Malpractice case moves forward; defense begins presenting case
Posted on Wednesday, August 8, 2007
Fourth Circuit Judge Mark Lindsay opted to move forward Tuesday in a medical malpractice case after a lawyer for the plaintiffs rested.
The trial began Monday in Washington County Circuit Court and is expected to continue through the end of the week.
Plaintiffs are Fort Smith residents Phillip Steven and Mary Core on behalf of their daughter Susan Redding, who is in a Fort Smith nursing home.
The Cores filed the suit in 2005 as guardians of Redding, who underwent surgery on Dec. 17, 2003, at Northwest Medical Center in Springdale for an infection on her arm.
Defendants in the case are Drs. Jon Sexton and Gary Templeton, who were part of the treatment team following the surgery. They are both pulmonologists with Fayetteville Diagnostic Clinic, which is also a defendant in the case. A pulmonologist is a specialist in the anatomy, physiology and pathology of the lungs.
The plaintiffs seek money either for expenses for their daughter's future costs at the nursing home or for her to stay at home with them. They claim there were violations in the standard of care for their daughter.
Redding went into cardiac arrest on Dec. 18, 2003, following her inability to return to consciousness from the surgery. She has since been incapacitated.
Walter Cox, the Fayetteville lawyer representing Templeton and Sexton, argued Tuesday for directed verdicts for each client. A directed verdict is when a trial judge orders the entry of a verdict without allowing the jury to consider it, if the plaintiff has failed to present on the facts of the case proper evidence for jury consideration. Lindsay denied Cox's directed verdict motions, allowing the case to move forward.
Templeton was the first witness the defense called late Tuesday afternoon. He testified about his treatment of Redding after he was consulted on her case. He said she appeared to be acutely ill on Dec. 16 when he was consulted, and her arm got worse the next day (before surgery was performed ).
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