Healthcare

Cases

• Won summary judgment in a bellwether case for a cardiologist in Utah after more than 1,000 patients claimed our client's treatments were medically unnecessary.
• Won a jury defense verdict in a $15 million case for an emergency room doctor accused of failing to diagnose stroke.
• Won a defense jury verdict in a $34 million medical malpractice case in Iowa.
• Won a defense verdict in a $110 million birth injury jury trial in Portland, Oregon.
• Won a jury defense verdict for a tele-neurologist in a $33 million medical malpractice trial involving a stroke patient.
• Won a defense verdict for a hospital following an eight-day jury trial in Missoula, Montana.
• Won a jury verdict for a healthcare team in a $40 million medical malpractice trial in Des Moines, Iowa.
• Represented a hospital in contractual dispute with a group of service providers, leading to favorable settlement.
• Won a precedent-setting appeal in Minnesota affirming WTO's summary judgment victory in a $30 million alleged birth injury case involving cranial compression ischemic encephalopathy (CCIE), a heavily disputed causation theory agreed to be "junk science" by the scientific and medical communities.
• Won a complete defense jury verdict in a $27 million medical malpractice trial in Iowa involving an alleged negligent neurosurgical operation.
• Obtained a complete defense verdict in a three-week federal court jury trial for three healthcare providers facing $27 million malpractice claims involving an intracranial bacterial infection.
• Led internal investigation of criminal allegations against a hospital employee in conjunction with local law enforcement, which led to the complete exoneration of the employee, no criminal charges being filed, and the related civil suit in New Mexico state court being dismissed with a nuisance-value settlement.
• Won summary judgment on all claims against a hospital management company facing allegations that its employees at a psychiatric treatment facility negligently discharged a patient who later committed a triple-murder suicide.
• Won dismissal of a putative class action involving several thousand medically-fragile children asserting claims against a New Mexico health plan.
• Achieved complete dismissal with prejudice and no money paid for an optometrist in a medical malpractice case after the close of discovery.
• Following a successful trial, achieved favorable resolution for a client in a capacity to contract case.
• Successfully defended multiple physician clients in a high-exposure wrongful death case against a nationally recognized plaintiffs' attorney. WTO's strong expert witness development allowed us to attain favorable resolution for our clients at a fraction of the plaintiff's multimillion-dollar demand.
• Handle board matters for physician clients before the Department of Regulatory Agencies and Colorado Medical Board.
• Successfully defended a healthcare client facing multiple claims, including treble damages. After WTO's successful motion to dismiss resulted in the dismissal of all but one claim, WTO was able to resolve the sole remaining claim for nuisance value.
• Obtained early dismissal in a multimillion-dollar case for a New Mexico healthcare client. WTO's aggressive early motion practice and creative expert discovery at the earliest stages of litigation were key to achieving this successful outcome.
• Obtained a voluntary walkaway dismissal in a New Mexico wrongful death case. Early dispositive motion practice forced the plaintiff to withdraw claims against WTO's client.
• Won summary judgment for an obstetrician-gynecological practice in a high-exposure case in Minnesota involving an alleged birth injury and $30 million in damages.
• Won a precedent-setting victory in an appeal of a medical malpractice case involving the Colorado Health Care Availability Act's collateral source provision and $1 million damages cap.
• Called in two weeks before trial, won a defense verdict in a multimillion-dollar medical negligence trial in Utah for an orthopedic surgeon and physician's assistant accused of allowing a patient to slide off the operating table, allegedly leading to permanent brain and spine injuries. WTO demonstrated that the plaintiff's complaints were actually due to prescription drug overuse and that the plaintiff had lied under oath.
• Won a defense verdict in a multimillion-dollar medical negligence trial in Utah for an orthopedic surgeon and physician's assistant accused of allowing a patient to slide off the operating table, allegedly leading to permanent brain and spine injuries. WTO demonstrated that the plaintiff's complaints were actually due to prescription drug overuse and that the plaintiff had lied under oath.
• Successfully defended medical malpractice claims against a radiologist and orthopedic surgeon alleging failure to diagnose and treat a rotator cuff injury resulting in lost range of motion and pain. The jury found no cause of action in favor of the client.
