Smith Haughey attorney Michael Miller recently obtained dismissal of a medical malpractice case against our client, a pediatric anesthesiologist. The plaintiff, a 16-year-old, underwent a lengthy surgery on the back of his skull, which required him to be positioned face down during the operation. After surgery, and after being re-positioned on his back, his tongue abruptly swelled to many times its original size, and ultimately a portion of his tongue had to be removed. The plaintiff sued our client, arguing that she did not appropriately monitor the patient during the surgery or take appropriate measures to avoid the tongue problem. Our defense experts testified in their depositions that the problem was extremely rare and unforeseeable, and not preventable by any of the treating providers, especially the anesthesiologist. A few weeks before trial was to begin, the plaintiff voluntarily dismissed the case, after concluding there was a low likelihood of prevailing at trial.
