Resa v. Defendant Family Practitioner
Claim:
Whether the family practice doctor breached the standard of care when examining a patient who ultimately suffered from diverticulitis and, ultimately, a ruptured diverticulum.
Outcome:
Jury trial resulting in defense verdict
The patient was a young man who presented to a family physician in an urgent care setting claiming abdominal distress. Radiological imaging revealed kidney stones as the likely source of the problem, and the physician commenced treatment. Unfortunately, the patient later presented to the hospital with a diverticulum rupture and required abdominal surgery. He claimed the surgery could have been avoided, and he would have been spared the embarrassment and difficulty associated with having a colostomy for just under a year. The case was tried to a Lake County jury in East Chicago, Indiana. The jurors agreed with the defense that the family practitioner's work up was reasonable and that she appropriately suspected and treated kidney stones. They further agreed that it would have been impossible to prevent the patient's rupture from developing given the short window of time that ellapsed between the care he received at the urgent care clinic and his presentation to the hospital with a rupture.
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