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News - Verdicts/Successes
Announcements | Verdicts/Successes
Mark
Perry wins defense verdict for a neuroradiologist in
a wrongful death action in Luzerne County.
The
Decedent was a forty-two year old woman who presented
to the emergency room with a sudden onset of headache
and nausea. A CT scan was performed which showed a subarachnoid
hemorrhage. A full cerebral angiogram was performed
by the neuroradiologist who read the study as showing
an aneurysm and that a surgical intervention was necessary.
The patient was transferred to a tertiary care facility
where the Co-Defendant neurosurgeon performed a craniotomy
and successfully clipped the aneurysm. However, shortly
following the surgery, the Decedent's condition deteriorated
rapidly. A subsequent series of imaging studies including
a cerebral angiogram indicated a bleeding left PICA
aneurysm. The Decedent died five days following the
initial surgery. At trial, the Plaintiffs presented
expert testimony from a neurosurgeon and a neuroradiologist
who testified that the neurosurgeon and neuroradiologist
failed to order additional tests which would have allowed
them to visualize the PICA aneurysm. The Plaintiffs'
experts alleged that the imaging studies that were reviewed
prior to surgery demonstrated an increased risk of a
PICA aneurysm.
The
defense argued that the imaging studies were read appropriately
by the neurosurgeon and neuroradiologist. Specifically,
the defense argued that the neurosurgeon and neuroradiologist
were unable to catheterize the left vertebral artery
because of its small size and potential vasospasm. The
defense argued that the neurosurgeon and the neuroradiologist
met the standard of care in reviewing and assessing
the imaging studies.
After
a trial which lasted a week and one-half, the jury returned
a unanimous defense verdict.
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