Representative Cases

Grisham v. Hickey (med. malpractice)

Smith County Circuit

Confidential settlement. The Plaintiff, a 39-year-old married man and father of two, presented to a local emergency room complaining of chest pain and pain in his left arm. A phy- sician assistant, who was the only person on call for the emer-gency room, made a diagnosis of gastric pain, prescribed a GI cocktail and sent the patient home.

The man returned to the E/R approximately 5 hours later for a radiological test for his suspected epigastric pain and continued complaints of chest and arm pain. This time he was seen by a physician as a courtesy to his wife, who was a nurse employee of the hospital. The doctor reported the test results to him and again sent him home.

Five hours later the man suffered a massive coronary occlusion and was again transported to the E/R by his wife, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

Plaintiff's estate alleged misdiagnosis of the decedent's chest and arm pain and deviation from the standard of care by the physician assistant and other hospital personnel, particularly nurses. Plaintiff also alleged deviation from standard of care by the physician who made a "courtesy" examination of the decedent.

The case was settled against the hospital and its employees, including the physician assistant, and the doctor was voluntarily dismissed from the suit.

Plaintiff's Experts: E. Jackson Allison, Jr., MD, Syracuse NY, emergency medicine; Daniel B. Mark, MD, Chapel Hill NC, cardiologist; George R. Nichols, II, MD, Commonwealth Medical-Legal Services Inc., Louisville KY, pathologist; Suzanne Reich Atkins, PA, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem NC, physician assistant; Gilbert L. Mathis, PhD, Murray State Univer- sity, Murray KY, economist. Defendants' Experts: Jerry T. Francisco, MD, pathologist; Taylor W. Wray, MD, cardiologist. Plaintiff's Counsel: F. Dulin Kelly and Clinton L. Kelly, Kelly & Kelly, Attorneys, Hendersonville. Defendants' Counsel: Michael A. Geracioti, Levine Mattson Orr & Geracioti, PLLC, Nashville; Daniel H. Rader, III, Moore Rader Clift & Fitzpatrick, Cookeville; Jacky O. Bellar, Bellar & Bellar, Carthage.