03/13/2017

Defense Verdict Caps Monumental Three-Week Trial

Attorneys Andrew Foulkrod and Eric Lauerman obtained a defense jury verdict for three internists in Berks County, Pennsylvania marking the end of a three-week trial that included testimony from 19 physicians including experts in the specialties of radiology, pathology, surgery, internal medicine and gastroenterology.

In the case, Plaintiffs alleged that the internists failed to diagnose and treat acute colonic pseudo-obstruction (also known as Ogilvie's syndrome), Clostridium difficile infection and toxic megacolon, resulting in colonic ischemia and perforation.  Plaintiff's allegations were supported by an Ivy League team of experts, including the Director of Yale Health and the chief of GI pathology at Harvard.

The defense argued that the patient's presentation suggested a benign ileus.  Attorney Foulkrod emphasized the absence of signs and symptoms suggestive of an ischemic or infectious process.  Thus, the internists' conservative treatment measures met the standard of care.