State of Wisconsin, Sawyer County, Circuit Court 

In October 2024, Attorneys Mark Budzinski and James Gollnick secured a no liability verdict in a case brought against an Emergency Room physician.  This case was brought after the death of a patient following cardiac tamponade and cardiac arrest.  The patient had presented to the Emergency Department with complaints of abdominal pain, and with a history of moderately severe aortic valve insufficiency, hypertension, and renal stones.  He had also underwent an aortic valve replacement approximately two weeks prior.  The morning after presenting at the Emergency Department, the patient experienced cardiac tamponade and cardiac arrest while admitted to the local hospital, and succumbed days later.  Plaintiff alleged that the ER physician was negligent by failing to recognize and appreciate the pericardial effusion by not immediately having an echocardiogram performed, and not transferring the patient right away to a hospital or facility that had that capability to perform an echocardiogram, as the local hospital did not, and further evaluate and delineate the extent of the pericardial effusion.  

In a four-day trial, defense counsel successfully argued that the defendant physician appropriately reviewed and appreciated the patient's prior medical records and history, and requested a CT scan which identified the pericardial effusion.  The physician further requested additional blood tests, which returned in the normal range, and he contacted the clinic which performed the patient's aortic valve replacement two weeks earlier, to discuss the patient's clinical presentation and next steps.  After consulting with the cardiac specialist, it was agreed that an echocardiogram would be ordered for later in the week, as it was not imminently needed, and out of an abundance of caution, the physician had the patient admitted to the local hospital for observation.  The jury of twelve returned a no-negligence verdict after a brief deliberation, with no dissenters.