Davis Love delivers closings for the defense in a medical malpractice trial against a heart surgeon over the ultimately fatal stroke a patient suffered. Watch the trial.
Jacksonville, FL— Jurors last week cleared a surgeon of responsibility for the catastrophic, and ultimately fatal, stroke a Florida minister suffered during heart surgery. Tyson v. Messina, 2021-CA-001639.
The state court jury, in Florida’s 4th Circuit, wrapped a four-day trial by concluding Dr. Jack John Messina was not responsible for the stroke Paul Tyson suffered during a 2018 heart bypass operation.
Tyson, 77, a minister in congregations throughout Florida for decades, died in February 2019, roughly eight months after he suffered the stroke. Tyson’s wife contends Messina was responsible for failing to ensure there were no blood clots in a cardiopulmonary machine, sometimes called a heart-lung bypass machine, before surgery.
Trial focused largely on whether appropriate standards were followed in using the machine. During closings last week, Ogle Law Firm’s William Ogle, representing Tyson’s wife, reminded jurors of evidence that he said showed that a roughly 50-minute delay between the time the cardiopulmonary machine’s catheters were inserted and the surgery’s commencement allowed blood clots to build in the machine’s system.
Ogle said that the failure to change out critical components of the machine’s circuit of catheters, tubes, and reservoirs led to the injection of those clots into Tyson’s body, causing his stroke.
“There was a clear warning of danger by the 50-minute delay. That circuit should have been changed out before initiating heart-lung bypass,” Ogle said. “They had a duty with that amount of delay to have changed it out, or at least to have inspected it.”
But the defense contended that there was nothing to indicate a potential complication before the machine was started, and Tyson’s stroke was caused by an issue that could not have been reasonably anticipated.
During his closing, Hester, Love & Pederson's Davis Love noted that the surgical team’s perfusionist, not Messina, was primarily responsible for operating the machine. Love told jurors all test results indicated Tyson was properly anticoagulated before the machine was turned on. And, he noted that machine components were changed out and inspected once a high-pressure alert sounded and a clot was discovered in the tip of a catheter.
After that, Love said, the procedure continued with nothing to indicate an additional issue or that Tyson had suffered a stroke.
“When you put all of the evidence together in context, and look at it from what Dr. Messina knew or should have known, there were no problems that should have put Dr. Messina on notice that he needed to do anything differently,” Love said.
In an email to CVN after the trial, Ogle stated “We appreciate the jury's time and attention. While we respectfully disagree with the verdict, we will be reviewing all post-trial and appellate options with our client. Our focus remains on supporting Mrs. Tyson as she continues to cope with the loss of her husband."
CVN has reached out to Love, and will update this article with any comments he provides.
Email Arlin Crisco at acrisco@cvn.com.
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