Brian Meisner secured unanimous defense verdict in New York County Supreme Court on behalf of Family Medicine Physician
UNANIMOUS DEFENSE VERDICT: Brian Meisner secured a unanimous defense verdict in New York County Supreme Court on behalf of a Family Medicine Physician. The plaintiff, the sister of the decedent, brought an action against our client, claiming that our client failed to diagnose the decedent with legionella pneumonia and refer him to the emergency room for a chest x-ray during a house call visit.
The patient’s sister requested a house call visit for the 61 year-old patient a few hours after returning from a one-week vacation in the Caribbean. The patient reported that about two days into his trip, he developed a bilateral frontal headache of mild-moderate severity associated with a mild intermittent cough productive of white sputum, a nasal drip and a “scratchy throat.” The patient said he felt warm at the time but did not take his temperature. The patient further reported that over the next four days his symptoms “decreased somewhat.” The patient also reported feeling “run down” but denied any shortness of breath, chest pain, and GI symptoms. No history of chronic medical issues or cancer was reported to our client.
On physical examination there were no signs or symptoms suggesting pneumonia. The patient’s vital signs and lung examination were normal. An examination of the head, eyes, ears, nose and throat showed signs and symptoms consistent with an upper respiratory infection, rather than an infection of the lower respiratory tract. Our client assessed the patient with mild sinusitis and prescribed an appropriate antibiotic.
The following evening, the patient reported over the phone that he developed weakness in his legs. Our client immediately referred the patient to the emergency room. Upon arrival in the emergency room the patient complained of a cough, shortness of breath, a headache and fatigue. A chest x-ray was reported as showing right middle lobe pneumonia. After the results of a blood count showed that the patient was severely immunocompromised, the patient, we contended for the first time, shared that he had a history of Hairy Cell Leukemia. Due to the patient’s immunocompromised state, the pneumonia progressed rapidly. The patient required intubation and suffered a PEA arrest the following day. Nine days later the patient suffered a middle cerebral artery infarct and died the following day.
At trial, we established that that the patient did not have pneumonia at the time of our client’s visit and that it developed in the interim before the patient presented to the emergency room approximately thirty hours later. We similarly established that a recurrence of Hairy Cell Leukemia caused the patient to become severely immunocompromised and susceptible to bacterial infections, and that the rapid decline was a result of his immune system being incapable of mounting an effective defense.
The jury returned a unanimous verdict in favor of our client approximately 60 minutes after deliberations began.