Verdicts & Settlements

Recent Verdicts and Settlements of Harris Penn & Lowry

Harris, Penn & Lowry, LLP, is proud of their proven record in representing clients in personal injury litigation matters, and have gained numerous multi-million-dollar recoveries. The following includes just a few of their recent successes:

Verdicts & Settlements: Firm succeeds against botched surgery claim

January was a win-some, lose-some month for defense shop Huff, Powell & Bailey, whose lawyers beat back one medical malpractice suit in Fulton County only to be hit with a $4.3 million plaintiffs' verdict in DeKalb County 10 days later.

On Jan. 16, a Fulton County jury returned a defense verdict in the case of 55-year-old Cynthia Smith, who died Dec. 23, 2005, nine days after surgery to repair an open wound caused by gastric-bypass surgery several months earlier.

According to the complaint, Smith had undergone the gastric-bypass surgery in April 2005 and had experienced several complications, including a leak from the small bowel that resulted in a the formation of a fistula, described as an opening in the skin that exposed part of Mrs. Smith's digestive system.

The pretrial order says that Smith was too weak for surgery to repair the fistula at the time, and the doctor she consulted in May, Dr. Timothy Simon, said she would need to wait several months to regain her strength and heal enough to withstand the surgery and a fairly complicated postoperative course.

The surgery was performed Dec. 14, and the next day she was complaining of nausea and pain, and her blood pressure was low. In the following days, she began vomiting copious amounts of a green substance, according to the pretrial order. By Dec. 22 she was confused and complaining of pain and nausea and her stomach was distended.

Simon's partner, Dr. Dennis Choat, performed exploratory surgery that day and discovered that Mrs. Smith's bowel was mostly dead, and full of infection, including foul smelling pus and abscesses, says the order.

In consultation with her husband, Michael Smith, it was decided that Mrs. Smith could not be saved, and she was removed from lifesupport. She died in the early morning hours of Dec. 23.

The complaint filed in 2007 on Michael Smith's behalf by Gorby, Peters & Associates partner Mary Donne Peters and associates Montoya J. McGee and Jeffrey D. Cooper said that Simon and Choat had failed to timely diagnose and treat a progressive life-threatening condition in Mrs. Smith's abdomen. It named the doctors and their employer, Georgia Colon and Rectal Surgical Associates, as defendants.

Trial began Jan. 11 before Fulton County Superior Court Judge T. Jackson Bedford Jr. The defense team of Huff Bailey partners M. Scott Bailey and Julye M. Johns argued that the doctors had closely monitored Smith's condition and had no way of knowing that her bowel was in such bad condition until the exploratory surgery, said Bailey.

Bailey was a late addition to the case, stepping in to try the case a few weeks before trial, he said, when partner Daniel N. Huff was called to DeKalb County State Court to try the other med-mal case.

I think the overall criticism of Dr. Simon and Dr. Choat was that [Mrs. Smith] was failing to get better after this fistula repair, he said. They said there should have been further exploration.

A key element for the defense, he said, was an incident that occurred the day before Smith's death, when she vomited and aspirated some of the matter into her lungs.

That was a huge turning point in the case, he said. We believe it set off an inflammatory response that set off system shock. The aspiration itself and the sepsis shunted the blood away from her bowel and caused it to become ischemic [cutting off the blood supply, killing the organ]. It can happen very quickly, within a couple of hours.

Testimony concluded on Friday, Jan. 15, and Bedford decided to continue with closing arguments and jury deliberations on Saturday, the first day of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, instead of calling jurors back after the long weekend.

After about four hours of deliberations, the jury returned a defense verdict. Because the parties reached a high-low agreement while the jury was out, the plaintiff will receive an award, but the details are confidential, said Bailey. There will be no appeals because of that agreement, he said.

I think the jury was pretty impressed by the level of documentation that occurred on a daily basis, said Bailey, who spoke to some panel members afterward. Dr. Simon had a long relationship with this patient. He was really devoted to her. The jury seemed to believe that, if Dr. Simon had seen something, he would have done something about it.

