Bart C. Tuttle and Brook Hastings obtained a defense verdict in favor of a pulmonology/critical care specialist in Montgomery County. Plaintiff claimed that the defendant-physician, who was on-call at the time of decedent’s presentation to the hospital, failed to immediately come into the hospital and evaluate the patient. As a result, plaintiff alleged that the decedent was not intubated and ventilated in a timely fashion, which resulted in the decedent’s untimely death. The defense maintained that upon presentation to the hospital, the patient was critically ill with a number of co-morbidities including pneumonia, renal failure, dehydration and starvation, respiratory failure, and sepsis. The patient was seen by a board certified house physician who was in constant contact with the defendant-physician. More importantly, the defense maintained that intubation upon arrival to the hospital, prior to any trial of supplemental oxygen, would have been inappropriate and in fact, likely would have hastened the patient’s death. When the decedent’s respiratory condition worsened, the defendant-physician was again called and he presented to the hospital. At that time, the patient was intubated and ventilated. Unfortunately, the patient’s other organs failed and he passed away several hours later.
After a six day trial and a brief deliberation, the jury rendered a verdict in favor of the defendants.