Appeals court upholds ‘landmark’ $75M verdict against radiologist, ER doc

An appeals court recently upheld a “landmark” $75 million verdict against a radiologist and emergency physician, plaintiff attorneys announced Tuesday. 

The case dates back nearly a decade, to October 2015, when Jonathan Buckelew collapsed while receiving chiropractic care for his neck. He was transported to a hospital leading to a series of negligent events, Radiology Business reported previously.

Emergency imaging showed Buckelew, 32 at the time, suffered a brainstem stroke—a diagnosis that should have prompted immediate treatment. However, his attorneys argued that the care team failed to reach a definitive diagnosis until the patient’s second day in the hospital. During the protracted wait, Buckelew’s brain was so severely damaged that he is now permanently stricken with “locked-in syndrome,” rendering him unable to feel or control any voluntary muscle groups except those of his eyes.

A jury sided with the man in 2022, awarding $46 million in civil damages and $29 million in medical expenses. About 60% of the sum was pinned on the EM physician, and 40% on the radiologist, while other clinicians were cleared. 

Matthew Womack, MD, an emergency doc at North Fulton Hospital at the time, fought the decision. But a Georgia Court of Appeals affirmed the $40 million ruling against him on March 10. Plaintiff attorneys believe this is the largest ER malpractice verdict in the state’s history. 

“This decision is a victory not just for Jonathan Buckelew and his family, but for patient safety in Georgia,” Lloyd Bell, founding partner of Bell Law Firm and co-counsel in the case, said in a statement shared March 25. “The court of appeals has made it clear that emergency room physicians must be held accountable when their actions—or inaction—lead to catastrophic harm.”

Bell Law emphasized that the ruling “upholds this verdict in full.” According to court documents, radiologist James Waldschmidt, MD, also appealed but later filed a notice that Buckelew’s claims against him “had been resolved,” and he withdrew. 

Waldschmidt’s attorney had previously pointed the jury to evidence showing the radiologist read Buckelew’s imaging “with an eye to answering the specific question” of whether one of his arteries was torn. The attorney had compared a stroke to a forest fire.

“[Waldschmidt’s] job is not to go down there and put [the fire] out,” the radiologist’s attorney said previously. “His job is to identify the smoke, and he did that.”