Professional Negligence Law Reporter

Bryan O’Neal Roach, 23, went to a hospital emergency room, complaining of chest pain. Physician assistant Amber Herring examined Roach, who also underwent an EKG, a chest X-ray, and bloodwork. Herring later discharged Roach after diagnosing atypical chest pain and febrile illness. Later that morning, Roach died of an aortic dissection. He is survived by his parents.

They sued Herring, her employer, and her supervising physician, alleging failure to order a CT scan in light of Roach’s grossly abnormal chest X-ray, which showed a wide mediastinum. The plaintiffs also asserted that the physician failed to examine Roach and that the defendants failed to determine the cause of his chest pain before discharging him.

The jury awarded $1.25 million.

Citation: Roach v. Athens Clarke Emergency Specialists, No. SU14CV1333 (Ga. Super. Ct. Athens-Clarke Cty. Feb. 4, 2020).

Plaintiff counsel: AAJ member J. Vincent Cook and R. Christopher Irwin III, both of Athens, Ga.

Plaintiff experts: J. Andrew Sumner, emergency medicine, Baltimore; James Britenburg, emergency medicine, Anderson, S.C.; Mario Figueroa, emergency medicine, Jackson, Tenn.; Sunil Malhotra, cardiothoracic surgery, Portland, Me.; and Brittney Marler Driggers, physician assistance, Atlanta.

Defense experts: Alan Winston, cardiothoracic surgery, Gainesville, Ga.; David Wharton, emergency medicine, Chattanooga, Tenn.; Stephen Colucciello, emergency medicine, Charlotte, N.C.; and Benjamin Taylor, physician assistance, Augusta, Ga.