Jury absolves radiologist in $10M alleged malpractice case
A Virginia jury has sided with a local radiologist after the estate of a deceased former patient sued him for alleged malpractice, seeking $10 million.
The trial lasted just five days, with jurors issuing their decision on April 7, the Staunton News Leader reported Wednesday.
Carl Henderson Jr., 41, first fell ill in November 2015, later visiting the ED at Augusta Health in Fishersville, Virginia. He was diagnosed with a musculoskeletal strain and discharged, but died five days later of an aortic aneurism.
Henderson’s estate sued Thomas Zumsteg, MD, and Blue Ridge Radiologists a year and a half later in 2017. They claimed the radiologist should have spotted abnormalities present on the CT scan, possibly preventing the man’s death. However, the defendants maintained that there were no signs of aortic dissection and that Zumsteg, in practice for 30 years, properly performed his duties. The jury agreed, taking only three hours to reach a verdict.
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Marty Stempniak has covered healthcare since 2012, with his byline appearing in the American Hospital Association's member magazine, Modern Healthcare and McKnight's. Prior to that, he wrote about village government and local business for his hometown newspaper in Oak Park, Illinois. He won a Peter Lisagor and Gold EXCEL awards in 2017 for his coverage of the opioid epidemic.