Walkup partner Doris Cheng, medical negligence counsel Christian Jagusch, M.D., J.D., and associate Ashcon Minoiefar, combined to obtain a Sacramento jury verdict in the total amount of $15,308,604 after a three-week trial on behalf of a 23-year-old college student. The client became unresponsive at home and was taken by ambulance to UC Davis Medical Center. The Emergency physicians considered stroke as a differential diagnosis but did not activate the hospital’s stroke protocol. They instead pursued diagnoses including drug toxicity, seizure disorder, infection, trauma, and electrolyte abnormality. Mr. Beaver was ultimately seen by 10 different physicians, none of whom diagnosed his stroke until a day later when an MRI showed damage to three lobes of the left hemisphere of his brain. As a result of the delay in treatment, our client suffered major neurocognitive injuries including the inability to form and express complete sentences, difficulty with processing and sequencing, and restrictions in the use of his right hand.
The team’s neurological standard of care expert testified that the Emergency physicians acted below the standard of care by failing to act on the initial differential diagnosis of stroke, in failing to activate the institution’s stroke protocol, and failing to emergently order a CT angiogram. They proved that at the time the plaintiff was in the Emergency Department, he was eligible for tPA and thrombectomy. Had he been timely treated, he would have been able to live independently. Instead, the negligent delay in diagnosis and treatment resulted with him requiring 24/7 supervision.
Defense counsel argued that all UCD physicians met the standard of care and disputed causation, alleging that the initial head CT scan showed areas of brain injury indicating that any stroke must have occurred more than six hours before he presented to the Emergency Department. He therefore would not have been a candidate for tPA and thrombectomy, defeating the claim that early intervention would have made a difference in Mr. Beaver’s outcome. All defense damage experts disputed the extent of the client’s residual disabilities including the need for 24/7 care, arguing that his needs were modest.
Economic damages awarded by the jury totaled $7,308,604 (present cash value), while non-economic damages were $8,000,000. The general damages were subsequently reduced to $250,000 under the pre-2023 MICRA cap. The jury poll was 10-2 on negligence, 11-1 on causation, and 12-0 on damages
Prior to trial the case was mediated three times, with the last offer at $4,200,000. Doris, Christian and Ashcon served a CCP 998 statutory offer of $7,200,000 approximately six months before trial, resulting in entitlement to expert costs and prejudgment interest. We congratulate the team on an outstanding result for a deserving client.
