Won a jury verdict for a hospital in a $34 million case.

WTO Partner LaMar Jost and Associate Nicole Grimmesey won a defense jury verdict for a hospital following a two-week trial in Des Moines, Iowa. 

The plaintiff, a patient who had a brain herniation and stroke at the hospital, claimed hospital nurses missed neurological signs of the impending stroke that caused her serious and permanent brain injury. The treating neurosurgeon testified that the nurses violated his order to notify him of any neurological change in the patient. WTO lawyers argued that the plaintiff’s theory of when and how the stroke occurred was medically impossible and presented evidence that the nurses did not miss signs of the plaintiff’s stroke. The plaintiff’s counsel had demanded $34.3 million from the hospital.

Healthcare insurers across the country closely monitored the trial, and representatives from healthcare providers attended the standing-room-only closing arguments. At a time when plaintiffs’ lawyers are seeking “nuclear verdicts,” the jury’s decision sends a positive message to the healthcare industry.