In the News
The Legal Intelligencer
July 21, 2000
Jury Awards Stroke Victim $2 Million
A Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas jury yesterday diagnosed malpractice in a doctor's failure to recognize the danger signs of a 16-year-old girl's stroke.
The jury deliberated for one hour and 15 minutes before awarding $ 2 million to stroke victim Megan Terry.The case, Terry's attorney Nadeem A. Bezar of Kolsby Gordon Robin & Shore said, was straightforward."The jury understood that the doctor should have done something," he said after the verdict. "They recognized that this doctor changed Megan's life."Terry complained of dizziness and headaches while under the care of Philadelphia family practitioner Donald Baseman between 1992 and 1995 (Baseman has since relocated his practice to Florida). Baseman should have recognized these as symptoms of a potential embolism and referred her to a neurologist, Bezar told the jury. And Terry had other significant risk factors. Born with a heart defect, she underwent three open-heart surgeries before the age of 10. During the third surgery, doctors inserted a prosthetic valve, strengthening her weak heart but increasing the risk of stroke.In August 1995, Terry suffered a stroke; she never fully recovered. Now 21, she attends Philadelphia Community College but needs accommodations for her lingering physical and cognitive difficulties."With all these signs and symptoms and the fact that she was at high risk, all the doctor had to do was make a phone call, refer her to a neurologist," Bezar said. Terry filed a malpractice claim against Baseman for the failure to diagnose. Baseman was represented in the action by Michael E. McGilvery of Wright Young & McGilvery. McGilvery could not be reached for comment late yesterday.During the four-day trial before Judge Thomas D. Watkins, Bezar presented testimony from a family practitioner, a pediatric neurologist, a vocational expert, a neuro-radiologist, an economist and Terry. Reviewing Terry's symptoms with Baseman during cross-examination was also key for the jury, Bezar said."We went through records, listed signs and symptoms, and the jury seemed to think it was too much," he said.According to Bezar, there were no offers tendered in the case. He plans to file for delay damages, estimated at $350,000.