• Successfully defended an emergency medicine physician against medical malpractice claims. The plaintiff alleged the client had negligently removed a foreign body from a child's ear leading to multiple surgeries and hearing loss. The jury found the client not liable.
• Defended a urogynecologist accused of medical malpractice and negligence during bladder surgery resulting in suffering and requiring repair procedures. The jury ruled favorably for the client.
• Won a unanimous arbitration award for an orthopedic surgeon facing medical malpractice claims.
• Representing a New Mexico hospital in a high-stakes malpractice case.
• Won the first medical malpractice defense verdict in plaintiff-friendly Las Vegas, New Mexico in over 35 years for a hospital in a $40 million case involving allegations of failure to diagnose and treat a lung disease which resulted in a patient's death. The jury unanimously found for WTO's client.
• Won a Frye-Mack hearing to exclude expert testimony and Cranial Compression Ischemic Encephalopathy (CCIE) causation theory in a Minnesota birth injury case involving issues of first impression. The resulting order will help defense attorneys nationwide against CCIE claims.
• Won a defense jury verdict in Montana for a medical center and pediatric neurologist facing up to $30 million in damages. The plaintiff claimed that WTO's clients failed to timely diagnose and treat a rare neurological disease that led to blindness. Courtroom View Network named this one of the Top 10 verdicts of 2022.
• Won exclusion of the plaintiff's causation expert and achieved summary judgment in a medical malpractice case. The victory also led to an award of more than $40,000 in attorney fees.
• Won a defense jury verdict in Washington for a pediatric cardiologist accused of malpractice and facing $120 million in claimed damages related to an infant's brain damage.
• Won a defense jury verdict, working closely with local counsel, for an Iowa obstetrician accused of negligence during the delivery of a baby born with severe physical and cognitive deficits in 2007.
• Defeated a motion to compel a hospital's internal quality control review following the death of a patient, establishing a federal peer review privilege, and defeated a motion to compel the hospital's plan of correction.
• Argued remotely and won reversal of a $15 million medical malpractice jury verdict in the Colorado Court of Appeals. The court ruled that the Corporate Practice of Medicine Doctrine precluded the plaintiff's claims against WTO's surgery center client.
• Won Montana Supreme Court victory for a health system in a putative consumer class action that challenged its policy of issuing refunds in the form of pre-paid debit cards. The victory affirmed WTO's prior summary judgment win and defeated the plaintiff's new claims on appeal.
• Defended a large health system against one of the earliest filed claims in the U.S. involving a COVID-19-related patient death.
• Counseled a healthcare industry insurer on best practices for risk management amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Served as lead counsel to a health system to defend against a putative consumer class action in Montana challenging medical records charges.
• Prepared an amicus brief on behalf of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists in case involving the reliability of expert testimony under Colorado law.
• Won a defense verdict after a four-week trial for a physician facing $70 million in damages claims arising from allegations that WTO's client and others failed to timely diagnose and treat bacterial meningitis in a minor. Seven co-defendants settled, leaving WTO's physician client and another physician defendant alone at trial.
• As lead national trial counsel to GE Healthcare, successfully argued before the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation to defeat plaintiffs' attempt to create an MDL involving gadolinium-based contrast agents.
• Won a defense verdict in federal court for a hospital and its staff against $27 million malpractice and negligence claims involving a subdural empyema.
• Won an appeal regarding application of the Anti-SLAPP statute to a defamation action brought by a physician against a hospital.
• Won a defense verdict in Philadelphia, during the week of Christmas, for a hospital and its physician assistant who diagnosed muscle strain when in fact the plaintiff had an infection that resulted in the amputation of her leg. The jury agreed with WTO's arguments that, given the circumstances, the original diagnosis was reasonable.
• Obtained dismissal for an Ohio hospital in a medical malpractice action. WTO lawyers, with co-counsel from Ohio, successfully challenged the plaintiff's unscientific and unsupported theory that cranial compression from the normal birth process can cause brain damage. Plaintiff voluntarily dismissed the case during a Daubert hearing after examination of only two of plaintiff's seven scheduled experts.
• Successfully represented a leading regional healthcare network as lead trial counsel in a high-stakes trademark dispute against a national healthcare insurance provider.
