Defense Verdict In New York County

On April 8, 2014, in a case tried by Charles L. Bach, Jr., a New York County jury found no departure on the part of a prominent hand surgeon who was accused of drilling four Kirschner wires or stainless steel pins into a healthy bone of plaintiff.

At trial, plaintiff claimed that he was forced to undergo a second surgery on the ring finger of his dominant hand to remove a bony mass and address tendon adhesions because of the errant K wire placement and that he had not recovered full extension of the finger or complete use of his hand. By calling experts in hand surgery and orthopedic radiology the defense proved that plaintiff’s initial football related injury, a comminuted, displaced fracture of the proximal phalanx of the ring finger that caused a rotational deformity was properly diagnosed and treated. Four K wires had to be placed in a swollen deformed finger before an x-ray confirmed that the site of placement was in the middle phalanx. The wires were promptly removed and properly placed to secure alignment of the comminuted fracture of the proximal phalanx and the rotational deformity was corrected.

Mr. Bach established that the second surgery was occasioned by the adherence of the extensor tendon throughout the ring finger and that the bony mass in the middle phalanx was also a response to the initial trauma. In his summation, plaintiff’s counsel asked the jury to award $1.6 million to plaintiff.

After 30 minutes of deliberations the jury determined that the defendant had met the standard of care and was entitled to a verdict.