vehicles motorcycle - fatal heart attack caused by auto accident

A 66-year old man suffers a heart attack in the hospital where he was admitted following an accident. The trial on causation.

The original case was brought to trial in 2014. Jennifer Tseng, of Tseng & Associates, defended the plaintiffs. The original jury verdict was appealed by the plaintiffs in 2016. K. Robert Gonter Jr. and Elham R. Rabani, of Gates Gonter Guy Proudfoot & Muench LLP, defended the second trial. Plaintiffs claimed that the subject accident led to the death of the decedent. The defense claimed that the decedent would have died if the accident had not occurred because of his pre-accident heart conditions. Facts: Guy Parks, aged 66, was driving his Jeep Grand Cherokee on Ontario Boulevard in Corona City. He was stopped at the Vons parking lot driveway exit. A Toyota Sienna was travelling eastbound on Ontario Boulevard, in the number 3 of three lanes. There were no other vehicles in the vicinity. Mr. Parks made a legal turn onto Ontario Avenue. Parks made a legal left turn onto Ontario Avenue. A 2005 Harley Davidson Heritage Softail Classic motorcycle was driving in the second lane. Rene Gougeon (60) was operating the bike. The Toyota was blind-spot for Mr. Gougeon’s Harley. He was taken via ambulance to Riverside Community Hospital (12 miles) Within 36 minutes, he arrived at Riverside Community Hospital. A few hours later, he died from a heart attack at the hospital.First Test: The Riverside County Judge Daniel A. Ottolia presided over the first trial, which began on May 9, 2014. The first trial was conducted by a different defense firm. The jury found Mr. The jury found that Parks was negligent but not a significant factor in the death of Mr. Gougeon. Judgement was entered for defendant, Mr. Parks and against the plaintiffs Ruth Gougeon and Steven Gougeon and Madeline Gougeon and Nicole Shuey. Plaintiffs moved for judgment notwithstanding verdict (JNOV), but this was denied. The trial court granted plaintiffs an alternative motion for a fresh trial on a Kennemurviolation. In which the defense expert in cardiology had presented an opinion at trial based upon new information regarding an additional cause of death, i.e ., an injury to the artery that was caused by the medical staff placing the stents. Appeal: The Court of Appeal of The State of California Fourth Appellate District Division Two ruled that plaintiffs’ motion to compel JNOV was incorrectly denied by the trial court on December 22, 2016. The jury found that plaintiffs had failed to prove causality, and substantial evidence supported this decision. The Appellate Court, however, affirmed the order of the trial court granting a fresh trial and rejected the appeal by defendant. The appeal centered on whether Mr. Gougeon’s heart attack that caused his death was due to the traffic accident or whether he would have died from the heart attack even if it had not happened. Both the plaintiffs and the defendants agreed that Mr. Gougeon died from a heart attack; however, the contention was what caused the heart attacks in the first instance. An autopsy revealed that Mr. Gougeon had severe preexisting heart conditions and a reduced life expectancy. His history of hypertension was extensive. He also had atherosclerotic cardiomyopathy, which blocked more than 50% of the major coronary arteries. His heart was almost twice its normal size and his left ventricle wall was 50% thicker than it should be. The third left anterior ascending (LAD) artery was blocked at 100 percent when he arrived at the hospital. Second Test: The second trial began on May 1, 2018. The second trial was held at the Superior Court of Riverside County with Judge Daniel A. Ottolia as the presiding judge. Before the trial began, plaintiffs’ counsel requested a protective order to stop defense from arguing liability. This motion was granted. As Mr. Parks was negligent. Plaintiffs called Dr. Underwood first, an unretained expert in emergency medicine. Dr. Underwood, who had been practicing emergency medicine for 24+ years, stated that it was rare for a patient to present with trauma and a heart attack in the emergency room. Dr. Underwood stated that such an event had never happened before. The treating cardiologist Dr. Alturjuman was called by the plaintiffs. He testified that Mr. Gougeon’s injury/trauma delayed Mr. Gougeon entering the Cath lab. Dr. Alturjuman, however, considered the situation and reported that the procedures were successful and that no complications were noted in any reports. Next Dr. Fajardo was called, who was the coroner that performed the autopsy of Mr. Gougeon. He then discussed the autopsy results related to heart disease, cardiovascular disease, and kidney disease. Dr. Farjardo stated the accident was the cause of his death and that it was a significant factor. Cross-examination revealed that Dr. Fajardo had admitted that myocardial Infarction/heart Attack was the cause of his death. The motor vehicle accident was the secondary cause. Plaintiffs then called Dr. Wohlgelernter (another cardiologist) who testified that he thought the accident caused the heart attack. He also said that Mr. Gougen would still have survived the heart attack had it not occurred and that he would have lived another 20 years. Cross-examination revealed several contradictions in Dr. Wohlgelernter’s testimony. was that Mr. Gougeon received 45 minutes of CPR, and that his sternum wasn’t fractured upon entering the hospital. This demonstrates that there has not been an accident-related chest injury. Plaintiffs viewed the video deposition of Dr. Massee who is a radiology specialist at Riverside Community Hospital and who read the images relating to Mr. Gougeon as he entered the hospital. Dr. Massee stated that the CT scan of Mr. Gougeon’s chest did not reveal a fracture in the sternum. Dr. Massee explained that he had not initially seen a fracture in the sternum. Dr. King, a neuroradiologic was called to testify. He claimed that Mr. Gougeon suffered a sternum injury when he arrived at the hospital. Dr. King agreed with Dr. Massee’s second opinion on a sternal injury. Cross examination revealed that Mr. Gougeon was not shown any evidence of a fracture in his sternum on the CT scans or X-rays. Dr. King referred to artefactual markings, which are imperfections in film running through the image. This was the defense’s position. At the time of Mr. Gougeon’s death, he was unemployed. Dr. Formuzis was summoned to testify to the loss of $537,820 in earnings from Mr. Gougeon’s January 1, 2011 date of assumed employment. Cross-examination revealed that Mr. Gougeon had retired at the time of his passing. Dr. Formuzis acknowledged that he was told by the plaintiffs that Mr. Gougeon had been out of work for nine months prior to his death. The defense presented its case on May 21, 2018. The defense cardiologist Dr. Chesne stated that the accident didn’t cause the heart attack and was not a significant factor. Next, Dr. Rothman (defense neuroradiologist) explained the artefactual strips that ran through the films. Dr. Rothman stated that Mr. Gougeon’s sternum wasn’t broken at the time he entered the hospital and that the markings were not mistaken for breaks. Finally, defense pathologist Dr. Pietruszka was called. He stated that the accident was not a significant factor in the death. He relied on Dr. Fajardo’s report that indicated “necrosis in the heart” upon autopsy. Dr. Pietruszka said that necrosis must have been visible to the naked eye at least 12 hours before it could be seen. This would have placed the heart attack prior to the accident. The closing argument of plaintiffs’ counsel lasted 1.5 hours and began on May 23rd 2018. He requested that the jury award all economic damages as per their forensic economist’s reports. This included past earnings loss and household services losses totaling $774,962. The jury was then asked to award non-economic damages in excess of 28 million dollars.

