Archive for category Medical Malpractice

Bruce Hunt

Joplin, MO — Attorney Bruce Hunt successfully defended a Joplin, MO internist against allegations he directly contributed to cause a woman’s death in late December, 2001.

Decedent Alta Fern Brown was admitted by neurosurgeon Hish Majzoub, M.D. through the emergency room at St. John’s Regional Medical Center in Joplin, MO on November 23, 2001.  Following a CT scan, Mrs. Brown was diagnosed as having a intracerebellar hemorrhagic stroke.  She was started on Decadron, a high-potency corticosteroid,  to reduce edema caused by the stroke.  An emergent ventriculostomy was performed by Dr. Majzoub to relieve the increased intracranial pressure.  On November 27, Mrs. Brown underwent a suboccipital craniotomy to evacuate the hematoma from her brain.  Mrs. Brown made “dramatic steady improvement” following the craniotomy and was transferred to the Skilled Nursing Unit at Freeman Hospital on December 7, 2001 where she was to continue her recovering from her stroke.  Her Decadron dosage was decreased upon transfer.

On December 20, 2001, nurses at Freeman noted brownish drainage coming from the previously healed craniotomy site.  They attempted to contact Dr. Bettasso once by phone and made no other attempts to get him involved until December 25 when her neurological status worsened.  When Dr. Bettasso saw her on the 25th, he immediately suspected an infection and started her on antibiotics.  He also had her transferred to the ICU at St. John’s. Read the rest of this entry »

Case Name: Ogle v. Bettasso, M.D.

Case Number: 06AO-CC00117

Venue: Jasper County, Missouri

Judge: Gayle Crane

Plaintiff’s Attorney: Thomas Hayes, Pittsburg, KS

Dates of Trial: 3/19/2007-3/22/2007

Allegations: Failure to diagnose retroperitoneal hematoma following plaintiff’s hospitalization for pneumonia and atrial fibrillation and administration of anticoagulants.

Settlement Demand: No formal offer of settlement was extended.  Defendant refused to consent to settle.

Outcome: Jury returned unanimous defense verdict.

Case Name: Joy v. Morrison, M.D., et. al.

Case Number: 103CC1819 (Greene County),  SD28084 (Mo Ct. of Appeals)

Venue: Greene County, Missouri

Judge: J. Miles Sweeney

Plaintiff’s Attorney: David Ransin, Springfield, MO

Dates of Trial: 6/19/06-6/30/06

Allegations: Failure to diagnose compartment syndrome or a blood clot within plaintiff’s leg following saphenous vein harvesting during cardiac artery bypass procedure.

Settlement Demand: Plaintiffs offered to settle on April 27, 2006 for $1.5 million.  Defendant refused to consent to settle.

Outcome: Jury returned unanimous defense verdict. The judgment was affirmed on appeal to Missouri Court of Appeals, Southern District and again affirmed by the Missouri Supreme Court.

Case Name: Tindle v. Otto, M.D.

Case Number: 103CC2932

Venue: Greene County, Missouri

Judge: J. Miles Sweeney

Plaintiff’s Attorney: Brad Bradshaw, M.D., J.D, Springfield, MO

Dates of Trial: 1/20/2005-2/8/2005

Allegations: Alleged failure to perform timely C-section following decelerations on fetal heart tracing.

Settlement Demand: On 1/21/05, Plaintiff demanded $400,000 for settlement with defendant Otto. After that offer expired, plaintiff made another demand for the policy limits of $1 million. Plaintiff’s counsel indicated that he had been instructed not to pass along to his clients any settlement offer below $750,000.

Outcome: Jury returned unanimous verdict for defendant William Otto, M.D.