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Frederick Co. jury awards $700K in wrongful death case
A Frederick County jury awarded more than $700,000 to the family of a man who had a fatal heart attack in 2012 days after visiting doctors for chest pain.
The jury found the doctor and physician’s assistant at Frederick Primary Care Associates PA liable for the death of Bradley Fritz, a 34-year-old man who visited the practice after several days of chest pain and shortness of breath.
An electrocardiogram was abnormal, but Fritz was sent for a CT scan and then referred to a cardiologist if his symptoms did not improve, according to the complaint, filed in 2015. Two days after his visit, Fritz died and an autopsy found evidence of coronary artery disease and multiple heart attacks.
The jury got the case after six days of trial and deliberated for approximately five hours before returning a $728,612.35 verdict for the plaintiffs Tuesday, according to attorney Gregory Hopper.
“My clients waited six years to find justice, and they feel good that that happened,” said Hopper, of Bekman, Marder & Adkins LLC in Baltimore.
The jury awarded $100,000 to each of Fritz’s parents and to his estate as well as $400,000 to his daughter, plus funeral expenses and past child support.
“It was really hard for them,” Hopper said of the family. “They were there every day. His daughter was 14 at the time that this all happened so she had been shielded from the details of it. She definitely had a difficult time.”
The plaintiffs presented evidence that the standard of care for physicians seeing a patient with Fritz’s symptoms would be to send them to an emergency room to rule out a heart attack and inform them of the dangers of future cardiac events.
The defense argued Fritz did not have the classic symptoms of a heart attack and, given his relatively young age, it would not be typical to send him to an emergency room, according to Hopper.
Three experts, a family physician, physician’s assistant and cardiologist, testified for the plaintiffs that the defendants breached the standard of care.
Frederick W. Goundry III, who represented the defendants, said he will most likely file post-trial motions in the case.
“My clients are very disappointed in the verdict and we’re considering our options at this point,” said Goundry, of Varner & Goundry in Frederick.
Meldina Dietz et al. v. Kristen Hand et al.
Court: Frederick County Circuit Court
Case No.: 10-C-15-002608
Judge: William R. Nicklas, Jr.
Proceeding: Jury trial
Outcome: Verdict for plaintiffs ($100,000 each to decedent’s mother, father and estate; $400,000 to decedent’s daughter; $13,867.35 in funeral expenses; $14,745 in past child support)
Dates:
Incident: Sept. 25, 2012 to Sept. 27, 2012
Suit filed: Sept. 10, 2015
Verdict: Oct. 30, 2018
Plaintiff’s Attorneys: Gregory Hopper and Jeffrey Quinn of Bekman, Marder & Adkins LLC in Baltimore
Defendant’s Attorneys: Frederick W. Goundry III of Varner & Goundry in Frederick
Counts: Wrongful death, survival action
