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CVN cameras have already covered a long lineup of major trials across the country this year: from a milestone opioid case to blockbuster medical malpractice claims. And it's all part of our unrivaled courtroom coverage, featuring the nation's best attorneys in their biggest trials. Watch key moments from just a few of the trials we’ve covered to start 2023.
Former College Soccer Player Awarded $2.8M Verdict in Crash Case Trial
A Florida jury awarded a former college soccer player $2.8 million for the neck and back injuries it found she suffered in a 2018 wreck at a Miami intersection.
The plaintiff contended that the crash left her in long-term pain that required ongoing treatment. And in closings of the three-day, damages-only trial, Morgan & Morgan’s Keith Mitnik pushed back on surveillance video of the plaintiff playing college soccer months after the wreck by arguing that the video actually shows the collision robbed her of the ability to play the game without pain and at the same level she did before the crash.
“Nobody said she couldn’t play soccer…. What she cannot do, is do it at the level she did.”
California Jury Clears Surgeon in $120M Med Mal, Battery Case
A prominent neurosurgeon prevailed at trial over the facial paralysis one of his patients suffered following surgery for an acoustic neuroma.
The surgeon’s attorney, Louis “Duke” DeHaas, of LaFollette Johnson DeHaas Fesler, told jurors the patient had received sufficient information regarding the surgery and that the medical consensus prior to the operation supported the microsurgical procedure he received.
“They spent more than seven-and-a-half hours… talking about treatment options and risk…. [The plaintiff] was the most well-informed patient that you will ever see undergoing any medical procedure.”
Drug Distributors Prevail in Milestone Opioid Case
Three drug distributors prevailed in the nation’s first state court, private-plaintiff trial over fallout from the opioid epidemic.
The plaintiffs, family members of opioid abusers, claimed Cardinal Health, McKesson Corporation, and J M Smith Corporation violated Georgia’s Drug Dealer Liability Act by improperly supplying pharmacies with opioids. But the defendants argued they merely served to fulfill orders and worked within sufficient, established controls and safety checks.
During closings, J M Smith’s attorney, Fox Rothschild’s Nicholas Salter, told jurors the company was not responsible for changing standards of healthcare that ultimately contributed to opioid abuse.
“That standard of care is what masked the problem, what made it difficult to identify, at least from where a wholesale distributor sits, the bad doctors and the doctors who are caught up in this new medical standard of care.”
Nevada Jurors Hand Down $47M Med Mal Award
A Nevada state court jury returned a $47 million verdict in favor of a young mother left with locked-in syndrome paralysis following a sodium imbalance, though allotment of liability and caps on recovery figure to reduce the post-judgment award.
During closings, Claggett & Sykes’ Sean Claggett argued a defendant physician, whom jurors ultimately found 35% responsible, was to blame for the woman's catastrophic outcome.
“But for Dr. Valera intervening, none of this happens. And he was utterly incompetent. And he knew it. And he did it anyway.”
Ethicon Secures Win in Texas Pelvic Mesh Trial
Johnson & Johnson's Ethicon unit prevailed in a Texas trial over claims that defects in one of its pelvic mesh implants left a woman with chronic pain.
At trial, Rodman & Rodman LLC's Kat Gallagher, representing Ethicon, argued a finding that the product was defective would fly in the face of the prevailing standard of care in the medical community.
“To find these products defective, either as a design or labeling, you have to ignore the tens of thousands of doctors that are out there implanting TVT Abbrevos into patients today.”
Email Arlin Crisco at acrisco@cvn.com.
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