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.

At St. John’s, neurosurgeon Cherylon Yarosh, M.D. took Mrs. Brown to the operating room to debride her head wound.  At the time of surgery she was able to express copious amounts of pus from the wound.  This was cultured and identified as staphylococcus aureus (not MRSA, the hospital-acquired form of staph aureus).  Mrs. Brown was continued on antibiotics but eventually succumbed to meningitis on December 30, 2001.

The specific allegations in this case relate to two main issues: Decadron and physician visits.  Plaintiffs contended that Dr. Bettasso kept Mrs. Brown on Decadron too long and that by doing so an infection she acquired during the craniotomy was allowed to remain latent and was not diagnosed until she reached a “point of no return” on December 24th.  Defendants countered that Mrs. Brown continued to have swelling in her brain as shown by subsequent CT scans and that the Decadron continued to be indicated.

Plaintiffs also contended that Dr. Bettasso did not personally see the patient in the Skilled Nursing Unit on a frequent enough basis.  Plaintiffs brought up a document drafted by nursing staff at Freeman Hospital that recommended physician visits to patients in the Skilled Nursing Unit every 72 hours.  However, there was no evidence that this was an actual policy of the hospital that had ever been adopted nor was it binding on physicians for establishing standard of care.

Plaintiff hired three experts to criticize the health care providers in the case.  Dr. Richard Jacobs, a physician who practices infectious disease medicine in San Francisco,  Dr. Loren Lipson, a physician who practices geriatric medicine in Los Angeles and Dr. Gregory Hornig, a pediatric neurosurgeon from Kansas City.

Defendant’s experts were Dr. Kenneth Scott, a board-certified family practitioner from Clinton, MO, Dr. Paul Jost, a board-certified infectious disease expert from Kansas City and Dr. Thomas Briggs, a board-certified neurosurgeon from Springfield, MO.

The jury deliberated for 39 minutes before coming back with a unanimous defense verdict on behalf of Dr. Bettasso and his employer, Mercy Clinics, Inc.

Case Number: 26V030400794

Venue: Laclede County, Missouri

Judge: William Hass

Plaintiff’s Attorney: Bill Francis, Springfield, MO

Dates of Trial: 11/05/2007-11/09/2007

Allegations: Failure to properly prepare dirt track surface resulting in airborne rock that struck driver while racing on dirt track.

Settlement Demand: $850,000.

Outcome: Jury returned defense verdict.

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 Number: 104CC3482

Venue: Greene County, Missouri

Judge: Jason Brown

Plaintiff’s Attorney: John Woodell, Springfield, MO

Dates of Trial: 9/11/2006-9/29/2006

Allegations: Negligent operation of horse-drawn wagon with multiple serious injuries to the 12 occupants of the wagon.

Settlement Demand: $3 million

Outcome: Bruce Hunt represented Defendant Darrell Proctor individually, with separate counsel representing the co-defendant stable owned by Mr. Proctor.  The day before trial, plaintiffs’ counsel contacted Mr. Hunt and proposed that in exchange for Mr. Hunt’s immediate withdrawal and agreement not to participate in the jury trial, plaintiffs’ would agree to not pursue any potential judgment in excess of the liability insurance policy limits.  This agreement was memorialized in accordance with §537.065, V.A.M.S.

Case Number: 05AF-CV00021

Venue: Taney County, Missouri

Judge: James Eiffert

Plaintiff’s Attorney: Jim Newberry, Springfield, MO

Dates of Trial: 8/28/2006-8/30/2006

Allegations: Failure to obtain CT scan of decedent’s head following acute myocardial infarction with subsequent administration of thrombolytics.  Plaintiff had fallen from standing height due to acute MI and plaintiff alleged decedent suffered a head injury.

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

Outcome: Jury returned unanimous defense verdict.

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 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.