Chris DeFrancesco secured a decisive, across-the-board defense victory in a complex medical malpractice action involving allegations of permanent postoperative vascular injury following a sacroiliac joint fusion.
Plaintiff alleged she suffered permanent injuries after being diagnosed with bilateral deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and occlusion of the inferior vena cava approximately two months after surgery, claiming the condition was entirely preventable. She asserted that multiple providers ignored her medical history, failed to implement anticoagulation therapy, and missed what she characterized as obvious signs of evolving blood clots.
Chris dismantled most of plaintiff’s claims via motions before trial, obtaining summary judgment on behalf of the anesthesiologist, emergency medicine physician, and nurse practitioner. He established that each provider not only acted appropriately, but fully complied with the standard of care within the limited scope of their respective roles, eliminating them entirely from the case.
Chris then took the case to trial on behalf of the orthopedic spine surgeon and his practice – winning a unanimous defense verdict in less than 45 minutes!
At trial, Chris systematically broke down plaintiff’s theory through compelling expert testimony, demonstrating that the care team took appropriate, well-reasoned precautions to mitigate the risk of DVT. Critically, he proved that the use of anticoagulation therapy, central to plaintiff’s claim, was medically contraindicated due to the serious and well-documented risk of postoperative bleeding, including the potential for devastating neurologic injury.
He further exposed the lack of factual support behind plaintiff’s allegations of delayed diagnosis, relying on contemporaneous medical records and testimony to show that plaintiff did not exhibit clinical signs or symptoms consistent with bilateral DVT when evaluated postoperatively.
