Senior Trial Partner, John J. Barbera, assisted by Partner Ruth A. Ragan and Associate H. Sally Ryu, obtained a defense verdict in Supreme Court, New York County before Judge Alice Schlesinger. Plaintiff, complaining of acute onset of stroke symptoms, was brought by ambulance to a certified stroke center, evaluated in the emergency department and admitted for a stroke work up. The defense argued that our two client neurologists could not have prevented the plaintiff ’s sudden progression two days after presentation to the hospital and that the stroke was not amenable to “clot buster” treatment with Tissue Plasminogen Activase (tPA). Using CT and MRI imaging of the brain with expert testimony from a stroke specialist, the defense demonstrated that the patient’s unique constellation of stroke symptoms created several strict contraindications against the use of tPA, including that her initial symptoms existed days prior to arrival at the hospital and therefore exceeded the safe and effective time frame in which tPA could have been administered.
