Jeffrey Braintwain

Huff Powell & Bailey partner Jeffrey Braintwain notched a defense victory in a “heart-wrenching” medical malpractice case involving a brain-damaged baby in Albany, then returned to Atlanta to sit second chair as firm partner L. Evan Cline won another trial concerning a woman who suffered a massive heart attack at a Gwinnett County hospital.

Braintwain said the Albany trial, which involved injuries a baby suffered more than 10 years ago, was “a nail-biter on both sides.”

“This was an incredibly sympathetic plaintiff, just a beautiful child,” said Braintwain, who tried the case with associate Pete Temesgen of Huff Powell's Columbus office.

The plaintiffs' case was tried by Paul Phillips and Patrick Flynn of Albany's Flynn Peeler Phillips; also present was the filing attorney, Albany solo Ralph Scoccimaro.

Phillips said the case was very complex, noting that it went before the Georgia Court of Appeals and Supreme Court. At issue was whether the defendant, a physician's assistant, performed “emergency care” under a state law requiring plaintiffs suing emergency care providers to prove they acted with “gross negligence,” a higher standard than in other medical malpractice cases.

There was also evidence that the child may have been abused by her babysitter, Phillips said, “but who was doing it was hard to figure out, because you've got this outside villain.”

Phillips said his team is still considering whether to appeal or otherwise challenge the verdict.

The case began in 2007 when 6-month-old Keira Pech's babysitter called the child's mother to say Keira had rolled off a low bed while the sitter was distracted. The mother, Thu Nguyen, took her to the emergency room at Phoebe Putney Hospital in Albany.

Physician's assistant Michael Heyer examined Keira and found what Braintwain described as a “goose egg” bump to the head. He did not order an X-ray or CT scan, and Keira was discharged without seeing a doctor.

Three days later, Keira was again at the babysitter's when she began having seizures. The sitter called an ambulance, and Keira was in full cardiac arrest when she arrived at Phoebe Putney's ER.

A CT scan showed a skull fracture and “both old and new intracranial bleeding,” according to plaintiffs' filings. Surgery was performed to relieve the pressure, but Keira suffered profound  brain damage.

In 2009, Keira's parents and conservator sued Heyer and his employer, Southwestern Emergency Physicians, in Dougherty County Superior Court.

Ruling on summary judgment, Judge Denise Marshall declared that Heyer had not provided “emergency medical care” and that, to prevail, the plaintiffs had to show only ordinary negligence on his part.

The Court of Appeals reversed, ruling that the jury must decide whether he provided emergency care, and the Supreme Court affirmed that ruling.

During a trial that began Oct. 23, Braintwain said a key issue was whether Keira had been injured again after her first trip to the ER.

“Our case was that there were two injuries: the minor fall that was treated properly, and a horrible high–impact injury that caused the brain bleeding and everything associated with it,” he said.

Keira's parents testified that, had they been told there was evidence of abuse, they would not have taken the baby back to the sitter and would have admitted her to the hospital, “both of which were hotly debated,” Braintwain said.

“There was really no doubt there was abuse and that it was happening somehow at the babysitter's,” said Phillips, who argued the case with Flynn.

“Our case was that, if the right thing had been done the first time, there never would have been a second incident,” he said.

Braintwain said key experts included emergency medicine specialist Martin Lutz of Greenville Memorial Hospital in South Carolina for the plaintiffs and child abuse expert David Bernard from the University of Alabama for the defense.

Braintwain said that in closing statements, the plaintiffs' asked for nearly $19 million.

The trial lasted eight days, and on Nov. 1 the jury took about two and a half hours to find for the defense.

Braintwain said jurors told him they had felt tremendous sympathy for Keira.

“They just didn't think the evidence supported the case,” he said. “There was so much intrigue and fishiness about the babysitter, I think they concluded there was another injury,” he said.

The following week Braintwain joined Cline in Fulton County State Court, where they were defending Gwinnett Emergency Specialists and Dr. Michael Violette.

A co-defendant, the Gwinnett Medical Center, was represented by Hall Booth Smith partners Rush Smith and William Gordon Jr.

