated with tPA, a clot-busting drug, when she presented to the ER with symptoms allegedly due to a stroke. The defense established through expert testimony that the defendant met the standard of care in evaluating the patient in the ER and having her admitted to the hospital for further evaluation, and that administering tPA was not indicated under the circumstances. After full discovery, the plaintiff voluntarily dismissed her case against the defendant.

Ashby Davis, Trip Lehn

Successfully defended an orthopedic surgeon sued by a female patient who went blind after a total hip replacement due to postoperative hypotension and an extremely rare occurrence of acute ischemic optic neuropathy (AION). After full discovery and within one month of trial, the plaintiff dropped her case against the surgeon.

Ashby Davis, Trip Lehn

Obtained a defense verdict for a family physician sued in a medical malpractice case in which the plaintiff alleged the physician failed to timely diagnose a parosteal osteosarcoma, a type of bone cancer, in a 28-year old female patient, who eventually died despite a leg amputation and five rounds of chemotherapy. At trial, the defense showed that the family physician followed the standard of care by properly addressing the patient’s leg pain and elevated lab values, which led to her diagnosis. The defense offered an expert witness in oncology, who testified that the patient’s cancer was incurable regardless of when the diagnosis was made. The jury returned a verdict for the defendants.

Ashby Davis, Keith Knowlton

In a medical malpractice trial, obtained a directed verdict in favor of a pulmonologist where it was alleged that a misdiagnosis led to the death of a patient with lung cancer. The plaintiff presented the testimony of expert witnesses in pathology, oncology and radiology, but after cross-examination, the defense persuaded the judge that the testimony of these experts was insufficient to carry the plaintiff’s burden of proof. The judge dismissed the case.

David Williford, Ashby Davis

Obtained a defense verdict for a cardiologist sued for medical malpractice and wrongful death after his patient died of a heart attack following an abnormal nuclear stress test. The plaintiff alleged that the cardiologist failed to timely notify the patient of his test results and admit him to the hospital. At trial, the defense highlighted the fact that the patient chose to leave the office after the nuclear stress test without seeing the cardiologist. The defense also offered two expert witnesses who explained that this patient’s sudden demise was unpredictable and improbable, particularly when the patient had been asymptomatic. The jury returned a verdict for the cardiologist.

Ashby Davis, Keith Knowlton

Secured a dismissal in a medical malpractice case against several obstetricians, alleging that they negligently ruptured an artery during the patient’s C-section. Several days after the C-section, the plaintiff began bleeding in her pelvis and had to be transferred to Charlotte for emergency surgery and an embolization which saved her life. The plaintiff’s expert witnesses opined that the bleeding occurred due to an injury to her right lateral sacral artery. After a thorough review of the radiology films and studies of the embolization procedure, the defense determined that the injury had been to the uterine artery instead. After the plaintiff’s expert witnesses testified that there was no negligence if in fact the injury occurred to the uterine artery, the plaintiff dismissed the case.

David Williford, Ashby Davis

Obtained a defense verdict for an obstetrician who was sued in a medical malpractice case where the plaintiff alleged that the obstetrician applied excessive traction to the baby’s head to resolve a shoulder dystocia during delivery, causing a permanent brachial plexus injury. At trial, the defense offered two expert witnesses, including one of the nation’s leading experts on shoulder dystocia, who testified that the obstetrician followed the proper protocol to resolve the dystocia, and the injury was the result of the internal forces of the mother occurring during the dystocia. The jury returned a verdict for the defendant.

Ashby Davis, Keith Knowlton

Obtained a defense verdict at trial for an anesthesiologist and his practice in a medical malpractice case in which the plaintiff alleged the anesthesiologist failed to administer adequate amounts of anesthesia during a teenager’s appendectomy, which allegedly caused the teenager extreme pain, fear, and severe post-traumatic stress disorder. Based on the youthful age of the patient, the plaintiffs sought millions of dollars in damages for the lifelong suffering the patient claimed she would experience. In this complex case involving the minimum alveolar concentrations of anesthesia with respect to sevoflurane and the potentiating effects of multiple anesthetic drugs, the defense offered as an expert witness the nation’s leading expert in “anesthesia awareness.” The jury returned a verdict for the defendants.

Ashby Davis, David Williford

Obtained a defense verdict at trial for an obstetrician in a medical malpractice case in which the plaintiff alleged the obstetrician was negligent in the delivery of her child during labor, resulting in uterine rupture and the death of the infant. The young mother required an emergent C-section and survived. The jury returned a verdict in favor of the obstetrician.

Ashby Davis, David Williford

Obtained a defense verdict for a general surgeon sued for medical malpractice where the plaintiff alleged the surgeon misdiagnosed her cardiac condition and improperly placed a cardiac pacemaker, causing pain and suffering and additional surgery. At trial, the defense showed that the plaintiff’s expert misdiagnosed the patient’s condition, and the jury found that the surgeon properly diagnosed the patient’s heart condition and appropriately placed the pacemaker.

Ashby Davis, David Williford

Obtained a defense verdict for a gynecologist and his hospital employer in a medical malpractice case in which the plaintiff alleged the gynecologist failed to correctly biopsy and diagnose cervical cancer in a 26-year-old woman, who died two years after the alleged misdiagnosis. The defense offered two expert witnesses, including a gynecological oncologist who wrote a leading textbook in his field. The jury decided in favor of the gynecologist.

Ashby Davis, David Williford