Alan Scher Zagier//September 20, 2024//
In an 11-1 vote, a St. Louis County jury rejected a medical malpractice claim by a former Mercy Hospital South patient against both an anesthesiology practice and her primary care physician over leg pain that led to below-the-knee amputation in 2019.
The jury deliberated for just over two hours at the conclusion of a two-day trial in mid-August, said defense attorney David Perron of Brown & James, who represented Tadros Medical, LLC. Greg Minana and Megan Bradshaw of Minana & Associates represented Western Anesthesiology Associates Inc. Attorneys for plaintiff Doris Grebas did not respond to requests for comment.
According to the suit, Grebas went to the Mercy South emergency room on Sept. 12, 2019, complaining of pain in her groin down to her left foot and toe, By the time she returned to the same E.R. 12 days later with a discolored blue foot, a vascular emergency was identified, with amputation of her left leg performed on Oct. 1, 2019.
The lawsuit alleged that an osteopathic physician employed by the anesthesiologist practice failed to identify the medical emergency Grebas was experiencing, with a similar complaint against Dr. Charles Tadros, whom she said initially only advised her to take a steroid medication — an assertion the doctor disputed at trial.
Perron credited the defense verdict to several factors, including the plaintiff submission of cell phone records she alleged documented calls to her physician’s office as her condition worsened — but which upon cross-examination she acknowledged came from her the phone of her mother, who was also a patient of Tadros.
Additionally, Grebas further testified that her revascularization — the treatment to avoid amputation — was delayed for 24 hours because she had taken the drug methotrexate, which could have complicated the procedure.
“It did not matter whether she arrived at the ER on Sept. 23, earlier on Sept. 24 or on the afternoon of Sept. 24 — she was not getting the (amputation) any earlier than Sept. 25,” Perron said, recounting the jury foreman’s post-trial assessment in a hallway conversation.
Grebas had submitted special damages of $50,000 in past lost wages and $1.05 million in future medical expenses, Perron said, with a final demand of $4.2 million in damages during closing arguments.
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Defense verdict
Medical malpractice
Venue: St. Louis County Circuit Court
Case Number/Date: 20SL-CC03962/Aug. 13, 2024
Judge: Kristine Allen Kerr
Plaintiff’s Experts: Dr. Daniel Bixler, Kansas City (internal medicine); Dr. Anthony Guarino, Alton, Illinois (pain management); Dr. Ross Millner, Chicago (pain management)
Defendant’s Experts: Dr. James Avery, St. Louis (internal medicine); Dr. Robert Fisher, St. Louis (internal medicine); Dr. David Han, St. Louis (vascular surgery)
Injuries alleged: leg, knee, ankle, foot
Caption: Doris Grebas v. Western Anesthesia Associates, Inc., Tadros Medical, LLC
Plaintiff’s Attorneys Ken Vuylsteke (lead), Fox & Vuylsteke; Matt Padberg; Padberg Appelbaum Knepper, St. Louis
Defendant’s Attorneys: Justin Hardin (lead) and David Perron, Brown & James, St. Louis; Greg Minana and Megan Bradshaw, Minana & Associates, St. Louis
This article credit to MOLawyersMedia