Peters was in depositions and unable to comment on the case, she said.

The case is Smith v. Simon, No. 2007CV143981.

Family awarded $4.3 million

In the case Huff Bailey lost, a DeKalb County jury awarded $4.3 million to the mother and children of a woman who died almost eight years ago following an infection that set in after she gave birth to twins.

Tanyka Brydson was 24 on March 21, 2002, when she delivered the babies by cesarean section at DeKalb Medical Center. The delivery was apparently unremarkable, but Brydson soon began to experience a sharp rise in temperature and elevated white blood count.

Over the next several days, her condition worsened and the incision point displayed increasing signs of infection, becoming painful, hardening and showing signs of necrotizing fasciitis, or dying of the tissue.

She was treated with broad-spectrum antibiotics but did not respond, her temperature rising to 105 degrees at one point, and a new infection erupting on her thigh.

Brydson underwent several surgical debridements, procedures in which dead tissue is cut away, on her abdomen, groin and thighs, and was eventually placed on a respirator, according to the order.

On May 2, she was transferred to Emory Crawford Long Hospital for hyperbaric therapy, where she stayed for seven weeks before dying of multi-organ system failure, sepsis and blood clots throughout her circulatory system.

In 2004, Brad C. Kaplan and James I. Seifter of Marietta's Kaplan & Seifter and Horatio O. Edmondson of Stone Mountain filed a wrongful death action against DeKalb Medical Center, Consolidated OB-GYN Specialty Group, DeKalb Surgical Associates and eight doctors involved in Brydson's care.

The 10-count complaint, filed on behalf of Kathleen Allen, Brydson's mother and executor of her estate, and two of the dead woman's children, Erica Reese and Ethan Brydson, charged the defendants with negligently causing Brysdon's excruciating catastrophic personal injuries and death.

By the time the case was ready for trial, several defendants had been dismissed, said Jeffrey R. Harris of Harris, Penn & Lowry, who was brought in to handle the trial with partner Stephen G. Lowry about six months ago. At one point, [the case] was like a medical lawyer's full-employment act, said Harris.

When trial began on Jan. 11 before DeKalb County State Court Judge Barbara J. Mobley, the defendants included Consolidated and its employee, Dr. Alecia R. Lovelady, who had performed the C-section; and DeKalb Surgical Associates and its employee, Dr. Michael J. Cornwell, who had performed several of the debridements and consulted with Brydson's other doctors on the procedures.

The other defendants, said the attorneys in the case, were dismissed; no settlements were paid for those dismissals.

This was really a gruesome case, said Harris, noting that the debridements eventually cut away 40 percent of Brydson's body before she died, a figure confirmed by opposing counsel. It's god-awful what happened to her.

At trial, defense attorneys argued that Brydson's infections were not caused by any improper care, but that the womanwho had a history of severe reactions to medications and antibioticssuffered from one or more additional ailments.

This was a tragic case, a horrible, horrible story, said Commander + Pound partner Theodore E.G. Pound, who led a team defending Consolidated and Lovelady that included his associate, Lori E. Jolly, and Carlock, Copeland & Stair partner Asha F. Jackson and associate Samantha T. Lemery.

But, he said, the evidence was fairly clear that she had more than a simple wound infection. She had some sort of auto-immune disease. Over time it became clear that either this auto-immune disease contributed, or other very rare lethal conditions that are not very well understood. No one ever really knew why she died.

Huff, who represented DeKalb Surgical and Cornwell, said his client had been accused of failing to perform debriding procedures frequently enough, but those assertions were misguided, he said.

Dr. Cornwell was evaluating her every day, he said. Based on his observations, she had healthy tissue and did need to go back to the operation room. He could assess that whether she was in the operating room or [intensive care unit].

