Jim Wilkinson and Heidi Oh obtained a defense verdict on behalf of our client, a primary care physician, following a nearly three-week trial in Middlesex Superior Court. The case involved the death of a 62-year-old man from metastatic prostate cancer. The co-defendant physician had ordered a PSA, which was returned as slightly elevated. The patient then changed primary care providers and became a patient of our client. Our client was not made aware of the prior PSA. The plaintiff alleged that if a repeat PSA had been ordered by either defendant, the patient’s prostate cancer would have been diagnosed earlier, and his death would have been preventable. Attorneys Wilkinson and Oh presented a robust defense on the issue of the prior PSA, and on the issue of causation, presenting complex medical testimony on the unusual presentation and genetic markers of the patient’s prostate cancer and establishing that earlier diagnosis would not have resulted in a different outcome. After lengthy deliberations, the jury returned a “no negligence” verdict on all counts for all defendants.
