Michael Frankson delivers closing arguments at trial over the death of a Georgia man days after surgery. Jurors cleared Frankson's client, a hospitalist, in the medical malpractice case. Watch the trial.
Macon, GA— Jurors last month cleared a Georgia doctor of responsibility for the sepsis-related death of a patient, days after he underwent surgery. Roberts, et al. v Cogent Healthcare of Macon, LLC, et al., 21-SCCV-093457.
The Bibb County (Georgia) State Court jury deliberated less than half a day before concluding Dr. Vikram Sangani was not negligent in the care of Lonnie Roberts, 61, who died from septic shock in January 2020, 15 days after surgery to remove a mass in his intestine.
Sangani, a hospitalist, was part of a team of physicians treating Roberts while he was in a hospital intensive care unit recovering from the procedure. Roberts’ family contends Sangani failed to act appropriately in the face of tell-tale signs of a leak in the seam created in his intestine during the surgery, called an anastomosis, which ultimately led to Roberts’ death.
Roberts’ family had previously resolved claims against other physicians involved, leaving Sangani the only physician-defendant at trial, according to the family's attorney, Chance Forlines Carter King’s Lindsay Forlines.
The five-day trial turned on Sangani’s role in Roberts’ ICU care, and what responsibilities came with that role as part of a broader healthcare team.
During his closing argument, the Roberts family’s attorney, Chance Forlines Carter King’s Xavier Carter, reviewed medical records and other evidence he said showed Roberts was experiencing multiple symptoms of an anastomotic leak, including free air in his abdomen, complaints of worsening pain and nausea, and abnormal lab results.
And Carter told jurors evidence showed Sangani failed to report his concerns or otherwise act on suspicions Roberts could be suffering from serious post-surgical complications.
“He sat passively by, he was incurious, and he assumed that others would take care of the problem,” Carter said. “And partially as a result of that, Lonnie Roberts is not here with us today.”
But Sangani’s attorney, Huff Powell Bailey’s Michael Frankson, pushed back on details surrounding Roberts’ symptoms. And he said evidence showed Sangani played a limited role in Roberts’ treatment in the ICU.
Frankson noted that Roberts’ overall care in the ICU was managed by an intensivist, while other specialists, including a surgeon, were part of the treatment team during this time. Sangani’s role, Frankson said, was to follow Roberts for continuity of care under the expectation he would be returned to the hospital’s general ward.
Frankson added that, in that role, evidence showed Sangani acted reasonably in his treatment responsibilities, while other decisions were within the purview of specialists who were actively caring for Roberts.
“He is part of the team, [but] he is not managing these issues,” Frankson said. “Nobody’s calling him. This isn’t his lane. And everyone in the hospital knows that.”
In an email after the trial, Frankson wrote that he believed testimony from other specialists treating Roberts played a central role in the jury’s decision.
“I think the key evidence was likely the specialists to whom Dr. Sangani deferred, coming to trial and owning their decision-making on the stand,” Frankson said. “While the jury may have had some concerns about their decisions, their testimony showed the complexity of the care at issue, and therefore how reasonable it was for a hospitalist like Dr. Sangani to defer on each of the issues raised by the plaintiff.”
In a post-verdict email, the Roberts family’s attorney, Chance Forlines Carter King’s Lindsay Forlines, noted that jurors shared after the trial that they believed other physicians treating Roberts were responsible.
“Defense counsel did a tremendous job successfully emphasizing their empty-chair defense, and we congratulate them on a well-tried case,” Forlines said. “We are grateful to the ever-professional Judge Jeff Hanson and the entire Bibb County team for an efficient, respectful, and fair trial setting, and we look forward to the next one. “
Email Arlin Crisco at acrisco@cvn.com.
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