The trial wrapped up Jan. 25, and the following day the jury returned a verdict finding no fault on the the part of Lovelady, the obstetrician, but holding Consolidated, DeKalb Surgical and Cornwell liable for a total of $4,317,495, including $2.3 million for the value of Brydson's life, $200,000 for pain and suffering, and $1,817,495 for medical and funeral expenses.

Both Pound and Huff said an appeal or motion for new trial is highly likely, and they agreed that the jury may have been moved by sympathy for Brydson and her family due to the horrific circumstances of her death.

The verdict is against the great weight of the medical evidence, said Pound. It is very difficult ... to understand how the jury concluded that Consolidated was at fault, but Dr. Lovelady was not. It is beyond my understanding.

It is terribly unfair to me to think that this would be blamed on the obstetrician and the surgeon, he said. This is the most difficult case I've ever tried. In speaking with the jurors, it was a very close call on Dr. Cornwell, said Huff. They said it was split for a lot of the deliberations; they felt he should have taken her to the operating room more frequently for debridements.

Harris, too, said the case was extraordinarily difficult, and credited partner Lowry as the genius who sat around and read seven years of medical records and reports in six months as key to the win.

It was a very long case. I think, at one point, there were 15 or 20 medical experts on the other side, said Harris. Sometimes more is less.

The case is Allen v. Consolidated OB-GYN, No. 04-A-18223-5.

MEDICAL MALPRACTICE

Wyckstandt v. Gwinnett Hospital System, State Court of Gwinnett County - (May 2008). Jury awarded $5,000,000 to the family of Wendy Wyckstandt. Wendy drowned in a hospital shower after the hospital staff failed to check on her. The doctors’ orders said she was only to be up with assistance from the nursing staff. Wendy was in the hospital for hypertension after child birth. Because of her condition and the medications she was taking, she was unstable and risk for seizures and falls. Evidence showed that the staff failed to check on Wendy which caused her death. This is believed to be the largest medical malpractice verdict in Gwinnett County, Georgia.
Jury: $5 million in hospital drowning The Atlanta Journal-Constitution - Published on: 05/27/08

AUTO DEFECTS

Chrysler Settles Minivan Case Involving Death of Toddler Atlanta, Georgia - July 10, 2007 - Just days after a tragic minivan accident in Connecticut claimed four lives, Chrysler settled a lawsuit involving the death of an 18 month old Atlanta boy who died under similar circumstances in 2006. The amount and terms of the settlement are confidential. Read more...

Verdict Against Ford for Faulty Accelerator, A jury in New Brunswick, New Jersey ordered Ford Motor Company to pay more than $10.6 million dollars in compensatory and punitive damages in their verdict on Wednesday, April 18, 2007, in the New Jersey Middlesex County Superior Court. The $10.6 million was subsequently reduced to $8.3 million after comparative fault and interest was applied. Read more...

Hamby v. DaimlerChrysler, a Federal jury in Atlanta, Georgia ordered DaimlerChrysler to pay a total of $3.4 million for failing to warn of children shifting its minivans out of park, causing them to roll, and for failing to warn that its minivans did not have a brake shift interlock, which prevents vehicles from being shifted out of park without depressing the brake pedal.

Reid v. Ford Motor Company. The lawyers at Harris Penn & Lowry recently reached a confidential settlement with the Ford Motor Company arising from a case in which a young girl was catastrophically injured by a defective seat belt. The case settled after extensive pre-trial discovery.

ADDITONAL recent VERDICTS & SETTLEMENTS

Goodwin v. MedTrains - The family of Alicia Goodwin settled a lawsuit against the air ambulance company that owned and operated a helicopter that crashed near Newberry, South Carolina while taking off from Interstate 26. The helicopter was attempting to transport Goodwin after she was hit by a truck near a rest area. Goodwin was killed in the collision, along with the flight nurse, flight paramedic and the pilot. From the medical reports it appeared that Goodwin suffered a leg injury that was not life threatening.

Crane Collapse - Recovery for death of young engineer due to collapse of a crane.