• Won a unanimous defense verdict in a $55 million trial in eastern Kentucky for a hospital accused of malpractice.
• Won a defense jury verdict in Ohio for two neonatologists facing claims of negligently handling the care of a newborn baby.
• Won summary judgment on multiple claims for a national dermatology practice with over 50 offices. Claims included breach of contract, conspiracy, fraud, and other allegations. Once the major claims were dismissed, the plaintiffs agreed to a nuisance settlement that involved no payment by WTO's client.
• Won a complete defense jury verdict for a mental health hospital in Virginia. The plaintiff claimed $32 million in damages arising from an alleged patient-on-patient sexual assault.
• Won a complete defense verdict and dismissal of punitive damages claims for a Wyoming hospital and codefendant physicians facing non-negotiable $19 million negligence claims brought by a plaintiff who suffered a stroke following emergency room treatment for a head wound.
• Won a defense jury verdict in Ohio for an obstetrician facing claims of medical negligence and lack of informed consent, and damages claims in excess of $15 million, arising from a stroke suffered by a newborn following a difficult delivery. The obstetrician passed away tragically and unexpectedly before trial, making the defense of the care problematic.
• Won a complete defense jury verdict in California for an emergency room doctor in a medical malpractice lawsuit with over $22 million at stake in damages claims. WTO was called in just 10 days prior to the three-week trial.
• Won a defense jury verdict for a spinal surgeon in a multimillion-dollar medical malpractice lawsuit in Colorado. The patient experienced a complication during surgery that resulted in partial paralysis. WTO lawyers demonstrated that our client was not at fault. Following the two-week trial, jurors delivered a complete defense verdict.
• Won a defense jury verdict in Ohio in a two-week trial involving allegations of medical malpractice resulting in birth injuries. The plaintiffs sought over $18 million in damages, and WTO lawyers were brought in to defend the case just three weeks before trial.
• Won affirmance from the Colorado Court of Appeals in a defense verdict for WTO's labor and delivery nurse client. Plaintiffs had claimed $17 million in this obstetrical malpractice claim.
• Won an appeal argued before the Colorado Supreme Court challenging a trial court's order to submit Quality Management Privileged (QMP) materials relating to an incident at issue in a medical malpractice trial. The appellate decision is significant, as the QMP designation allows hospitals and healthcare providers to assess and innovate following critical incidents without concern that their discussions will be discovered.
• Obtained dismissal of claims against a private hospital, establishing an exception to the traditional rule of vicarious liability in New York State.
• Won a defense jury verdict in Columbus, Ohio, in a medical malpractice case involving paraplegia allegedly resulting from failure to timely diagnose a spinal epidural abscess.
• Won a motion to dismiss for a hospital client in New York in a matter of first impression involving Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) claims in the Second Circuit. The Court affirmatively ruled that the hospital's obligations under EMTALA ceased upon admitting the plaintiff.
• Won a complete defense verdict in federal court in Colorado for an emergency physician in a three-week medical malpractice trial in which the plaintiff alleged misdiagnosis leading to paralysis and asserted damage claims of $12 million.
• Won a complete defense verdict in state court in Minnesota in a case involving allegations that a doctor's spinal epidural injection resulted in paraplegia. Prior to trial, the plaintiffs rejected a $4 million offer of judgment. Following two weeks of testimony, the jury deliberated 11 hours over two days, returning with a unanimous defense verdict.
• Served as national counsel to a global healthcare company in multidistrict litigation involving over 12,000 claims relating to dialysis products. WTO helped develop national resolution strategy, identified bellwether cases, and negotiated settlement of all claims.
• Obtained victory before the Colorado Court of Appeals for a bariatric surgeon. WTO lawyers tried and won the original case, which involved alleged complications following gastric bypass surgery. The Court of Appeals rejected the plaintiff's assertions that the lower court erred in precluding certain expert testimony and affirmed the 2011 trial court verdict.
• Won a unanimous defense verdict for a labor and delivery nurse in a $17 million, three-and-a-half-week obstetrical malpractice trial in Colorado state court.
