News
Starnes secures defense verdict in wrongful death case.
On December 11, 2007, Billy Bates and Bennett White secured a defense verdict in favor of a family practitioner and his professional corporation in the Circuit Court of Colbert County. The case (which previously tried to a hung jury) arose as a result of the death of a 41 year-old patient following an exercise stress test in Muscle Shoals in September 2001. The plaintiff alleged that the patient's clinical presentation of chest pain and a pre-stress test EKG indicated the patient had unstable angina. Unstable angina is a symptom of coronary artery disease and is a known contraindication to a stress test. The defense was able to prove that the patient's clinical presentation was not suggestive of unstable angina and that the pre-stress test EKG, while likely abnormal, demonstrated only non-specific abnormalities that could have been caused by a number of factors, including esophageal disease, which the patient had. The defense submitted expert testimony that the exercise stress test was medically indicated and was an appropriate method to identify the etiology of the patient's chest pain.
The jury returned a defense verdict completely exonerating the family practitioner and his professional corporation.
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