Thomas Monahan, Jr., and Jhanelle A. Graham Caldwell obtained a defense verdict in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia for their client, a hospital in the District of Columbia. The Plaintiff alleged that the hospital’s nurses were negligent in administering a pneumococcal vaccine to the Plaintiff when she had received the vaccine at her primary care physician’s office eight months earlier. The Plaintiff also claimed that the nurses failed to obtain her informed consent to the vaccination. As a result of the alleged negligence, the Plaintiff testified that she experiences ongoing pain and weakness in her leg, knee and hip. The defense argued that the nurses appropriately screened the Plaintiff for, and administered, the pneumococcal vaccine. Additionally, the evidence reflected that the Plaintiff was adequately informed of the risks, benefits and alternatives of the vaccine before the vaccine was administered. The defense also demonstrated, through medical testimony, that the Plaintiff experienced a common, temporary reaction to the vaccine that resolved within a few days, and that there was no causal relationship between the vaccine and the injuries that the Plaintiff alleged. After a six-day trial, the jury unanimously found in favor of the Defendant on both the informed consent and the medical negligence counts.
