February 13, 2004

A patient reporting abdominal pain received a CT scan.  The scan was read by a radiologist, who suspected Krohn’s disease.  After the patient still reported pain, however, it was found that the patient actually had a super mesenteric blood clot.  The patient underwent an immediate surgery but lost a part of his bowel during complications.  The Plaintiff thought the radiologist should have noticed the blood clot after the scan.  The defendant, represented by Tracy Prewitt, argued that the physician’s missing the clot was not a deviation from the standard of care because such a blood clot is exceedingly rare in a patient so young, and that the patient’s complications were unrelated to the delay in diagnosis. The Hardin County jury concurred, awarding the Plaintiff no damages.