“Gwinnett Medical Center was pleased that the jury agreed that the nursing care it provided was excellent,” said Smith, a sentiment he said jurors reaffirmed after the trial.

According to Cline and trial documents, the case began in 2008 when Margaret Brown, then 74, was taken by ambulance to the Gwinnett Medical Center complaining of chest and “tearing” back pain.

Violette put her on a cardiac monitor and ordered testing, and Brown was also given pain medication.

A few hours after arriving, Brown was having a consultation when an EKG indicated she was having a heart attack. She was given a clot-busting drug but then had to undergo cardiac catheterization and bypass surgery.

In 2010, Atlanta solo Joseph King Jr. filed suit on Brown's behalf, asserting that her heart had been permanently damaged because Violette had “overlooked” her deteriorating heart, allowing the heart attack to occur.

The hospital was sued because of alleged shortfalls by its nursing and support staff.

“The interesting part of the case from a medical standpoint is that her EKG was normal, her cardiac enzymes were normal, then after about four hours she had a septal heart attack, what they call a widow-maker,” Cline said.

“Almost everybody who has one of these outside of a hospital dies, and it's only because she was right in front of their faces that she lived,” said Cline. “We argued that this is a happy case.”

During a five-day trial before Judge Fred Eady, Cline said the plaintiffs “basically said the EKG that was done when she hit door showed something concerning for a potential heart attack and that she should have been given a clot-buster earlier.”

Kline said the two defense teams presented “very much a united front.”

Cline said the plaintiff's main expert was emergency medicine specialist Fred Mushkat with Baptist Health Paducah in Minnesota.

In closing, Cline said King asked for $100,000 a year for the past nine years “plus whatever they thought she should get going forward.”

The trial lasted five days, and on Nov. 14 Cline said the jury took less than 30 minutes to find for the defense.

Cline said that, during jury selection, when asked whether any of them knew what a “widow-maker” was, nearly all of the jurors raised their hands.

“So I think there was some understanding among the jury that she was actually very lucky to be alive,” Cline said.

King said via email that he and his client have not decided whether to appeal or otherwise challenge the verdict.

Jeffrey Braintwain

Huff Powell & Bailey partner Jeffrey Braintwain notched a defense victory in a “heart-wrenching” medical malpractice case involving a brain-damaged baby in Albany, then returned to Atlanta to sit second chair as firm partner L. Evan Cline won another trial concerning a woman who suffered a massive heart attack at a Gwinnett County hospital.

Braintwain said the Albany trial, which involved injuries a baby suffered more than 10 years ago, was “a nail-biter on both sides.”

“This was an incredibly sympathetic plaintiff, just a beautiful child,” said Braintwain, who tried the case with associate Pete Temesgen of Huff Powell's Columbus office.

The plaintiffs' case was tried by Paul Phillips and Patrick Flynn of Albany's Flynn Peeler Phillips; also present was the filing attorney, Albany solo Ralph Scoccimaro.

Phillips said the case was very complex, noting that it went before the Georgia Court of Appeals and Supreme Court. At issue was whether the defendant, a physician's assistant, performed “emergency care” under a state law requiring plaintiffs suing emergency care providers to prove they acted with “gross negligence,” a higher standard than in other medical malpractice cases.

There was also evidence that the child may have been abused by her babysitter, Phillips said, “but who was doing it was hard to figure out, because you've got this outside villain.”

Phillips said his team is still considering whether to appeal or otherwise challenge the verdict.

The case began in 2007 when 6-month-old Keira Pech's babysitter called the child's mother to say Keira had rolled off a low bed while the sitter was distracted. The mother, Thu Nguyen, took her to the emergency room at Phoebe Putney Hospital in Albany.

Physician's assistant Michael Heyer examined Keira and found what Braintwain described as a “goose egg” bump to the head. He did not order an X-ray or CT scan, and Keira was discharged without seeing a doctor.

Three days later, Keira was again at the babysitter's when she began having seizures. The sitter called an ambulance, and Keira was in full cardiac arrest when she arrived at Phoebe Putney's ER.

A CT scan showed a skull fracture and “both old and new intracranial bleeding,” according to plaintiffs' filings. Surgery was performed to relieve the pressure, but Keira suffered profound  brain damage.

