FBMJ Attorneys Tucciarone & McDaniel Obtain No-Cause Verdict in Oakland County Case
Foley, Baron, Metzger & Juip attorneys Enrico (Eric) Tucciarone and Stacey McDaniel recently obtained a defense verdict (No Cause) in a medical malpractice jury trial in Oakland County Circuit Court.
Eric and Stacey represented a major Oakland County hospital system and an orthopedic nurse in a claim involving a 78-year-old knee replacement patient. The patient fell the day after surgery after visiting the bathroom, alleging that the defendant nurse was negligent in failing to document and utilize the appropriate fall prevention measures. Attorneys for the plaintiff claimed the fall caused a partial tear of his quadricep tendon, which eventually tore completely and dislocated the knee hardware. Over the course of the following nine months the patient had a series of revision and repair surgeries, eventually developing a significant infection requiring above-the-knee amputation.
The trial involved testimony from eleven witnesses over a one-week period with two key factors contributing to the defense verdict. First, our defendant nurse was experienced and well-prepared, demonstrating to the jury each aspect of her assistance in ambulating the patient and lowering him to the floor with the use of a gait belt and walker. She was able to show that the patient’s legs remained extended which would be inconsistent with a tear of the quadricep tendon. This, coupled with an admission from the plaintiff’s expert that the patient experienced a “pop and buckle” before being lowered causing the quadricep tear, were two key factors in the win.
The jury returned a unanimous no-cause verdict after deliberating for a short 1.5 hours, finding the defendant nurse and hospital system did not commit medical malpractice.
Congratulations, Eric and Stacey!