Virginia Lawyers Weekly VA Lawyers Weekly
Devona Johnson, 45, collapsed at home. When she came to, she had a vision field cut and mental confusion. EMS brought her to a Primary Stroke Certified hospital where the stroke protocol was activated and she was evaluated by an emergency medicine physician, Dr. Aamir Latif. Johnson was well within the stroke treatment window. After evaluating Johnson and reviewing a negative CT Scan, Latif shut down the stroke protocol and assumed she had a migraine. An MRI ordered hours later demonstrated she suffered a significant posterior cerebral artery ischemic stroke. By the time the MRI was read, the stroke treatment window had passed.
Latif defended on two grounds. First, he argued that the signs and symptoms were more consistent with migraine than stroke. Second, he argued that tPA (the clot busting drug that was never given) works less than 50 percent of the time and thus plaintiff could not meet her causation burden. Plaintiff demonstrated that Latif shut the stroke protocol down too early, failed to perform an adequate NIH stroke scale exam, ordered a nurse not to perform her own stroke scale exam, and failed to employ a differential diagnosis analysis. Plaintiff also demonstrated through literature and radiology that her stroke would have responded to tPA.
[18-T-118]Type of action: Medical malpractice
Injuries alleged: Brain damage; permanent partial vision loss
Name of case: Devona Johnson v. Aamir Latif, MD
Court: Fairfax Circuit Court
Case no.: 2017-12782
Tried before: Jury
Name of judge: Judge Randy I. Bellows
Date resolved: Sept. 22, 2018
Special damages: None claimed at trial
Verdict or settlement: Verdict
Amount: $2,500,000
Attorneys for plaintiff: Scott M. Perry and Mike D. Charnoff, Arlington
Plaintiff’s experts: Deborah White, MD (emergency medicne); Bruce Janiak, MD (emergency medicine); David Katz, MD (neuro-opthomology); James Bicksel, MD (neurology); David Hebda, PhD (neuropsychiatry); Christine Osborn, RN (nursing)
Defendant’s experts: Paul Offerman, MD (emergency medicine); Adrian Goldszmidt, MD (neurology)
Insurance carrier: ProAssurance