Case Details

Case Name: Ruth Gougeon, Steven Gougeon, Madeline Gougeon, Nicole Shuey v. Guy Parks
Court and case number: Riverside County Superior Court/RIC1101877
Judgment or Verdict Date: Thursday May 24, 2018
Types of Action: Vehicles – Motorcycle, Wrongful death
Judge/Arbitrator(s),Hon. Daniel A. Ottolia
Plaintiffs: Ruth Gougeon, Steven Gougeon, Madeline Gougeon, Nicole Shuey
Defendants: Guy Parks
Verdict: Bench Type of Result

Verdict and Settlement

Award or Gross Verdict:$500,000
Economic Damages Past household services: $54,000
Non-Economic Damages:$446,000.00
Arbitration or Trial Time:14 Days.
Jury Deliberation Duration:11/2 Days.
Jury polls: Substantial Factor: 9-3; Past financial assistance: 10-2; Household services: 11-1. Future house services: 12-0.
Post Trial Motions and Post-Verdict Settlements Plaintiffs moved for a new trial based on inadequacy. This motion was denied.

Personal Injury Lawyers

Attorney for the Plaintiff Yuhl Carr LLP by James Carr, Marina del Rey.
Advocate for the Defendant Gates Gonter Guy Proudfoot & Muench LLP by Karl Robert Gonter Jr., Elham R. Rabbani Irvine

Expert Witnesses

Plaintiff’s Medical Expert(s).Mathew Underwood, M.D., emergency physician, Riverside. Ahmad Alturjuman, M.D., cardiology, Riverside.Mark Fajardo, M.D., coroner, Riverside. Daniel Wohlgelernter, M.D., cardiology, Santa Monica. Brian King, M.D., neuroradiology, Santa Monica.
The Medical Expert(s), Defendant: Robert Chesne M.D. Cardiology, Inglewood Stephan Rothman, M.D., neuroradiology, Los Angeles. Marvin Pietruszka, M.D., pathology, Reseda.
The Technical Experts of Plaintiff: Peter Formuzis Ph.D. Forensic economics.
Technical Expert(s), Defendant: None.

Lawyers’ Closing Arguments

Plaintiff’s Contentions: The traffic accident was responsible for the victim’s heart attack.

Defendant’s Contentions: The subject traffic accident didn’t cause the decedent’s heart attack. However, the pre-accident health conditions of the decedent would have caused him to die regardless.

Personal Injuries and Damages

Plaintiff claims physical injuries Mr. Gougeon suffered multiple fractures, including a right thumb injury, fractures to his pelvis, multiple rib injuries, nasal soft tissue swelling and a nasal fracture. He also had a right-side ischium and right femoral neck fractures. On his way to the hospital, he began to show signs of myocardial damage. The paramedic performed an EKG, diagnosing him with a “continuing” acute heart attack. He was admitted to the emergency room with a confirmed heart attack. He was then taken to Cath Lab, a catheterization laboratory. After surgery to place stents into his arteries, he suffered a major myocardial injury/heart attack. He was given extensive CPR and died in the hospital that same day.

Demands and offers

Final Demand of the Plaintiff before Trial:$1,750,000
Final Offer to Defendant Before Trial:$100,000. (Policy Limits)

Additional Notes

Per counsel for plaintiff:

After post-trial motions including interest on a 500K 9