- Plaintiff
- King, Thomas
- Represented By:
- Gordon, David (Simon, Schindler & Sandberg, L.L.P)
- Defense
- Greathouse, James
- Represented By:
- Spengler, Kurt (Wicker Smith)
King v. Greathouse
VERDICT
Trial
09/09/09 – 09/11/09
Summary
The plaintiff visited the defendant chiropractor due to lower back pain. After the defendant performed a cerebrovascular assessment, the plaintiff allegedly reported nausea and dizziness. The defendant remained by the plaintiff's side for six seconds, after which the plaintiff fainted (syncopy), fell off the examination table, and landed face-down on the floor, allegedly suffering a permanent spinal cord injury.
According to the plaintiff, the standard of care required the defendant, based on the plaintiff's vasovagal response, to immediately lie the patient down on the table.
The defense asserted that the standard of care was not breached because the plaintiff only reported temporary nausea, which cleared up immediately. According to the defense, the plaintiff's injury was not foreseeable because the defendant did not know that the plaintiff had a congenitally narrow spinal cord, as well as preexisting degenerative disc disease. Moreover, the defense claimed that the plaintiff's spinal cord injury more likely resulted from a trauma that occurred six weeks earlier when the plaintiff hit his butt on the bottom of a swimming pool after doing a "cannon ball" jump. This injury, the defense argued, was only temporarily aggravated by the incident in the chiropractic examining room.
The jury found that the defendant was not negligent.
Outcome
Verdict for the defense
- Plaintiff
- Defense
- Judge
- Charles Roberts
- Jurisdiction
- 18th Judicial District of Florida
- Court
- Moore Justice Center
- Case Number
- 05-2008-CA-049717
- Industry
- Health care
- Practice Area
- Malpractice, Negligence, Tort Law
Sessions
AM Session
Openings
15 Chapters
PM Session
Plaintiff Witness(es)
29 Chapters
AM Session
Plaintiff Witness(es)
11 Chapters
PM Session
Plaintiff Witness(es)
21 Chapters
PM Session
Defense Witness(es)
15 Chapters
AM Session
Closings
11 Chapters
PM Session
Verdict
4 Chapters
Recording Disclaimer: This proceeding was recorded in full.