June 18, 2012

Gerald Toner successfully defended two LaGrange emergency physicians in a medical malpractice action in Oldham (Ky.) Circuit Court.  The Plaintiff claimed that the physicians failed to timely diagnose her ectopic pregnancy during three visits to the emergency room in 2007.  The Plaintiff alleged that the physicians should have ordered a follow-up ultrasound after an initial ultrasound showed no evidence of an ectopic pregnancy. Toner defended the physicians by submitting medical proof that the initial ultrasound presented strong proof that the plaintiff had an intrauterine pregnancy. The ultrasound was also consistent with the early stages of an intrauterine pregnancy.  The defense also submitted medical evidence that the plaintiff’s changing presentation was consistent with a miscarriage rather than an ectopic pregnancy. Defense experts included an emergency physician from Buffalo, New York and an obstetrician from Louisville, Kentucky.  The jury agreed with the defense and unanimously found in the physicians’ favor.