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Sheehan obtains Defense Verdict for Orthopedic Surgeon
On February 11, 2020, Timothy J. Sheehan obtained a defense verdict in a case involving a then 48-year old woman who claimed that her orthopedic surgeon failed to properly treat a serious lumbar spine injury that she sustained at work nearly two years before she first visited him. Plaintiff claimed that the orthopedic surgeon operated on the “wrong” (L4/L5) level in performing a spinal fusion, which did not alleviate the patient’s symptoms and which failed to fuse, which necessitated the removal and reinstallation of hardware at the L4/L5 level and the fusion of adjacent level (L3/L4) which plaintiff claimed should have been addressed before (or during) the first surgery. Unfortunately, the second procedure – which successfully fused both levels – did not alleviate the patient’s neuropathic pain and she was never able to return to work. Mr. Sheehan argued that the correct lumbar level (L4/L5) was operated on during the first procedure, that a certain percentage of lumbar fusions do not “take” despite proper technique and that the adjacent level (L3/L4) did not require surgery at the time of the first procedure, and clearly worsened only after the patient left his client’s care. Despite the obvious sympathy that the jury felt for the plaintiff – given her current pain levels and no available operative option – and her counsel’s request for $8 million during his summation, the jury returned a defense verdict for Mr. Sheehan’s client.
