Clifford Law Offices Obtains Record Verdict in State of South Carolina
Press Release, 03/16/2000A $3.5 million verdict was reached late Saturday in Greenville, South Carolina, which is believed to be the largest malpractice verdict in that state's history for a wrongful death.
Jeffrey Kroll, partner at Clifford Law Offices of Chicago, Illinois, obtained the record verdict following a week-long trial in the colon cancer medical malpractice case.
The incident involved, James Burroughs, a 40-year-old man who visited his family practitioner in South Carolina complaining of severe stomach pains in 1995 and the physician recommended over-the-counter medication. Burroughs, a long-time patient of the defendant, Dr. John Worsham of Simpsonville, South Carolina, knew Burroughs was anemic for approximately two years and failed to order tests for colon cancer or refer him to a colon cancer specialist.
All testifying physicians at the trial, including the defendant, agreed that anemia in a male can be consistent with colon cancer. Burroughs was diagnosed with colon cancer by a physician at Edwards Hospital in Naperville, Illinois, in November, 1997. He died in May, 1999.
He lived in west suburban Bolingbrook until 1998 and worked at the corporate offices for Hyatt Hotel in Chicago until that time.
"This man's death was particularly tragic because early detection with some simple, routine tests could have saved this man's life," Kroll said.
"We are gratified that the jury were able to open their minds and hearts to listen carefully to the evidence presented in this complex matter and based their verdict on the facts presented at trial," Susan Rosen said.
The six-man-six-woman jury deliberated for approximately 12 hours before reaching the record verdict late Saturday afternoon. The jury initially returned the verdict for $7 million, but it was reduced by half when the jury attributed 50 percent of the fault to Burroughs who apparently had missed several doctor's appointments during his ordeal.
Clifford Law Offices is a nationally recognized law firm concentrating in personal injury, medical malpractice, aviation, transportation and product liability law. Susan Rosen and Richard Rosen of Rosen, Hagood & Goodstein of Charleston, South Carolina, also were co-counsel on the case. Isobel Thomas, an associate at Clifford Law Offices , assisted Kroll during the week-long trial in the Greenville County Courthouse.
Clifford Law Offices is a nationally recognized law firm concentrating in personal injury, medical malpractice, aviation, transportation and product liability law. Susan Rosen and Richard Rosen of Rosen, Hagood & Goodstein of Charleston, South Carolina, also were co-counsel on the case. Isobel Thomas, an associate at Clifford Law Offices , assisted Kroll during the week-long trial in the Greenville County Courthouse.
"It was a pleasure to work with such competent counsel from Chicago, and it demonstrates that cooperation with counsel who have such expertise can result in a verdict that is both justified and exceptional in the state of South Carolina," Richard Rosen said.
This verdict represents Kroll's third million-dollar-plus verdict since July, all setting records in their respective counties, and his eleventh multi-million-dollar verdict or settlement in the last four years.
According to local court authorities the verdict in Greenville, South Carolina, is a record verdict in the history of that county, home of Bob Jones University.
