Trial Verdict 2015-14: Boston Partner Michael Racette and Associate Jake Struck

Boston Partner Michael Racette, along with Associate Jake Struck, won a “no negligence” defense verdict after a four-week medical malpractice trial in Salem Superior Court. The plaintiff alleged that our client, an orthopedic surgeon, negligently failed to adequately monitor her during her week-long recovery in the hospital and thus missed what she claimed were signs and symptoms of a growing spinal epidural hematoma, caused by the anesthesiologist’s multiple failed attempts to perform spinal anesthesia before surgery. The plaintiff was left permanently paralyzed below the waist. The defense countered that the plaintiff had suffered a sudden and unpredictable spinal cord stroke shortly before her paralysis–not an undetected epidural hematoma that grew slowly over the course of her recovery period. Twenty-six witnesses, including ten experts, testified at trial.