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Barbara Bradley wins appeal court in complex medical negligence case

November 22, 2023

Barbara and her husband, Michael B., have been locked in a long-running legal battle with a Boston-based casket expert named Dr David Sugarbaker. Dr Sugarbaker was found not guilty in two trials, but Barbara and her husband have now appealed. They say the district court made a mistake by allowing certain kinds of arguments and denying their medical claims. In this blog post, we'll take a look at the case and its history, the main appeals, and how the court relied on the trial and the district court decision.

Case Background:

In November 2004, Ms. Barbara Bradley got an MRI that showed she had a tumor in her right lung. Dr. Sugarbaker, the radiologist, was the one who suggested she get an FNA (facial nerve aspiration) to make sure it was cancerous. Depending on where the tumor is, it might not be possible to do an FNA. Ms. Bradley told Dr Francine Jacobson and a radiologist she knew about the situation. The next day, Ms. Bradley decided not to get an FNA and canceled her appointment at another hospital that week.

Dr. Sugarbaker did the vivisection, and it was a small tumor. But it caused a lot of issues, and Ms. Bradley had to quit her job as a librarian. In 2007, she filed a lawsuit against Sugarbaker for medical malpractice, inappropriate touching, and not giving her consent. Even though she was found guilty, the conviction was thrown out after they looked into it further because the expert's explanation was wrong and unnecessary.

Bradley’s Appeal Focused on Several Key Aspects

  1. The acceptability of the journal entry: The Bradleys argued that the district court erred in allowing part of Ms. Bradley's diary in evidence, citing it and the quote; residual exception" to the report setting.
  2. The validity of the Hartford documentation is being challenged: The exception was used to reject the validity of the rest of Ms. Bradley's documents and number 039 because they also questioned their sufficiency in hearsay arguments.
  3. Waiver of Medical Malpractice Charges According to the Bradleys, the lower court erred in dismissing their medical malpractice claim.

The Court's Rationale:

In its ruling, the court split up all of these companies. As far as the suitability of the diary and the Hartland document goes, the Commission said any mistakes in including these explanations were irrelevant. The court said the jury had already heard about Ms. and Dr. Bradley when they were in the Sugarbaker will, so it didn't matter how much evidence they had at the time. They also looked at the Bradleys' medical malpractice claims.

According to their statement, there was no illicit activity involved, however, there was an absence of prior knowledge and agreement. Consequently, the court determined that their assertions regarding misbehavior and conscious agreement were so thoroughly interconnected that achieving victory on one aspect while facing defeat on the other would be unattainable.

If the court made a mistake and ruled that the particular infringement charge should be thrown out, there wouldn't be any prejudice. The court just confirmed the district's decision. He said that their mistakes in making some arguments and the claim that they waived medical negligence were minor and wouldn't change the outcome. This case just goes to show how complicated litigation can be and how important it is to use the right legal tactics when filing and filing claims.

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