Physician and Affiliated Providers

Wicker Smith aggressively represents, counsels and defends medical professionals against all forms of professional malpractice. Our attorneys have defended clients at both the trial and appellate level, working with clients to determine an alternative strategy through strategic dispute resolution tactics. Wicker Smith also defends insurance agents and brokers in a wide variety of litigation and regulatory matters. These include cases involving claims of negligence, breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, and other alleged errors and omissions. Our vast knowledge of the variety of insurance carriers – as well as the regulations governing the insurance industry – provide our attorneys with an advantage in defending claims against these insurance professionals.

As licensed professionals, healthcare providers are required to hold certification in good standing. When issues arise, our attorneys represent healthcare providers whose licenses are being investigated by the Florida Department of Health. The list of professional boards before which our lawyers have appeared includes the Board of Medicine, the Board of Osteopathic Medicine, the Board of Chiropractic Medicine, the Board of Dentistry, the Board of Nursing, the Board of Psychology, the Board of Physical Therapy Practice, and the Board of Pharmacy. Wicker Smith defends matters before the Department of Health’s Unlicensed Activity Program; we defend investigations into physicians’ Board Certifications; and we negotiate the process through which healthcare providers enter contracts with the Professionals Resource Network and the Intervention Project for Nurses.

Defense Verdict for a Chiropractor in Williamson County, Tennessee

Attorneys: John Floyd, Sr., Summer Harcup

Plaintiff alleged a lumbar burst fracture and fraudulent record keeping on behalf of our defendant chiropractor. After a four-day trial, the jury returned a defense verdict.

Defense Verdict for a Dentist in Williamson County, Tennessee

Attorneys: John Floyd, Sr., John Floyd Jr.

This case arose from the defense of an orthodontist who allegedly negligently extracted the teeth of a minor child and failed to provide informed consent, resulting in need for dental implants and jaw surgery. Plaintiff had two subsequent treating providers testify against Defendant, but the jury still returned a complete defense verdict.

Defense Verdict in Favor of an Orthopedic Surgeon in South Florida

Attorneys: Teresita M. Baron, Maxwell J. Levine

Plaintiff alleged that our client, an orthopedic surgeon and upper extremity specialist, negligently performed surgery when he repaired Plaintiff’s severely comminuted distal radius fracture with a volar plate and screws. The Plaintiff alleged that our client improperly placed screws into the intra-articular joint space, and improperly set the wrist at the wrong angle, which necessitated a second surgery by a subsequent treating hand surgeon to remove the plate and screws and set the wrist at the proper angle. Plaintiff demanded almost $890,000, but the jury returned a defense verdict.

Wrongful Death Allegation Results in Defense Verdict

Attorneys: Richards "Dick" Ford, Patrick L. Mixson

The Plaintiff, the Estate of [the Decedent], claimed on behalf of his surviving spouse that the 57-year-old decedent died from a pulmonary embolism two days after an arthroscopic meniscectomy surgery performed by our client, an orthopedic surgeon, in December 2014. The Plaintiff claimed that our client failed to recognize that the patient was at high risk for deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism after the procedure and should have received medication for prophylactic anticoagulation following the surgery. The Plaintiff relied upon the opinions of an orthopedic surgery expert for both standard of care and causation claims. The Defendants presented the testimony of an orthopedic surgery expert and hematology expert, both of whom rejected the notion that the patient was at high risk for DVT. The defense’s orthopedic surgery expert testified that it was not the standard of care to provide prophylactic anticoagulation medication. The Defendants’ hematology expert testified that the medication, if given, would not have prevented the Plaintiff’s death. The jury returned a defense verdict after seven days in trial.

Challenging Facts in a Dental Malpractice Case

Attorneys: John Floyd, Sr., Summer Harcup

This case involved allegations of dental malpractice arising from several extractions and root canals performed by our dentist in 2015. Plaintiff alleged that our dentist’s treatment required her to undergo substantial remedial care causing her to develop osteonecrosis of the jaw. Despite some challenging testimony from some of our client’s former employees, the jury still returned a complete defense verdict. 

