Tried. And True.

NEWS

Indiana's highest court ruled in Indiana Patient's Compensation Fund v. Gary Patrick that the father of an adult patient could not assert a claim for his own emotional distress related to the malpractice claim that he brought on behalf of his son's estate. Peter Pogue and Katherine Karres of Schultz & Defense Trial Counsel of Indiana.

In the case, Father filed a claim against the treating doctor and hospital for a failure to diagnose his son's ruptured colon after his son was treated and released from the hospital. The son died at their home later that day in front of the father. Father settled the claim with the healthcare providers and sought additional monies from the Indiana Patient's Compensation Fund. Father sought not only a claim for medical malpractice on behalf of the son, but he also made an independent claim for his emotional distress. The trial court awarded the Father $600,000 for his emotional distress, and the Fund appealed. The Indiana Supreme Court reversed because the father's claim was based on the Indiana Adult Wrongful Death Statute, which does not allow emotional distress damages for a parent-plaintiff, and was pursued pursuant to the requirements of the Indiana Medical Malpractice Act, which does not create a new causes of action. Essentially, plaintiff sought two recoveries for one claim of negligence, one for himself and one on behalf of his deceased son, and the Indiana Supreme Court ruled that plaintiff could not recover for his individual claims because they were not allowed by the applicable statutes.

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Peter Pogue and Katherine Karres co-authored an Amicus Brief for the Defense Trial Counsel of Indiana on behalf of Clarian in Clarian Health v. Wagler. On March 31, 2010, the Court of Appeals reversed the trial court and ruled in favor of Clarian that a medical review panel opinion in which two panelists could not determine causation and one panel member found no causation was insufficient to find causation on behalf of Clarian in plaintiff’s malpractice claim. Furthermore, the Court ruled that nurses are not qualified to determine of the medical cause of injuries and thus Wagler could not defeat Clarian’s Motion for Summary Judgment with an affidavit of a nurse.

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Congratulations to Kori McOmber in being selected as the 2010 Insurance Coverage Chair for the Defense Trial Counsel of Indiana.

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The Defense Wins! Congratulations to David Field in a recent Medical Malpractice defense verdict in a jury trial in Hamilton County, Indiana. David defended a Family Practice Physician in a case involving treatment of a compression fracture to a patient’s T-12 vertebrae. Despite a 3-0 loss at the Medical Review Panel and adverse testimony from each of the Panel members at trial, David was able to obtain a defense verdict after a three day trial.

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Congratulations to Tom Schultz and Peter Pogue for being selected for inclusion on the 2010 Indiana Super Lawyers list. It is the fourth consecutive year that they have been selected by their peers. Only five percent of Indiana attorneys are chosen each year.

Also, congratulations to Kirk LeBlanc and Kori McOmber for also being recognized for the second consecutive year as “Rising Stars” which is a recognition of SuperLawyers under the age of 40.

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We are pleased to announce that J. Kirk LeBlanc has joined the partnership at Schultz & Pogue, LLP. Kirk has enjoyed a successful law career here in Indiana for the past eight years, concentrating in the areas of Food Bourne Illness, Trucking, Construction, Commercial, Auto and Premises Liability as well as other areas of Civil Litigation. Kirk has successfully represented clients in 90 of the 92 counties in Indiana as well as in Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky, Illinois, Pennsylvania, and Florida. Kirk was selected for inclusion on the 2010 Indiana Super Lawyers Rising Stars List, which recognizes the top lawyers in Indiana under the age of 40. This was the second year in a row that Kirk was selected a Rising Star. We are excited that Kirk chose to join our firm and look forward to many successful years working with him.

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Tom Schultz recently had his 3rd successful jury trial of the year. In the case of Lausten v Knight, defendant admitted liability and the jury returned a verdict for less than ½ what was offered.

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Tom Schultz has been elected as State Representative for Indiana for The Defense Research Institute(DRI). DRI is the largest organization of defense lawyers who practice civil litigation in the United States. Tom is also currently serving as President of the Defense Trial Counsel of Indiana which is the largest organization of defense lawyers in the state.

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Tom Schultz recently spoke at the DRI Annual Meeting in Chicago on the topic of “Internet Marketing in the 21St Century.”