Gary Samms Secures a Defense Verdict on Behalf of a Primary Care Physician
On October 18, 2023, Gary Samms, Chair of Obermayer’s Professional Liability and Catastrophic Loss Group, secured a defense verdict in the Court of Common Pleas before The Honorable Angelo Foglietta, after a contentious nine-day trial. The jury found no liability for a primary care physician who was accused of making improper referrals to a weight loss physician and failing to work up a 36-year-old obese woman for cardiac issues. The decedent left behind a 4-year-old son and quadriplegic husband making the case extremely sympathetic.
The Legal Intelligencer covered this medical malpractice trial in the article, titled “Facing Sympathetic Plaintiff and Millions in Economic Damages Alone, Doctor Nets Defense Win in Phila. Court,” published on October 26, 2023.
“My doctor was very passionate about her own defense,” Samms said. “And we were able to show from the records that there was a lack of cardiac symptoms that would have required a cardiac workup.”
According to Samms, his clients had discussed a $250,000 to $2 million high-low agreement, but the plaintiff’s demand was for $2 million, which was the full amount of the doctor’s insurance policy, so the defense decided to take the case to trial.