In 2009, Keira's parents and conservator sued Heyer and his employer, Southwestern Emergency Physicians, in Dougherty County Superior Court.

Ruling on summary judgment, Judge Denise Marshall declared that Heyer had not provided “emergency medical care” and that, to prevail, the plaintiffs had to show only ordinary negligence on his part.

The Court of Appeals reversed, ruling that the jury must decide whether he provided emergency care, and the Supreme Court affirmed that ruling.

During a trial that began Oct. 23, Braintwain said a key issue was whether Keira had been injured again after her first trip to the ER.

“Our case was that there were two injuries: the minor fall that was treated properly, and a horrible high–impact injury that caused the brain bleeding and everything associated with it,” he said.

Keira's parents testified that, had they been told there was evidence of abuse, they would not have taken the baby back to the sitter and would have admitted her to the hospital, “both of which were hotly debated,” Braintwain said.

“There was really no doubt there was abuse and that it was happening somehow at the babysitter's,” said Phillips, who argued the case with Flynn.

“Our case was that, if the right thing had been done the first time, there never would have been a second incident,” he said.

Braintwain said key experts included emergency medicine specialist Martin Lutz of Greenville Memorial Hospital in South Carolina for the plaintiffs and child abuse expert David Bernard from the University of Alabama for the defense.

Braintwain said that in closing statements, the plaintiffs' asked for nearly $19 million.

The trial lasted eight days, and on Nov. 1 the jury took about two and a half hours to find for the defense.

Braintwain said jurors told him they had felt tremendous sympathy for Keira.

“They just didn't think the evidence supported the case,” he said. “There was so much intrigue and fishiness about the babysitter, I think they concluded there was another injury,” he said.

The following week Braintwain joined Cline in Fulton County State Court, where they were defending Gwinnett Emergency Specialists and Dr. Michael Violette.

A co-defendant, the Gwinnett Medical Center, was represented by Hall Booth Smith partners Rush Smith and William Gordon Jr.

“Gwinnett Medical Center was pleased that the jury agreed that the nursing care it provided was excellent,” said Smith, a sentiment he said jurors reaffirmed after the trial.

According to Cline and trial documents, the case began in 2008 when Margaret Brown, then 74, was taken by ambulance to the Gwinnett Medical Center complaining of chest and “tearing” back pain.

Violette put her on a cardiac monitor and ordered testing, and Brown was also given pain medication.

A few hours after arriving, Brown was having a consultation when an EKG indicated she was having a heart attack. She was given a clot-busting drug but then had to undergo cardiac catheterization and bypass surgery.

In 2010, Atlanta solo Joseph King Jr. filed suit on Brown's behalf, asserting that her heart had been permanently damaged because Violette had “overlooked” her deteriorating heart, allowing the heart attack to occur.

The hospital was sued because of alleged shortfalls by its nursing and support staff.

“The interesting part of the case from a medical standpoint is that her EKG was normal, her cardiac enzymes were normal, then after about four hours she had a septal heart attack, what they call a widow-maker,” Cline said.

“Almost everybody who has one of these outside of a hospital dies, and it's only because she was right in front of their faces that she lived,” said Cline. “We argued that this is a happy case.”

During a five-day trial before Judge Fred Eady, Cline said the plaintiffs “basically said the EKG that was done when she hit door showed something concerning for a potential heart attack and that she should have been given a clot-buster earlier.”

Kline said the two defense teams presented “very much a united front.”

Cline said the plaintiff's main expert was emergency medicine specialist Fred Mushkat with Baptist Health Paducah in Minnesota.

In closing, Cline said King asked for $100,000 a year for the past nine years “plus whatever they thought she should get going forward.”

The trial lasted five days, and on Nov. 14 Cline said the jury took less than 30 minutes to find for the defense.

Cline said that, during jury selection, when asked whether any of them knew what a “widow-maker” was, nearly all of the jurors raised their hands.

“So I think there was some understanding among the jury that she was actually very lucky to be alive,” Cline said.

King said via email that he and his client have not decided whether to appeal or otherwise challenge the verdict.