Defense Verdict: failure to diagnose and treat 5th metatarsal non union (PA)
The plaintiff was a women in her late 30s who underwent surgery performed by the defendant to treat a bunion. The surgery involved cutting and moving the bone of the fifth metatarsal. The plaintiff complained of continuing persistent foot pain.The plaintiff underwent additional surgery performed by another podiatrist.
She had alleged that the defendant podiatrist was negligent by failing to diagnose and treat a fifth metatarsal non union following the performance of bunion surgery. Specifically that the defendant failed to timely diagnose and treat a non-union which, if timely diagnosed, would have permitted non-surgical treatment. he defendant argued that the plaintiff was still in the post operative recovery stage when she elected to seek treatment from another podiatrist. The defendant contended that he had no opportunity to diagnose the plaintiff's non-union.
The defendant's expert podiatrist Michael Downey, DPM had testified that the plaintiff was still within the healing phase of her recovery when she chose to treat with another physician some six months after surgery. The non-union was diagnosed by the subsequent treating podiatrist and the defendant maintained that he had no opportunity to diagnose the condition.
Result: The jury found that the defendant was not negligent ($0).
Source: Jury Verdict Review Publications, Volume 16, Issue 10 (PM NEWS)
