Recent Defenses Verdicts for Medical Malpractice

Firm attorneys notched defense wins in the two largest personal injury cases ever tried in Southeast Missouri.  In August 2021, attorneys Joseph C. Blanton, Jr, Thomas W. Collins, III, and Shaun D. Hanschen obtained a defense verdict in a high-profile case in Scott County, Missouri involving pediatric heart transplant issues.

The Firm brought to Court as testifying expert witnesses one of the world’s leading pediatric heart failure experts and one of the world’s leading pediatric heart transplant surgeons from Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

The Plaintiff in that case requested $45 Million at closing.  The jury returned a 9-3 defense verdict in approximately one hour.

In March 2022, attorneys Blanton, Collins, Hanschen and Diedre Peters obtained a unanimous defense verdict in a medical liability case in Cape Girardeau County involving the alleged failure of a mental health professional to give a Tarasoff warning to public officials regarding purported risks of harm to a child.  The Plaintiff in that case requested $36 Million at closing.  Both defense verdicts were obtained on behalf of the Firm’s second oldest client, a hospital the firm has represented since 1938.

Other Recent Medical Representation

The Firm along with co-counsel at prominent litigation boutique firm Dowd Bennett obtained a favorable ruling on defendants’ motions to dismiss in an antitrust case pending in the U. S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri in St. Louis.  The case involves claims brought by the Firm’s client, a small St. Louis area manufacturer of medical products.  It is anticipated that the case will be tried in 2023.  Attorneys Peters and Hanschen led the firm’s briefing efforts relating to these key motions.

Bryan E. Nickell and Blanton have been retained by the Board of Trustees of a regional county health system to provide advice on proposed strategic options involving the health system.