John Penhallegon Received Defense Verdict in Wrongful Death Medical Malpractice Jury Trial

John R. Penhallegon received a defense verdict after a seven day wrongful death medical malpractice jury trial in the Circuit Court of Maryland. Plaintiffs were the surviving spouse and children of a 57 year old who died of primary liver cancer. The decedent presented to the defendant gastroenterologist in 1998 with chronic Hepatitis C from an infected blood transfusion. Persons infected with Hepatitis C are at risk for progressive liver disease and potentially cirrhosis. There is a 2-4% annual risk that a patient with cirrhosis will develop hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). A course of chemotherapy treatment recommended by the defendant failed to clear the Hepatitis C virus. Plaintiffs’ decedent was diagnosed with inoperable metastatic cancer10 years later.

Plaintiffs and plaintiffs’ experts alleged that the defendant gastroenterologist, knowing of the risks of progressive disease and potential cancer, was required to implement surveillance for the possible development of cirrhosis and HCC. Such surveillance includes annual blood tests and ultrasound. Plaintiffs alleged that surveillance would have diagnosed a primary cancer before it metastasized and when it was still treatable by surgical resection. Mr. Penhallegon and the defense experts countered that surveillance in the absence of established cirrhosis is not required by the standard of care, and would harm more patients than it would help because of rare but serious complications of liver biopsy. Additionally, the genetics of primary hepatocellular carcinoma suggests that if there is a biological ability to metastasize, it occurs at a cellular level early in the cancer’s life, before the primary lesion is even detectible. The jury returned a verdict for the defense after deliberating for an hour and 45 minutes.

Mr. Penhallegon has been an IADC member since 1988, is a former member of the IADC Board of Directors, and is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers.