Foley & Mansfield Medical Malpractice Team Obtains Defense Verdict
On Tuesday, November 4, 2014, a jury for the 20th Judicial Circuit Court for Fort Meyers, Florida, found in favor of an emergency department physician and a physician’s assistant accused of failing to diagnose a patient’s pulmonary embolism that caused her death. The decedent, a 42-year old woman, died three days after being discharged from the emergency department. Alleging that the physicians failed to order necessary diagnostic tests to rule out the patient’s embolism, the decedent’s husband and daughter asked the jury for $3.7 million dollars in damages.
However, the defense successfully argued that the decedent’s fatal embolism developed after she left the emergency room, and that the physicians made the appropriate diagnosis of acute bronchitis prior to discharge. After a compelling closing argument by lead counsel Kevin O’Connor, the jury returned a defense verdict after four hours of deliberation.
This highly contested matter was defended aggressively for nearly three years by Foley & Mansfield’s medical malpractice team. Lead counsel Kevin O’Connor is a seasoned attorney having tried well over 250 cases in his career. Jaime Alvarez is a skilled litigator having handled numerous medical malpractice matters on behalf of doctors, hospitals, and other healthcare professionals. Gloria Suarez, RN, is a nurse paralegal with numerous years of medical malpractice litigation experience on behalf of both plaintiffs and defendants. Naymara Fuentes, the team’s legal assistant, provides invaluable litigation support services to the attorneys.
Keeping in line with Foley & Mansfield’s pursuit of excellence the medical malpractice team obtained yet another defense verdict on behalf of the firm’s clients.