Todd W. Smyth Obtains Defense Verdict on Behalf of Orthopedic Surgeon

 On January 31, 2013, IADC member Todd W. Smyth and his law partner, Joshua S. Whitley, obtained a defense verdict on behalf of an orthopedic surgeon in Charleston, South Carolina. The case was tried before the Honorable R. Markley Dennis, Jr. The case was brought by a 61-year-old patient who had a sciatic nerve injury following hip replacement surgery. The surgeon did not see how or when the damage to the nerve occurred, but did repair the nerve upon noticing the damage. The patient was left with a sciatic nerve palsy and resultant foot drop on her left side. The Plaintiff is unable to dorsiflex or evert her left foot and claimed constant and permanent pain, paresthesia, weakness and numbness, as well as advancing degenerative changes to her contralateral side as a result of her antalgic gait. The Plaintiff alleged the surgeon exerted too much force and failed to protect the sciatic nerve while it was being retracted resulting in permanent insult to the nerve. In response, the defense argued the surgeon acted appropriately, was forced to carefully retract the nerve because of an unusual anatomic location of her sciatic nerve which put it at risk if it was not retracted, and, further, that the injury is a known complication which can and does occur in the absence of negligence. The defense also presented evidence that the Plaintiff's sciatic nerve had been compromised by years of nerve root compression in her lower spine and that the Plaintiff's pain and activity limitations were also attributable to the significant degenerative changes in her cervical and lumbar spine. The case was tried over 4 days and the jury returned an unanimous verdict in less than an hour.