Legal Malpractice - Recovery in a class action against a law firm for wrongfully taking money from clients when cases were settled.

Past Verdicts and Settlements of the Lawyers of Harris, Penn & Lowry, LLP

In their many years of experience in personal injury litigation, the lawyers of Harris, Penn & Lowry, LLP, have gained numerous multi-million-dollar recoveries. The following includes just a few of their past successes:

wrongful death

*Cadle v. Southbridge Development, Fulton County Superior Court (2005) – Nicholas Cadle was killed by a drunk driver while walking on the side of a country road in Effingham County. Upon investigation by the lawyers at Harris Penn & Lowry LLP, it was determined that the intoxicated driver was a manager of a restaurant where he drank between 10 and 15 beers while working. It was also found that it was not an isolated incident as there had been many occasions when employees of the bar and restaurant drank and became intoxicated. Two weeks prior to proceeding to trial the case resolved for a confidential amount at mediation.

defective roadway

*Milton v. The City of Sylvester, Georgia, Superior Court of Worth County - A city work crew failed to adequately mark a manhole which was repaired that day.  Johnny Milton an Albany State University police Corporal was driving to his fiancées house when he hit the manhole and run off the road. His truck went into a ditch and hit a driveway causing the truck to be vaulted into the air. Johnny was ejected out of the truck and the truck landed on top of him causing his eventual death. The case was resolved for a confidential amount at mediation.

Truck accidents

*Emilio v. Elderth Construction Co. et al., U.S. District Court, Southern District of Georgia  (2005) - Two sisters, their parents and a young child were returning home from a Florida Vacation on I-95.  Upon stopping for traffic their vehicle was rear ended by a tractor trailer.  The investigation of the case revealed that within the month prior to the collision the truck driver had multiple hours of service violations, causing him to drive excessive amounts of time without adequate rest.  The case resolved at mediation prior to trial for a confidential settlement amount.

*Recovery for a man who received a severe brain injury when his SUV was T-boned by linen delivery truck.  The evidence showed that the company failed to follow federal regulations when hiring and employing this truck driver.  The truck driver also failed the vision test in his physical exam and had a prior criminal record involving the use and sale of narcotics.

*Iturralde v. Estes Trucking, (2005) Multi-Million dollar settlement against a trucking company whose negligent driver ran into the rear of a mini-van. The van was crushed as it tumbled off the highway. The collision killed an elderly couple seated in the rear and severely injured their daughter and son-in-law who were seated in the front of the mini-van.

Medical Malpractice

Reese v. Wellstar Health System, Inc. et al. - In this case, firm partner Jeffrey Harris, along with several other attorneys from Scheriffius, Ballard, Still & Ayres, represented Donna Reese, who suffered from abdominal pain after gallbladder surgery. After undergoing an HIDA scan, Ms. Reese was told by the defendant, Dr. Burns, that she had a bile duct leak. The surgery for the leak revealed that she actually had no bile duct leak. Dr. Burns's advice resulted in unnecessary surgery.

Worst of all, the surgery for the bile duct leak resulted in a punctured bowel, requiring 5 months of hospitalization and ongoing treatment. On July 5, 2005, Attorney Harris and his colleagues gained a $3.5 million verdict to pay for Ms. Reese's past and future medical expenses.

*Britos v. Sterling Medical Corp. et al., Liberty County Superior Court (2005) - Alport's Syndrome - Ms. Britos was diagnosed with Alport's Syndrome a hereditary chronic kidney disease.  Since it is passed on the X Chromosome Alport's syndrome is mild in women.  Ms. Britos mother was in her 60s with no adverse consequences to her kidneys and her grandmother did not lose kidney function until her 80s.  Ms. Britos had maintained stable kidney function with proper medication, diet, exercise and regular check ups of her kidney function.  While in Liberty County, Ms. Britos was treated by the defendants who failed to monitor her kidney function, prescribed medications which damaged the kidneys and allowed her blood pressure to rise without control, which is detrimental to kidney function.  These actions caused Ms. Britos to spiral into end stage renal disease which was diagnosed by a different doctor.  Ms. Britos had to have a kidney transplant.  Her case resolved at mediation prior to trial for a confidential settlement amount.

