Johnson & Bell Shareholder, Sharon L. Stanzione, received a defense verdict in favor of her client, an Indiana hospital, in an alleged medical negligence case. The plaintiff demanded $1.25 million during the trial.
The case involved a patient, a 68-year-old female, who had just undergone a proctectomy procedure. Following the procedure, the patient was received back to the medical/surgical floor from the recovery room and her condition was noted to be stable and appropriate for a post-surgical patient. The next morning the patient's condition suddenly and unpredictably worsened and she subsequently passed away.
At the time of trial, the case focused solely on the care rendered to the patient on the medical/surgical floor. The plaintiff alleged that the Indiana hospital and its nursing staff failed to properly monitor the patient after her surgery and that this failure to monitor is what caused her death. As support for his allegations, the plaintiff relied primarily on the documentation in the patient’s medical records. The defense argued that the Indiana hospital and its nurses acted as reasonable nurses in providing care to their post-operative patient. Moreover, the defense argued that the nurse’s conduct was not a proximate cause of the patient’s death.
After deliberating for just over one hour, the jury returned a verdict for the defense.
