Jonesboro, GA—A non-returned phone call is generally an annoyance, but two telephone calls from a concerned patient’s wife to a surgeon’s office that were never returned led to a wrongful death case in Clayton County State Court and, ultimately, a $3.5 million verdict, after the patient died within hours of the telephone calls. Pamela Douglas Banks v. South Atlanta Neurosurgery PC (2008 CV 08001).

Atlanta—A physician whose patient died of liver failure after being prescribed Lamisil for athlete’s foot won a wrongful death medical malpractice case in Fulton County State Court brought by the deceased patient’s relatives. The case was titled Samuel J. Moody v. Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation et al. (07EV002473) when filed. However, due to substitution of parties and dismissals, the case proceeded to trial under the name Eunice White et al. v. Timothy Young, M.D., et al.

Savannah, GA—Trial continues in Chatham County State Court in the med mal case of a Savannah cardiologist who allegedly failed to properly warn a patient regarding strenuous activities following surgery, which resulted in an accident that left the patient paralyzed from the chest down. Shane Berryhill and Pamela Berryhill v. Dale Daly MD et al. (STCV1102180)

Arguing the link between an individual's negligence and that of an affiliated company can be difficult if the individual defendant isn't a traditional employee of the corporate defendant. That difficulty takes on a central role in medical malpractice trials involving conceirge medical firms that rely on networks of affiliated physicians in order to market more personalized health care to member patients. 

It can be difficult to effectively argue the value of circumstantial evidence to jurors accustomed to television courtroom dramas that contain "smoking-gun" direct evidence in a case. However, during closings of Araujo v. Eisner, Morgan & Morgan's John Dill uses a "rainy day" analogy to argue the strength of the circumstantial evidence at issue in his medical malpractice case.