Frederick J. Trotta, Sr. recently obtained a defendant’s verdict in a medical malpractice action tried to a jury in Bridgeport. The plaintiffs in the action were the parents of a 28-year-old who was tragically found dead on July 12, 2014 following an overdose. The decedent had been taken to Stamford Hospital Emergency Department via ambulance one day prior to her death. During the ambulance ride, she reported that she had taken two 30 mg tablets of oxycodone mixed with alcohol the night before, and she had taken 100mg of methadone that morning. The emergency medical personnel gave her one dose of Narcan at 12:21 p.m. prior to her arrival at Stamford Hospital. Our client, a physician, conducted a physical and neurological examination of the decedent upon her arrival at the hospital, and monitored her vitals for any signs of reintoxication. After conducting a final assessment of the decedent, the physician discharged her from Stamford Hospital at 2:35 p.m. It is unknown what her exact activities were that night, though she was last seen alive sometime around 1:00 a.m. The decedent was then found dead at approximately 9:00 a.m. on July 12, 2014.
As executors of the decedent’s estate, the plaintiffs sued the physician, Emergency Medical Physicians of Fairfield County, and Stamford Hospital, seeking to recover $22 million in damages. The plaintiffs alleged that the physician deviated from the standard of care by failing to observe the decedent for longer than two hours and that this alleged breach ultimately caused her death. In response, Fred argued that our client followed the standard of care and appropriately monitored the decedent for two hours after she was given one dose of Narcan. Fred argued that, if the decedent had still been intoxicated upon discharge, she would’ve been showing signs of re-intoxication. Instead, the decedent was clinically sober, and the physician appropriately discharged her.
Following seven days of evidence and testimony presented by both sides, including testimony from numerous family members, nurses, and experts, the jury returned a verdict in favor of the defendants in two hours. Fred Trotta was assisted by Logan Carducci through the entire trial.