In the case presented, the jury determined that the emergency physician owed the patient a legal duty and breached the standard of care (presumably by failing to order imaging studies) and that the patient suffered harm. However, the jury decided that the mistake was not causally connected to the patient's harm, and was convinced that the patient would have faced the same risk of perioperative bleeding even if the aneurysm had been detected at the first encounter. —DML
Cases reprinted with permission from Medical Malpractice Verdicts, Settlements and Experts, Lewis Laska, Editor, (800) 298-6288.