January 11, 2005

A Louisville ER neurologist was awarded a defense verdict by a Jefferson County jury.  The case involved a fatal cerebral stroke hours after a deadly car wreck.  The Plaintiff alleged that the physician failed to administer the coagulant-preventive drug Heparin which would have prevented the stroke.  James Grohmann successfully defended the neurologist, arguing that the standard of care was met and that the Heparin’s administration, given the rarity of the carotid artery dissection condition, was not obviously appropriate at the time since the trauma care came first.  Furthermore, the defense showed that there was no evidence that had Heparin been used, the result would have been any different.  The estate of the patient sought over $3,000,000 in reparations, but the defense judgment awarded the Plaintiff nothing.