Partners Craig B. Merkle and Marianne DePaulo Plant obtained a defense verdict in November on behalf of an orthopedic spine surgeon following a two week trial in the Circuit Court of Wicomico County. In the case of Bailey v. POA, Plaintiffs alleged that the defendant surgeon performed an incomplete decompression of the cervical spine and failed to obtain appropriate informed consent, which resulted in the patient developing a chronic pain syndrome and confining him to a wheelchair. With the use of multiple imaging studies, the defense established that the surgery was properly performed. The evidence also established that the cause of the patient’s deteriorating neurologic condition was quickly diagnosed by the surgeon. The jury rejected the claims of both surgical negligence and lack of informed consent.
