Turner v. Rad et al

Malpractice, Failure to diagnose

Orange County

Superior Court Judge Robert J. Moss

Terrence Schafer

Defense Lawyers: Doyle, Schafer & McMahon LLP, Terrence J. Schafer

Plaintiff's Lawyers: Hodes Milman LLP, Benjamin T. Ikuta; Burke Argos, Jason N. Argos

Terrence J. Schafer of Doyle, Schafer & McMahon in Irvine successfully defended a surgeon after a woman diagnosed with Stage IV colorectal cancer accused the surgeon of failing to diagnose her correctly.

Jacqueline A. Turner, an attorney, was referred to the surgeon in March 2018 after she noticed blood in her stool. The surgeon initially detected hemorrhoids.

According to the surgeon, he advised Turner that the blood could be due to other sources and that she should return in four weeks for the possible scheduling of a flexible sigmoidoscopy after her pregnancy was complete.

But Schafer said Turner never returned to seek additional treatment until eight months later in December 2018 after she had delivered the baby and the bleeding continued. The defense contended the surgeon had recommended a colonoscopy when she came back in.

Schafer said the challenge of the case was to navigate the sympathy factor. He had experts brought in who explained why the surgeon had acted correctly.

"The challenge was not having the jury get overwhelmed with the loss that this family is undeniably suffering," Schafer said. "All of that in the backdrop of a case where it really does turn on the question of does the jury believe the patient about what she was told to do next or did the jury believe the physician when all the sympathy is on the patient's side?"

Turner denied the surgeon advised her to seek a colonoscopy at the time. She was diagnosed with cancer in January 2019.

Her mentor at Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP said Turner was on track to be equity partner by 2024. The plaintiffs argued the loss of future earnings should be valued to over $17 million.

The plaintiff's lawyer, Benjamin T. Ikuta, trial attorney at Hodes Milman LLP, said that the biggest challenge for him was Schafer.

"The quality of the defense attorney matters so much in medical malpractice, even more than the likability of the doctor or the testimony of the experts," Ikuta said. "He was very formidable and well-prepared."

An Orange County jury ultimately sided with the surgeon in October. Turner v. Rad et al., 30-2019-01112889 (Orange County Sup. Ct, filed Nov. 19, 2019).

"Orange County juries have proven time and time again to be fantastic at setting aside sympathy and deciding the case based on the facts and evidence," Schafer said.

-- Henrik Nilsson