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Starnes attorneys Joe Miller and Tyler McIntyre obtained a defense verdict for a cardiologist after a five-day trial in Tuscaloosa.  The plaintiff alleged that the cardiologist negligently failed to place a stent in a completely occluded coronary artery during a heart catheterization procedure. The cardiologist felt the risk was too great due to the small size of the artery and the extensive nature of the blockage. He decided to treat the patient medically. After discharge, the patient presented to another hospital the same day with continued chest pain, and underwent placement of two coronary stents by another cardiologist. He died shortly thereafter. The plaintiff claimed that the defendant cardiologist’s failure to place a stent resulted in additional heart muscle damage, thus causing the death. The jury deliberated for several hours and returned a defense verdict.