From VerdictSearch Pennsylvania

Doctors prevail in suit over fatal esophageal rupture

A Montgomery County jury has rendered a defense verdict in a medical-malpractice action filed on behalf of the estate of a 38-year-old man who died of a ruptured esophagus in May 2003. The decedent had a history of hospitalizations for possible pancreatitis, and had been admitted to a Pottstown hospital nearly one week before his death. The suit alleged that care providers failed to timely determine the cause of a bout of violent vomiting; an internist, a gastroenterologist, and their practice group were the remaining defendants at trial. Defense experts opined that a rare condition secondary to violent vomiting caused the decedent's esophagus to rupture.

Cecil-Brown v. Pottstown Memorial Medical Center
Montgomery County

$650K verdict in former naval worker's asbestos suit

A panel of jurors in Philadelphia County awarded $650,000 in a products-liability suit maintained on behalf of the estate of a man who worked as a machinist's mate fireman at the Philadelphia Navy Shipyard from 1962 to 1966. The man (who died of mesothelioma after the suit was filed) claimed that his naval service involved working around boilers, pumps and gaskets, and that a number of these items contained asbestos. The remaining defendant at trial was John Crane Inc., though the names of several other entities were included on the verdict sheet for the purposes of apportionment. The defense contended that while the man's suit specified exposure to chrysotile asbestos, he actually would have been exposed to elevated levels of amosite asbestos given the nature of his naval service.

VIEW THE FULL CASE Serven v. Armstrong International et al.
Philadelphia County

$700K recovery on $1.43M verdict in negligent-service case

A Bucks County jury has found in favor of a bartender at a Knights of Columbus facility in Levittown who was involved in a motor vehicle accident after allegedly being served to the point of intoxication at her workplace following a staff meeting. Counsel for the plaintiff, who was 47 at the time of the March 2008 accident, argued that Pennsylvania liquor licensees are required to be attentive to visible signs of intoxication. The plaintiff's injuries included quadriparesis; it was alleged that she will be unable to maintain her current job, as a car-dealership receptionist, for many more years. The defense stressed that the plaintiff was herself a bartender when she received the drinks in question. The jury found 50 percent liability as to both the plaintiff and her former employer; damages totaled nearly $1.43 million, but a $700,000-$125,000 high-low was applied.

VIEW THE FULL CASE Castelli v. Knights of Columbus
Bucks County

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Largest Pennsylvania Jury Verdicts:

(2013 only; based on cases reported to VerdictSearch)

VERDICT	CASE	VENUE	DATE
$20,000,000.00	Rolland v. Senn	Philadelphia Co.	March 28
$19,500,000.00	Estate of Pomroy v. Rosato	Philadelphia Co.	Feb. 25
$4,800,000.00	Vinciguerra v. Bayer Cropscience Inc.	Philadelphia Co.	Feb. 25
$2,000,000.00	Estate of Dubose v. Quinlan	Philadelphia Co.	March 21
$1,677,988.75	Pietrowski v. The Kintock Group	Philadelphia Co.	March 22
$1,426,818.38	Castelli v. Knights of Columbus	Bucks County	March 18
$1,400,000.00	Seaman v. Owens-Illinois Inc.	Philadelphia Co.	Feb. 15
$1,350,000.00	Breazeale v. Bowker	Delaware County	April 11
$700,000.00	Dragotta v. Graham	Philadelphia Co.	March 21
$300,000.00	Englert v. Zak	Allegheny County	March 28