Defense Verdict in New York County

Vincent Gallo recently obtained a defense verdict in New York County on behalf of two vascular surgeons who evaluated a patient following a vein-stripping and ligation surgery.

Plaintiff sued twelve individual defendants claiming that each were responsible for medical malpractice leading to the below-the-knee amputation of a 41-year-old woman in January of 2000. Plainitff previously had undergone a vein-stripping and ligation surgery in July of 1998, following which plaintiff developed a deep venous thrombosis (“DVT”) in her right leg. Seventeen months later, the plaintiff developed left lower extremity pain and weakness, and was evaluated by several physicians, including an Emergency Room physician, two Orthopedists, and a Neurologist.

In January of 2000, while hospitalized for a myelogram, the plaintiff suddenly developed ischemia to her left lower extremity, which eventually culminated in the below-the-knee amputation. The plaintiff was subsequently diagnosed with a rare blood clotting disorder known as antiphospholipid syndrome.

Plainitff’s counsel argued that the development of the DVT was an unusual event following a vein-stripping and ligation procedure, and as such, the defendant vascular surgeons had an obligation to refer the patient to a hematologist and/or to order a hypercoagulability work-up.

Plaintiff’s counsel further alleged that had the defendant vascular surgeons referred the plaintiff to a hematologist in July of 1998, or had independently ordered the hypercoagulability work-up, the patient would have been diagnosed with the antiphospholipid syndrome and placed on a life-long Coumadin regimen, which would have been prevented the developement of the vacular ischemia which was allegedly misdiagnosed by the co-defendants, all of which contributed to the amputation procedure.

In a nearly five-week trial, Vincent Gallo convinced a New York County jury that the defendant physicians were not responsible for the below-the-knee amputation in plaintiff’s left leg.

Although the defendant vascular surgeons were not held responsible, the jury did render a verdict in the sum of approximately $13 million against several of the co-defendants named in the case.