News

Mike Wright, George Newton, and Allen King obtained a judgment as a matter of law in favor of an emergency room physician in a wrongful death case alleging negligence in the work-up of a patient who presented to the emergency department with a swollen leg, was discharged, and died a few hours later from a massive saddle pulmonary embolus.  The plaintiff presented evidence from a board certified ER physician that the defendant physician breached the standard of care, as well as testimony on issues of causation from a board-certified internal medicine specialist.  The defense called independent experts in the fields of emergency medicine and pulmonology.  Following the close of all the evidence on day five of trial, the trial court granted the defendant’s motion for judgment as a matter of law, finding that the plaintiff’s causation evidence was insufficient and did not constitute substantial evidence that earlier diagnosis & treatment would have changed the outcome for the patient