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Hart Law Firm Medical Malpractice Jury Verdict
COLLEYVILLE, TX-A Tarrant County District Court jury returned a $229,633.58 verdict in a medical malpractice lawsuit involving a missed appendicitis diagnosis, of a 49 year old patient in 2005. Colleyville attorney David G. Hart of the Hart Law Firm represented James Bowers, the plaintiff in this case against the defendant, Michael Hinzmann, M.D. Bowers went to the emergency room at Harris Methodist HEB on April 18, 2005 with abdominal pain and nausea and was diagnosed with diverticulitis after Hinzmann, the radiologist, read the CT scan and stated in his radiology report that Bowers had probable diverticulitis. Bowers was allowed to leave the hospital, but came back late the next night complaining about the same pain. Bowers was treated by two Colleyville physicians, Dr. James Nackley and Dr. Robert Sewell, who continued to treat him for diverticulitis because of Hinzmann's incorrect CT findings. Bower's appendix eventually ruptured sometime before May 2, 2005, when another CT was performed and was once more read my Dr. Hinzmann. Again, Hinzmann did not diagnose appendicitis on the CT report, but later called Dr. Nackley to tell him that Bowers might have appendicitis. Mr. Bower's developed an abscess because of the delay, and his appendix and the surrounding infection had to be removed in an open procedure. Mr. Bowers also sustained a severe wound infection that took months to heal because of the delay in diagnosis.
Bower's attorney, David Hart, argued in court that if Hinzmann had properly diagnosed appendicitis on April 18, 2005, when Mr. Bowers first visited the emergency room, that the surgeon could have performed a laparoscopic appendectomy and Mr. Bowers could have gone back to work in about a week, without having any future complications. By the time that Bowers had undergone the open procedure, his appendix had abscessed and the physicians were forced to leave his wound open until it healed months later. Bowers also missed a month of work and had to be treated frequently by a home healthcare nurse.
Attorney David Hart stated that Dr. Hinzmann's insurance company, Texas Medical Liability Trust, refused to make any offer to settle the case. The case was tried in the 153rd District Court of Tarrant County, Texas, Judge Kenneth Curry, presiding.
