Professional Negligence Law Reporter

Chrysta Anne Davis, 71, underwent a laparoscopic cholecystectomy at a surgical center. Davis, who was discharged that day with pain medication, began experiencing severe abdominal pain. Her husband called her treating physician’s office and was told that pain was to be expected. The next day, Davis’s husband called again and was again told that what Davis was experiencing was normal.

On the second postoperative day, Davis met with her treating physician’s partner, Bradley Marker, who prescribed a different pain medication and stated that Davis’s abdominal pain was normal. Despite the new medication, Davis’s condition continued to worsen throughout the day. She was taken to a hospital, where she was diagnosed as having sepsis, hypothermia, and dehydration, among other problems. Although Marker performed an exploratory laparotomy to repair a bile duct leak, Davis died several hours later. She is survived by her husband and daughter.

Davis’s husband, on behalf of her estate, sued Marker and his employer, Wiregrass Surgical Associates, PC, alleging the defendants had failed to timely respond to Davis’s symptoms and timely advise her to come to the office for an examination. The plaintiff also asserted that Davis’s symptoms were not timely reported to a physician.

The jury awarded $6 million in punitive damages against Marker and Wiregrass Surgical Associates.

Citation: Davis v. Wiregrass Surgical Assocs., No. 38-CV-2019-900179.00 (Ala. Cir. Ct. Houston Cnty. Sept. 18, 2024).

Plaintiff counsel: AAJ members Ashley Reitz Peinhardt and D. Leon Ashford, both of Birmingham, Ala.