November 14, 2001

When presented with a patient’s arteriogram and x-ray, a Lexington vascular surgeon suspected bowel inflammatory disease.  Later, a non-emergent laparatomy was performed and this revealed grave bowel necrosis; the patient had been suffering from undiagnosed mesenteric ischemia of his bowel.  The patient died five days later of a bowel infarction.  The Plaintiff criticized the doctor for not diagnosing the condition in a timely fashion.  The defense, led by Gerald Toner, argued that the properly treated inflammatory disease masked the effects of the secondary and very rare mesenteric ischemia.  Thus, concluded the defense, the doctor’s failure to correctly diagnose earlier was quite understandable.  The Fayette County jury agreed, awarding the Plaintiff none of the sought 1.56 million dollars.