Allegations of Negligence in a Colonoscopy Result in a Defense Verdict

Attorneys: T. Michael Kennedy, Maxwell J. Levine

Plaintiff alleged that he suffered a colon perforation during a colonoscopy, and alleged improper discharge, which lead to a 28-hour delay in diagnosis. The alleged delay in diagnosis to a more extensive and complicated surgical repair, resulting in increased risk of future medical complications. Plaintiff demanded policy limits to settle the claim early on and again a week before trial. Plaintiff asked for $500,000 in closing argument, but the jury returned a complete defense verdict.

$1.3 Million Verdict Avoided in a Chiropractic Case

Attorneys: Kurt M. Spengler, Melissa T. Woodward

Plaintiff claimed that our defendant chiropractor failed to properly diagnose and treat his foot injury and failed to refer him to an orthopedic specialist in a timely manner. Plaintiff demanded $1.3 million, but the jury found no negligence on the part of our client and returned a complete defense verdict.

Defense Verdict on Behalf of a Chiropractor in Orange County, Florida

Attorneys: Richards "Dick" Ford, Kurt M. Spengler

Plaintiff brought suit against his chiropractor after requiring spine surgery a few days after a chiropractic adjustment. Plaintiff called a chiropractic expert and the treating surgeon who performed the back surgery. They asked the jury for over $200,000 in damages. The jury rendered a complete defense verdict.

Summary Judgment: Pinellas County, Florida (Medical Malpractice)

Attorneys: Nichole M. Koford, Tiffany Gatesh Fearing
We represented a trauma surgeon and his practice in this case, that arose from Plaintiff’s presentation to the hospital after a bicycle accident. Upon arrival to the ER, the trauma surgeon ordered multiple CT scans, including one for Plaintiff’s cervical spine. Although Plaintiff initially complained of numbness and tingling to his lower extremities and an inability to move his lower extremities, records demonstrated that during the progression of his ER presentation, Plaintiff was able to move all of his extremities, bear weight, and withdraw from pain. None of the objective assessments, including the CT scan of his cervical spine, showed any signs of an acute spinal cord injury. As a result, the trauma surgeon discharged the Plaintiff home with instructions to follow up if his symptoms worsened. Plaintiff never returned. Instead, eleven days later he walked into a different hospital reporting neck pain along with numbness and weakness of his lower extremities. An MRI at the second hospital demonstrated an acute spinal injury and Plaintiff underwent spinal surgery. Plaintiff filed suit against our client, alleging that the surgeon’s discharge of Plaintiff constituted a reckless disregard for the Plaintiff’s care and treatment and caused him to undergo spinal surgery that resulted in injuries including an inability to walk independently. During the course of the litigation, Plaintiff’s trauma surgery expert opined at deposition that our client did not act with reckless disregard or cause the injuries Plaintiff complained of. As a result, Plaintiff filed an Affidavit of an Emergency Medicine physician expert but this expert’s opinions were stricken by the Court because he was not in the same specialty as our Defendant. This case was in litigation for over six years, and during that time several good faith efforts to settle were rejected. As such, we moved for summary judgment, citing Plaintiff’s failure to provide any admissible expert opinions that showed our client breached the standard of care. The Court agreed, and summary judgment was granted.

Summary Judgment: Rutherford County, Tennessee (Medical Malpractice)

Attorneys: John Floyd Jr.
Nashville Partner, John Floyd, Jr., obtained summary judgment in a medical malpractice matter in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Plaintiff was a 54 year old woman under the care of our client, a foot and ankle surgeon, for a wound on her foot. Plaintiff became aware that her wound was not healing properly in the middle of October 2016. Although she documented the poor healing of the wound, she did not present back to the podiatrist’s office to have the wound reassessed until mid-November, almost three weeks later. At that time, it was determined that sepsis had set in, requiring amputation of Plaintiff’s right leg below the knee in November 2016. Plaintiff filed an initial Complaint against our client in February 2018, non-suited that Complaint in June 2018, and finally filed her Second Amended Complaint in October 2019. We moved for summary judgment, arguing that since Plaintiff’s Second Amended Complaint was filed a full three years after the cause of her injury, the statute of limitations for bringing such a claim had expired. The Court agreed, granting summary judgment in favor of our client and authorizing our client to seek fees and costs.
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