Jones, Skelton & Hochuli health care defense attorneys Steve Bullington and Cory Tyszka recently obtained a unanimous defense verdict in a wrongful death medical malpractice case. Their client, a cardiothoracic surgeon, was facing allegations of medical malpractice arising from an open-heart surgery of an 18-year-old woman following an unrestrained motor vehicle crash. During the 15-day jury trial, Plaintiff alleged that Defendant was negligent by failing to establish bypass before the start of surgery, failing to control the patient’s bleeding during surgery, and negligently placing the patient into deep hypothermic circulatory arrest. Plaintiff claimed that Defendant’s alleged negligence caused the patient to suffer permanent brain injury, which led to the withdrawal of life support and her subsequent death. Defendant maintained that he met the standard of care in all respects, and that the severe cardiac rupture suffered during the patient’s motor vehicle accident was not survivable. Plaintiff claimed $8,000,000 in pain and suffering and loss of consortium. The case was tried in Yuma County Superior Court before the Honorable Larry Kenworthy. After deliberating for approximately one hour, the jury returned a unanimous defense verdict on April 8, 2019.
Throughout his 30-year career, Steve Bullington has tried more than 20 cases before a jury. He dedicates his practice to representing health care providers in matters involving allegations of medical malpractice and other areas of health care law. Steve is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers (ACTL) and is AV-Preeminent Rated by Martindale-Hubbell. He is consistently recognized for his medical malpractice defense work by The Best Lawyers in America and by Southwest Super Lawyers.
Cory Tyszka represents health care providers and pharmaceutical manufacturers in the areas of medical malpractice, pharmaceutical malpractice, and products liability defense. She has assisted as second-chair in five jury trials since joining Jones, Skelton & Hochuli in 2015, and serves on the Executive Committee for the Maricopa chapter of the Arizona Women Lawyers Association (AWLA). She was recently recognized as a Southwest Super Lawyers Rising Star.
In January 2020, Cory received a Golden Advocate Award for the two reconstruction videos she used in this case. The first animation showed the car accident that caused the deceased’s injury, with views of the internal injuries to the skeleton, heart and brain. The second animation showed a detailed rendering of the rupture to the heart, enabling the jury to understand that the deceased’s cardiac injury was not survivable.