Cherrylaw.com

By Thaddeus M. Baklinski – LifeSiteNews.com

PHILADELPHIA, August 15, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A woman who went to a Planned Parenthood clinic in Philadelphia in February 2003 to have contraceptive implant rods removed from her arm, has successfully sued the doctor who bungled the removal procedure.

Dana Asbury, a 39-year-old mother of three, was awarded more than $2.78 million in damages in a medical malpractice suit in which she maintained she has suffered excruciating and chronic pain, first, after Dr. Joel Lebed, who was associated with Planned Parenthood of Philadelphia, attempted to remove contraceptive implant rods, and then later when she underwent “unnecessary” neck surgery, said a report by Delcotimes.

“Obviously we’re pleased that the jury felt she had a meritorious case,” said Asbury’s attorney Garland D. Cherry Jr.

The woman’s problems began when Dr. Lebed, who was described in the legal papers as “inexperienced” to perform the medical procedure, made several unsuccessful attempts to remove the matchstick-sized rods. Asbury was described as being in severe pain throughout the procedure.

“(Dr. Lebed) gave up after a lot of pain and tears,” said attorney Cherry.

Eventually, another doctor in the PP clinic, Janet Wilson, removed all of the rods.

An article published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Volume 195, Issue 1, July 2006, titled “Nerve injury caused by removal of an implantable hormonal contraceptive” warns that an experienced clinician is required for proper insertion and removal, to minimize the risk of nerve damage.

“Implanon (a brand of contraceptive implant rods) insertion and removal are relatively uncomplicated procedures in the hands of medical professionals familiar with the technique. However, injury to branches of the medial antebrachial cutaneous nerve during Implanon insertion and removal can result in impaired sensibility, severe localized pain, or the formation of painful neuroma that can be quite devastating to the patient.”

“In the event that an injury to the nerve is recognized, immediate plastic surgical measures should be undertaken to avoid displeasing sequels of nerve injuries. Therefore, the benefit of this generally well-tolerated, highly effective, and relatively cost-efficient contraception is guaranteed only in the hands of medical professionals familiar with the technique,” the article concludes.

Following her surgery Asbury became debilitated because of the ensuing pain that began in her arm and progressively spread until it affected the whole left side of her body. She was consequently diagnosed with complex regional pain syndrome (RPS), which involves a malfunction to the nervous system causing extreme sensitivity and chronic pain.

As a result of the RPS diagnosis, Asbury underwent a cervical laminectomy, a fusion of the cervical vertebrae, the bones of the neck that support the head, at the hands of Dr. Richard Kanoff, a neurosurgeon with Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital.

“The fusion itself was a successful fusion,” said attorney Cherry in the DelcoTimesreport. “The hardware was correct and everything held. The only problem was she didn’t need it and it worsened her condition.”

In awarding the money to Asbury for “past and future loss of earning capacity, future medical care, and pain and suffering” as well as to Asbury’s husband for “loss of consortium”, the jury determined Dr. Lebed was 60 percent liable for the damages and Dr. Kanoff 40 percent.

By Ed Gebhart – DelCo Times.com

“In case you missed a small item in your favorite newspaper the other day, the name Garland D. Cherry still is making news in legal circles. We always knew Garland D. “Bill” Cherry Sr., was among the best and brightest legal minds in the county, but Garland D. ‘Gary’ Cherry Jr., isn’t doing too bad either.

Gary (Nether Providence High, Widener U., Villanova Law) is the oldest of five children born to Bill and the former Lucy Varano, herself an attorney. Bill and Lucy fell in love when they were 11th graders at Chester High and stayed that way. Four of their five kids are practicing attorneys.

Bill made a name for himself when he was the attorney for the late Jack Nilon at the time he and the Nilon Bros. concessionaire firm were heavily involved with the career of heavyweight boxer Sonny Liston.

Gary’s latest case involved a $1.7 million jury award to his client. Add that to a $2.75 million settlement negotiated for another client in 1997 and you can see the apple didn’t fall very far from the tree in the Cherry family.”

[Case: Fromm vs. Hershey Medical Center]

By Douglas Herbert, Inquirer Correspondent  – Friday, August 1, 1997

A former dishwasher from Chester was awarded $2.75 million Wednesday by Delaware County jurors, who found that a Philadelphia doctor and hospital were negligent in canceling surgery after the man’s insurer balked at the cost.

The award to Donald Blunt, who used to work at the Bennigan’s res-taurant in King of Prussia, was one of the region’s largest in a medical malpractice suit this year. It came almost seven years to the day after Blunt slipped and fractured a joint in his left foot while mopping down the premises on August 1, 1990.

Two days after the injury, Blunt consulted with Dr. Pekka Mooar, chief of sports medicine at the Medical College of Pennsylvania Hospital, now Allegheny University Hospitals/MCP. In his suit, Blunt alleged that Mooar advised him that he should undergo immediate surgery to prevent a worsening of his condition. But soon after scheduling the surgery, Blunt alleged Mooar abruptly called it off.

The suit contended that Mooar reversed course only after learning that Liberty Mutual Insurance Co., Bennigan’s worker’s compensation carrier, had declined to cover the cost of the surgery.

At Blunt’s three-day trial, Mooar argued through his attorney, Charles B. Burr 2d, that he had never pressed for immediate surgery during the initial consultation. He also disputed Blunt’s contention that Mooar was responsible for a subsequent aggravation of Blunt’scondition, which required him to have two bone fusions by another doctor in 1991.

“Not only was that fracture treated properly, but when the patient continued to complain of pain, we probed to determine what the cause of that pain might be.” Burr said yesterday, noting that his client was considering “all available options” – including an appeal – in the wake of the verdict.

Burr insisted that Blunt had fractured – not dislocated – the LisFrank joint in his left foot. He said this was an important distinction because if effectively placed Blunt’s injury in a category of nonemergency cases in which surgery is an“elective” choice.

“This was a little fleck of bone we’re talking about,” Burr said of the fracture. Blunt’s attorney, Garland D.Cherry, Jr., called a podiatrist and an orthopedic surgeon, who both testified that it was standard to treat an injury of Blunt’s nature with surgery.

Cherry maintained at the trial that Mooar’s failure to operate on his client, or at least refer him to another doctor, amounted to “abandonment.” Had surgery been performed in a timely manner, Cherry told jurors, Blunt would likely have been able to avoid two “salvage procedures,” in February and April 1991. In those cases, an orthopedic surgeon at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital fused several fractured bones using surgical pins.

But Burr countered that such surgery would have been not only impractical but impossible at the time that Blunt first consulted with Mooar.

“Their claim was that he should have immediately gone in and pinned this thing up, but the fact is that there was nothing to pin,” Burr said.

Blunt, who now works as a nurse’s aide, could not be reached for comment.

Yesterday, Cherry sought to portray the verdict as a broadside against callous physicians.

“It sends a pretty strong and clear message to doctors and hospitals that when you have a patient, any patient, whether they’re indigent or not, and you accept them for surgery, you have to proceed with the surgery,” he said.

Burr took aim at the jury’s finding that Mooar had been negligent. He asserted that Blunt, who stopped his visits to Mooar after the cancellation of the surgery, had reneged on his responsibility as a patient.

“He never called, he never returned to the hospital.” he said, referring to Blunt’s “disappearance” after Oct. 10. “It seems to me that if this man was in such pain, how could he have gone around for four months without being treated by anyone?”