Verdicts, Settlements and Judgments

Trial Advocate

Craig A. Sargent  

Court

Mesa County District Court

Case Type

Medical Malpractice

Client

Orthopedic Spine Surgeon

Issues

Craig defended an orthopedic spine surgeon and his medical practice group in a two-week jury trial.  The Plaintiff, the husband of the deceased patient, brought a lawsuit alleging that the physician was negligent in performing complex spinal deformity correction surgery.  The patient underwent a two phase spinal deformity corrective procedure, first posteriorly and then anteriorly, and started bleeding from the vessels in front of the spine during the anterior portion of the surgery.  The physician was able to stop the bleeding and called in a vascular surgeon who then decided to attempt to repair the vessel.  However, because of the Plaintiff’s significant smoking history, age, and multiple prior back surgeries, the vessels were very fragile and continued to tear despite the vascular surgeon’s efforts to close them.  The patient ended up dying and her husband then brought suit alleging medical malpractice.