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Rapid Trial Victory for General Surgeon

Brian Henry represented a general surgeon at trial in a lawsuit involving allegations that the surgeon failed to timely perform surgery on the plaintiff for perforation of his right colon following a colonoscopy and polypectomy by others. The plaintiff claimed that as a result of the delay, he had to undergo an open surgery during which his right colon and a section of his small bowel had to be removed, including the ileocecal valve, resulting in chronic abdominal pain, bloating, multiple daily bouts of diarrhea and fecal incontinence. Plaintiff claimed that he initially was not offered the option of surgery when first seen by the defendant, and that surgery did not occur until after a second opinion was obtained from another surgeon who recommended surgery. The general surgeon testified that the plaintiff was offered both the option of surgery and the option of conservative care for 12 to 24 hours because he had a micro-perforation which had a reasonable chance of healing without surgery. The jury returned a verdict in favor of the general surgeon after deliberating for only 36 minutes.

December 2013 | Firm News