Morrison Mahoney Partner Anthony Abeln won a defense verdict after an eight-day medical malpractice jury trial in Suffolk Superior Court. The case involved a fetal death and maternal death after delivery which was potentially worth significant damages.
Tony represented the labor/delivery nurse who evaluated and monitored the pregnant patient, who was discharged by the co-defendant OB a few hours later. About twelve hours after discharge, the patient returned to the hospital with sepsis and passed away. The allegation against the nurse was that she failed to properly evaluate the patient’s condition, which would have triggered admission to the hospital.
Of note, both the presence of some, and absence of other, electronic medical record audit trails played a significant part of the plaintiff’s case against both defendants. Key information related to the baby’s assessment were not entered into the medical record until an hour after the patient’s return to the hospital when she was clearly septic.
