Maynard Partner Successful in Defense of Troy Surgeon

Maynard, O’Connor partner, Bruce Bell, successfully defended a Troy surgeon in a medical malpractice lawsuit venued in Saratoga County.  The case of the Estate of Janet Demers v. Seton Health Systems, Inc., et al., involved an allegation that the decedent was improperly and inadequately treated and monitored for a small bowel obstruction for which she presented at St. Mary’s Hospital in Troy.  The plaintiff contended that the defendants allowed the small bowel obstruction to continue to develop to the point of causing a rupture of the decedent’s stomach, resulting in the decedent’s death.  Expert medical proof was produced for the consideration of the jury and established that all of the defendants treated the small bowel obstruction in the appropriate manner and that the perforated stomach was an extremely rare event, which could not be predicted or anticipated by any of the medical care providers.  Further, the medical evidence established that decedent’s underlying comorbidities were a contributing factor to the stomach perforation and her death.  The trial started on September 13, 2010, and the jury returned a unanimous verdict in favor of the defendants on September 23, 2010, after deliberating approximately two hours.