Jury Finds For Fort Smith Doctor In Malpractice Suit
Last updated Saturday, December 1, 2007 10:08 PM CST in News
By Wanda Freeman
Times Record
FORT SMITH — A jury on Friday found in favor of a Fort Smith doctor in a medical malpractice lawsuit in which the plaintiff sought nearly $3 million in damages.
Fort Smith attorney Stanley Leasure and his wife, Sharon, sued Dr. Eduardo A. “Tony” DeMondesert in February 2006, claiming the gastroenterologist was negligent in treating the attorney for Crohn’s disease in 2004 and his negligence resulted in a severe infection that continues to plague Leasure today.
According to testimony and concluding arguments in the weeklong trial, Leasure had suffered with Crohn’s, a type of inflammatory bowel disease, for several years and had undergone major abdominal surgery in 2001 before consulting with DeMondesert.
He was admitted to the hospital in March 2004 under DeMondesert’s care and underwent several infusions of the drug Remicade. In June 2004, about a month after his third infusion, Leasure came down with flulike symptoms and was eventually diagnosed to have disseminated histoplasmosis.
The Leasures’ attorney, E.C. Gilbreath, argued that previous to the Remicade infusion of May 2004, Leasure showed 17 signs of an existing infection, including fluid on the lung indicating pneumonia, which should have ruled out that third infusion; and that Leasure never would have agreed to the Remicade treatments had he known the risk of developing histoplasmosis.
DeMondesert’s attorney, Walter Cox of Fayetteville, argued that the likelihood of contracting the infection was only two-tenths of a percent and that Leasure had previously willingly taken drugs for his Crohn’s while aware they posed cancer risks.
The Leasures sought $1.2 million in damages on the medical negligence claims, $1.4 million for decreased earning capacity and other damages for future medical expenses and loss of consortium.
The jury deliberated about 30 to 45 minutes before finding for the defendant late Friday afternoon.
Cox said, “We’re very happy and very relieved that it’s over.”
Gilbreath, contacted before the verdict was delivered, declined to speak to a reporter.
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