Decatur, GA—In the recent med mal case of Chinh Truong v. Steven Rosenthal MD and Georgia Heart Associates, PC (14A50672) the plaintiff needed to show that Dr. Rosenthal was negligent in his reading and interpretation of the results of a cardiac stress test performed on patient Antonny Southammavong and that the negligence caused Southammavong’s death shortly thereafter.
To prove Dr. Rosenthal’s negligence, plaintiff relied on the testimony of an expert witness, Dr. Michael Rothkopf, a Texas cardiologist. For nearly 90 minutes, Dr. Rothkopf described the nature of Southammavong’s heart condition, the purpose and operation of the stress test, and the abnormal results he found. Finally, plaintiff’s attorney John Mabrey asked Dr. Rothkopf specifically for his opinion regarding Dr. Rosenthal’s negligence.
As Dr. Rothkopf answered each specific question about Dr. Rosenthal’s negligence, Mabrey wrote the answer down on a chart for the jury to see. The delay involved in Mabrey’s writing down the answer gave the jury additional time to consider each response by Dr. Rothkopf before Mabrey continued his questioning. Finally, Dr. Rothkopf provided the last key testimony to support plaintiff’s case, namely, that if Dr. Rosenthal had admitted Southammavong into a hospital for further testing, then the appropriate surgical treatment, either a stent or bypass, would, likely have saved Southammavong’s life.
Judge Dax Lopez declared a mistrial in the case upon the conclusion of plaintiff’s case for reasons unrelated to Dr. Rothkopf’s testimony. Attorneys for plaintiff indicated to CVN that they intend to retry the case in the future.
CVN's earlier coverage of this case (including other clips from the trial) can be found here and here.
Steve Silver can be contacted at ssilver@cvn.com.
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