Industrial site and construction accidents

*Wallace v. Triangle Construction Company and Carroll & Carroll, Superior Court of Chatham County (2005) - Road Defect -  A road construction company and a paver failed to adequately mark a raised median which was a known hazard.  The failures included several violations of DOT regulations.  During the litigation, plaintiffs were able to identify six similar accidents in a span of 24 hours on a rainy day.  Several individuals were injured including a compression fracture of the lumbar spine.  The cases were resolved at mediation prior to trial for a confidential settlement amount.

*Recovery for a man who lost half of his foot due to a defective bucket locking device on a front end loader.

Auto Accidents

*Negligent Driving - Multi-million dollar settlement for a man that was hit by a speeding SUV while changing a tire on the side of a road.  He sustained serious life threatening injuries including a traumatic brain injury.  The case was settled prior to filing a lawsuit.  (2005).

*Hogan v. Phillips, Chatham County Superior Court $4 million verdict obtained for a permanently disabled police officer who suffered a broken neck after being run off the road by a fleeing suspect.

auto defects

Rhonda Sasser, on behalf of her child, Kelsey Sasser V. Ford Motor Company - Firm partner Jeffrey Harris represented Rhonda Sasser, whose child suffered a fractured spinal cord when a seat back in a Lincoln collapsed on her. The child suffers from paraplegia, unable to move anything below her T-2 vertebrae.

Attorney Harris, along with his colleagues from Scheriffius, Ballard, Still & Ayres, convinced a jury that Ford was not only guilty of allowing this injury to occur, but had a long history of ignoring the dangers of this defect. The jury awarded our client $33,868,000 and also levied $13,959,311 of punitive damages against Ford.

*Cameron v. Isuzu, Fulton County State Court (2001) - Recovery for the family of a wife and mother, who was crushed when her SUV rolled over as a result of a defective suspension system.  The case proceeded against the manufacturer for a manufacturing defect in the welds and the suspension system and a design defect for the roof crush of the Isuzu Trooper.

*Johnson v. Nissan, United States District Court, Northern District of Georgia (2003) - A passenger seated behind the driver and wearing a lap belt only was paralyzed in a frontal collision.  The paralysis was caused by the lap belt sliding up to the abdominal area during the collision and causing excessive loads on the spinal column.  This phenomenon is known as submarining and is well known to automotive industry.  It is caused by defective design in the seat and seatbelt which do not allow the belt to fit properly and to stay on the hips during a collision.  The case resolved prior to trial.

*Maddox v. Toyota, United States District Court, Northern District of Georgia (2003) - Recovery for the family of a woman killed in a low speed frontal collision due to the lack of structural crashworthiness.  During the minor collision, the steering wheel moved rearward and upward causing the 53 year old woman to break her neck.

*Wright v. General Motors , Superior Court of Richmond County (2004) - Class action based on excessive and dangerous vibration in pick up trucks.  The case was resolved prior to the class being certified by the court.

Product liability

*Recovery for the family of a man, who died from third degree burns on over 80% of his body when a door on a boiler at a chicken processing plant was opened due to a defective locking mechanism, and he was sprayed with scalding chicken remains.

premises liability

*Recovery for an elderly couple that were physically attacked while staying at a Savannah motel.  During the discovery phase, it was learned that not only had many instances of criminal activity occurred prior to this attack but that the owners knew of this activity and permitted it on their property.  The case was resolved prior to trial. (2005)

* "Stephen G. Lowry was involved the representation of these cases while he was an associate of Carter & Tate, P.C.  Most of the cases listed were worked on by Mr. Lowry with either James E. Carter or Mark A. Tate as a team.”  

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