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Cardiothoracic surgeon exonerated in Heparin reaction case
On August 7, 2007, Randy Sellers and Chris Eagan secured a defense verdict in a medical malpractice trial in Jefferson County Circuit Court. The plaintiff alleged that the cardiothoracic surgeon who performed mitral valve replacement surgery on the plaintiff failed to timely diagnose a complex reaction to the drug Heparin called Heparin Induced Thrombocytopenia (HIT). The plaintiff alleged the cardiothoracic surgeon failed to perform adequate post surgical testing and that the surgeon should have consulted with a hematology specialist earlier. The plaintiff alleged that if the surgeon had done these things the patient would not have lost her legs. The case reached the jury after the plaintiff offered the expert testimony of two specialists, a cardiothoracic surgeon and a hematologist.
The defense presented the testimony of the cardiothoracic surgeon and two expert witnesses to rebut the allegations. It was established that the patient was being followed by a number of well-qualified physicians who were educated and well-versed on HIT and that the only physician who suspected HIT was the defendant. The defense was able to establish that this was an extraordinarily complex case and that there were many potential explanations for the patient’s limb loss. The defense was able to establish through every expert, including the plaintiff’s own experts, that this was a rare and complex presentation of HIT. Finally, the defense put on evidence that the medication used to treat this entity has not been effective in preventing limb loss such that an earlier diagnosis would not have changed the patient’s unfortunate outcome.
The jury returned a defense verdict completely exonerating the cardiothoracic surgeon.
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