Jo Ben Whittenburg Successfully Defends Medical Malpractice Case

IADC Member Jo Ben Whittenburg of Orgain Bell & Tucker, LLP successfully defended a medical malpractice case filed against a nephrologist and a dialysis center. The family of a deceased patient alleged that the patient was forced to sit in her own waste while she received dialysis, and that the patient was not repositioned and did not receive incontinent care during her 3 – 4 hour dialysis treatment that she received three days per week at the dialysis center. The family claimed that the nephrologist and the dialysis center were negligent and that their negligence caused severe decubitus ulcers and the death of the patient. The dialysis center settled before trial and the case went to trial against the nephrologist only. The patient was a resident of a nursing home who was transported to a dialysis center three times per week. The evidence showed that she returned from the dialysis center a number of times with soiled diapers, which the plaintiffs contended showed that she had been forced to sit in her own waste while receiving dialysis treatment. The patient was hospitalized six times during the ten months that she received dialysis treatment and was treated for her end stage renal disease, her co-morbid conditions and her severe bed sores before passing away with multi system organ failure. Mr. Whittenburg was able to demonstrate through the nurses and technicians at the dialysis center, the medical records and the expert witnesses that there was no direct evidence that the patient ever had an incontinent episode at the dialysis center and that the nephrologist provided exemplary nephrology treatment to the patient throughout her dialysis treatment. After a seven day trial, the jury deliberated for less than a day before determining that the nephrologist was not negligent and completely exonerated him from all liability.