Attorneys' openings, from left to right: Lloyd Bell, Paul Reynolds, Trisha Godsey.
Lawrenceville, GA— Attorneys Tuesday debated who was responsible for the heart attack-related death of a Georgia man, as trial opened against two of his doctors. Yarbrough v. Cardiovascular Group P.C., et al., 20-C-02832-S4.
Ron Yarbrough, 64, died in July 2019, a little over a month after suffering a heart attack while recovering from non-emergency colon surgery. Yarbrough’s family contends complications during surgery led to the attack. And they contend the doctor that performed the surgery, Dr. Kota Venkatesh, and the cardiologist that treated Yarbrough for roughly two years beforehand, Dr. Lance Friedland, are responsible for failing to properly address signs that Yarbrough may have suffered from life-threatening heart issues.
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On Tuesday, the Yarbrough family’s attorney, Lloyd Bell, of the Bell Law Firm, walked jurors through Yarbrough’s care under the two doctors. Bell said evidence would show cardiologist Friedland ordered Yarbrough to undergo CT calcium testing in October 2018 to determine any potential narrowing of his coronary arteries, and his potential risk for severe heart complications.
Bell said those results showed significant plaque buildup in his arteries and likely narrowing of at least one artery. However, Friedland’s office sent Yarbrough a letter incorrectly stating that the results showed no significant buildup. Further, Bell said, Friedland failed to properly follow up on those results in multiple visits with Yarbrough.
The following year, Bell said, Yarbrough saw Venkatesh for non-emergency colon surgery. Bell told jurors that Venkatesh performed the surgery without obtaining cardiac clearance for the procedure, despite knowing Yarbrough had several risk factors for heart complications and was under the care of a cardiologist.
Yarbrough, Bell told jurors, “lost his life needlessly and painfully because Dr. Friedland did not tell Ron the truth about his test results.
“And Dr. Venkatesh took Ron back into surgery without getting cardiac clearance," Bell said. "That led to a heart attack, that led to a prolonged, slow, painful decline leading to Ron’s death.”
But Friedland’s attorney, Huff Powell Bailey’s Paul Reynolds, pushed back on claims that Friedland should have done more to follow up on Yarbrough’s CT calcium test results. Reynolds told jurors the CT calcium test was just one of a slate of heart-related testing Yarbrough had undergone over more than a year.
Reynolds said evidence would show the CT calcium test did not warrant additional follow-up, given the results of those prior tests and Yarbrough’s medical history.
“[Yarbrough’s CT test] score of 672 is not unexpected for him,” Reynolds said, noting the score was relatively low, given Yarbrough’s medical history. “[Friedland] was expecting a score in the thousands. If there was a score that was super-high, that may require something additional to be done.”
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And Venkatesh’s attorney, McGrew Miller Bomar & Bagley’s Trisha Godsey, told jurors the surgeon followed the standard of care in moving forward with Yarbrough’s colon operation. Godsey noted that Yarbrough indicated he had no history of heart disease or heart symptoms when he completed a medical questionnaire before the surgery. And she said additional pre-surgical screening Venkatesh ordered for Yarbrough had not raised red flags that required cardiac clearance.
Further, while Godsey acknowledged that Yarbrough suffered from a range of chronic health conditions, including diabetes and high cholesterol, she noted these were managed by medications.
“Those patients, pursuant to the standard of care according to Dr. Venkatesh and our expert,” Godsey said, “do not require cardiac clearance.”
Trial in the case is expected to run into next week. CVN is streaming the trial gavel-to-gavel live and on demand and will provide updates via its news page.
Email Arlin Crisco at acrisco@cvn.com.
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