Courtroom Success 2015-41: Springfield Partner John Bagley

Springfield Partner John Bagley, with the assistance of Associate Andy Lawendowski, obtained a defense finding at an arbitration of a dental malpractice case. The plaintiff alleged that the defendant was negligent in perforating the sinus during the placement of implants, and, as a result, the plaintiff suffered from chronic and permanent sinusitis and the loss of the sense of smell (anosmia). The plaintiff called an oral surgeon and an ENT physician to testify on his behalf. The defendant had no expert support on the standard of care (other than the testimony of the defendant dentist). Instead, the defense of the case rested on the issue of causation, for which the defense called an ENT physician who testified that the cause of the plaintiff’s chronic sinusitis and anosmia was not the dental work but a fungus which developed in the sinus.