September 15, 2011

Gerald Toner and Joshua Davis successfully defended a Versailles neurosurgeon in a medical malpractice action in Franklin Circuit Court. After receiving an injury to his cervical spine at work, the neurosurgeon performed a 2-level cervical discectomy fusion surgery at C5-6 and C6-7. Prior to surgery, Plaintiff had complained of severe right arm and neck pain. After surgery, Plaintiff’s symptoms included bilateral arm pain and paresthesia, right-sided hemiparesthesia from his nipple to the toes of his right foot, and alleged difficulty voiding, among other symptoms. Such symptoms waxed and waned over the next six years, ultimately worsening in severity. Plaintiff claimed that the neurosurgeon committed negligence during his surgery, injuring his spinal cord, and causing his current symptoms and inability to work. Toner and Davis defended by submitting proof that Plaintiff suffered from an ischemic injury surgery which is a known complication of the surgical procedure for which Plaintiff had provided informed consent. Alternatively, Plaintiff suffered from a progressive demyelinating disease wholly unrelated to the neurosurgeon’s surgery, but in fact triggered by the surgery. Overcoming the testimony of Plaintiff’s experts from Northern Kentucky, Georgia and Texas, the jury found the neurosurgeon committed no malpractice.