Won a defense verdict against negligence claims in a paralysis lawsuit in Ohio.

WTO lawyers Joe Farchione and Nate Murphy won a complete defense verdict following a two-week medical malpractice trial in Columbus, Ohio. The pair represented an orthopedic surgeon and a hospital against allegations that our clients' failure to timely diagnose a spinal epidural abscess resulted in a tragic case of paraplegia in a patient.

The plaintiff was a 62-year-old woman who presented to the hospital with an infection at the site of a recent knee replacement. She also complained of new and acute back pain. In the lawsuit, the plaintiff contended that our clients should have investigated the back pain with an MRI, which would have revealed a spinal epidural abscess along the T3-T5 vertebrae. By the time that diagnosis actually was made, paralysis had set in and rendered the patient a paraplegic.

The WTO team effectively demonstrated to the jury common and reasonable explanations, such as the "wandering" nature of back pain, for the plaintiff's lower extremity complaints. After two weeks of trial, the jury spent just over an hour deliberating and returned a complete defense verdict for our clients.