Widow Wins Multimillion-Dollar Medical Malpractice Verdict Against Houston-Area Doctor

HOUSTON, Oct. 16, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- A district court jury has awarded $4.2 million in a medical malpractice case – a sizable verdict for such cases in Harris County – to a woman whose husband died after a suburban Houston doctor misdiagnosed him.

An autopsy showed that 46-year-old Lancer Windrum died of complications from a buildup of spinal fluid in the brain. Evidence showed that emergency room doctors properly diagnosed Mr. Windrum's condition, which is typically treated with an implanted drainage tube. However, Dr. Victor Kareh at North Cypress Medical Center rejected that diagnosis and failed to provide this standard, lifesaving treatment.

"This was a simple, straightforward diagnosis backed up by an unambiguous MRI. Dr. Kareh was breathtakingly negligent," says Wade H. Whilden Jr., partner at Hicks Thomas LLP and attorney for Mr. Windrum's wife, Tracy, and their three children.

The verdict was delivered Friday, Oct. 11, in Harris County's 133^rd District Court before Judge Jaclanel McFarland and was unanimous as to Dr. Kareh's liability.

Hicks Thomas partner Stephen M. Loftin says he believes that medical malpractice "verdicts over $1 million have been rare in Harris County since tort reform capped noneconomic damages 10 years ago."

He says the Windrum case was "a particularly egregious example of negligence." Mr. Windrum visited Cypress Medical Center's ER on Feb. 3, 2010, with a headache, slurred speech and confusion. It was the fourth such episode he had suffered in eight months and was a classic presentation of a condition with a well-recognized treatment that would have saved Mr. Windrum's life.

Both a CT scan and an MRI clearly revealed hydrocephalus, a buildup of cerebrospinal fluid. The condition can be fatal if the fluid isn't drained. Dr. Kareh chose to monitor the patient for 24 hours, concluded he did not have hydrocephalus and sent him home.

In subsequent visits after Mr. Windrum again experienced severe symptoms of hydrocephalus, Dr. Kareh ordered tests unrelated to his condition and failed to treat him appropriately. On May 2, 2010, Mr. Windrum died at home.

Founded in 1997, Hicks Thomas, LLP, is a premier litigation firm representing plaintiffs and defendants across the nation. With offices in Houston, Dallas, and Sacramento, the firm provides in-depth experience in cases involving oil and gas, environmental, complex commercial, toxic tort, products liability, corporate governance, securities, banking, insurance coverage, transportation, trade secrets and business litigation. Visit the firm at http://www.hicks-thomas.com.

For more information on the malpractice verdict, please contact Kit Frieden at 1-800-559-4534 or [email protected].

SOURCE Hicks Thomas, LLP