• Won a unanimous defense verdict for four psychiatric hospital nurses in a two-week medical malpractice trial in Boston involving the tragic death of a child. Despite the fact that one nurse admitted negligence for herself and implicated the other three, WTO lawyers effectively argued that the nurse's negligence did not cause the patient's death and that the other nurses acted appropriately within the scope of their responsibilities.
• Represented Phoenix Children's Hospital in a claim asserted by Banner Health that a merger between PCH and another healthcare entity triggered a termination clause in a lease of PCH's neonatal ICU. Following a two-week trial, the arbitrator terminated the lease.
• Won a defense decision for a Philadelphia psychiatric hospital in a two-day medical malpractice arbitration involving the death of a patient killed in an auto accident hours after being discharged.
• Obtained a favorable outcome in a Florida medical malpractice trial involving the death of a 43-year-old man following out-patient hernia surgery. Brought in just a week before trial, the WTO team effectively argued for our client in court, leading the jury to assign primary liability to the patient's family and a non-party surgeon, not to WTO's client. The resulting jury award was less than what our client had offered during trial to settle the case.
• Won a defense verdict for a Florida hospital in a three-week medical malpractice trial. The case involved a baby who suffered cerebral palsy after a rare delivery complication. The plaintiff sued the hospital for $7 million, claiming complications could have been avoided had a C-section been performed. The WTO team successfully argued the complication was unpredictable and unpreventable, and the doctors actually saved the mother and child.
• Obtained a favorable settlement for a large excess insurance company in a medical malpractice case involving a permanent disability to a young child resulting from surgery conducted by a doctor who was not board certified.
• Won a jury defense verdict for a Colorado bariatric surgeon in Denver District Court.
• Won a defense verdict for a Washington D.C. hospital in a $40 million medical malpractice lawsuit that involved a baby born with severe brain damage.
• Affirmed on appeal to the D.C. Court of Appeals WTO's unanimous defense jury verdict for a hospital after a three-week trial in Washington, D.C. The plaintiffs alleged the doctor provided less than the standard of care, resulting in an infant's cerebral palsy. WTO established the child's condition was attributable to his 14-week premature birth.
• Helped secure a landmark victory from the Colorado Supreme Court as amicus counsel for the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists in a case involving the reliability of the intrauterine forces theory of labor as applied in shoulder dystocia matters.
• Won a unanimous jury defense verdict for a cardiothoracic surgeon in a two-week medical malpractice trial involving injuries associated with an atrial fibrillation surgery.
• Won a jury defense verdict for an orthopedic spine surgeon in a medical malpractice case with millions of dollars in damage claims at stake, including eight years of accruing pretrial interest.
• Represented a hospital in a four-week trial in California involving special damages in excess of $10 million in claims relating to the care of an adult male with brain damage. The jury returned a verdict of $6 million, but also found the plaintiff 75% contributory negligent. After the setoff from settling the defendant, WTO's client owed only $37,000.
• Won a defense verdict in a medical malpractice case in Florida involving permanent brain injury to a well-known plaintiff's lawyer. WTO was asked to take over the case two weeks into trial and after both local and regional defense counsel recommended settling the case for $12-15 million.
• Won a Colorado Court of Appeals opinion upholding WTO's jury defense verdict in a medical malpractice trial involving shoulder dystocia.
• Won a jury defense verdict in Denver District Court for a prominent Denver heart surgeon.
• Won affirmance from the Colorado Court of Appeals for four doctors in a medical tort case involving wrongful death claims relating to medical treatment provided to the plaintiff's husband before his death.
• Obtained a defense verdict in a New Hampshire trial involving the death of a 63-year-old man following complications from gall bladder surgery. With just two weeks' notice, WTO demonstrated that an empty oxygen tank, which the decedent used for supplemental oxygen shortly before his cardiac arrest, did not cause his death. Ultimately, the jury agreed.
• Represented a health system and obtained favorable settlement in a breach of contract action based on the termination of a management services contract for a Colorado hospital's oncology department.
• Successfully defended a health system against antitrust claims and state law claims in multiple lawsuits brought by physicians relating to failed joint ventures.
• Following opening arguments, negotiated favorable settlement of a $50 million medical malpractice lawsuit in Iowa.
• Represent a senior partner of a physicians group in a federal investigation into alleged healthcare fraud and related qui tam proceedings.