By Richard Shapiro, Virginia Personal Injury Lawyer
A jury in Clayton, MO awarded a man and his wife $6.4 million in a medical malpractice lawsuit that stemmed from a stroke that he had in 2007.
The suit alleged that Jeffrey Schneider, 59, had an infection that resulted in a severe stroke that could have been both diagnosed and treated, if the physician on the case had not been negligent. The name of the doctor was Dr. Joseph Thompson of SSM DePaul Medical Group, in Clayton.
Media reports stated that Thompson diagnosed Schneider with a mitral valve prolapse in 1996. This is a condition where the valve in the heart does not close as tightly as it should. This can cause blood to flow backwards, back into the heart. A 2001 echocardiogram confirmed that Schneider had this condition.
The lawsuit alleged that Thompson did not request any subsequent echocardiograms after 2001. That condition and the diagnosis was not on Thompson’s radar, or in the medical files for Schneider after 2002. The patient also was never referred to a cardiologist.
Schneider got very ill in 2007 and complained to his doctor of fatigue, loss of appetite and pain in the abdomen. He said that he felt as if he were going to die. Thompson did refer Schneider to other doctors for some tests, but he never gave him a referral to a cardiologist, nor did he order more tests on his heart.
Later in 2007, Schneider’s wife Connie called the doctor and asked that he be admitted to the hospital, but Thompson told her to wait until tests came back from a hematologist. Schneider then had an acute stroke in June 2007 due to a bacterial infection on a heart valve. He now has limited use of the right side of his body, short term memory damage and difficulty speaking. He also has not been able to work since the stroke.
The $6.4 million verdict was one of the biggest medical malpractice awards in the state of Missouri.
About 90% of medical malpractice trials involve a plaintiff with serious permanent injury or death, and this case is yet another unfortunate example of that.
Shapiro, Lewis, Appleton & Favaloro, P.C. is a Virginia law firm that often blogs about medical malpractice and wrongful death lawsuits.
Rick Shapiro has practiced personal injury law for over 30 years in Virginia, North Carolina, and throughout the Southeastern United States. He is a Board-Certified Civil Trial Advocate by the National Board of Trial Advocacy (ABA Accredited) and has litigated injury cases throughout the eastern United States, including wrongful death, trucking, faulty products, railroad, and medical negligence claims. During his three-decade career, Shapiro has won client appeals before the VA Supreme Court, VA Court of Appeals, NC Supreme Court, SC Supreme Court, WV Supreme Court, TN Supreme Court, and three times before the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, underscoring Shapiro’s trial achievements. In addition, he and his law firm have won settlements/verdicts in excess of $100 million. His success in and out of the courtroom is a big reason why he was named 2019 “Lawyer of the Year” in railroad law in U.S. News & World Report's Best Lawyers publication (Norfolk, VA area), and he has been named a “Best Lawyer” and “Super Lawyer” by those peer-reviewed organizations for multiple years. Rick was also named a “Leader in the Law, Class of 2022” by Virginia Lawyers Weekly (total of 33 statewide honorees consisting of lawyers and judges across Virginia). And in September 2023, Rick was selected as a recipient of the National Board of Trial Advocacy (NBTA) 2023 President’s Award. Although many nominations were submitted from across the country, Rick was just one of eight attorneys chosen by the prestigious National Board which certifies civil trial attorneys across the U.S. Rick was also recently named to Virginia Lawyers Weekly 2024 Virginia’s Go To Lawyers Medical Malpractice. The attorneys awarded this honor are nominated by their colleagues and chosen by a panel from the publication.
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