It is with the most profound sadness that O’Brien & Ryan shares the news that Mary Ann Martillotti passed away on December 15, 2023. Mary Ann was a truly talented and admired attorney, but more importantly, she was a trusted friend. We will all miss her dearly. A celebration of Mary Ann’s spirit, as well as details for her memorial services, can be found HERE.
O’Brien & Ryan, LLP is pleased to announce that Lexi Romney, a paralegal at the firm for 11 years, has passed the PA Bar and will join the firm as an Associate. She will parlay her many years of behind the scenes experience in medical malpractice to defend our clients in the courtroom.
Carolyn M. Bohmueller and Joana Gaizelyte-Lacy represented a maternal fetal medicine specialist in a four-day trial in Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, and secured a defense verdict. The claim involved the stillbirth of fetus at 36 weeks gestation. The fetus had a single umbilical artery diagnosed at 20 weeks gestation and was closely monitored. At 35 weeks gestation the fetus was diagnosed with intrauterine growth restriction. After ultrasound evaluation and doppler studies along with a non-stress test, a plan was in place to see the patient twice weekly for non-stress tests and undergo doppler studies and amniotic fluid evaluation weekly. At the first non-stress test the patient alleged she complained of decreased fetal movement. A non-stress test performed that day was reassuring and reactive. At the following scheduled visit three days later, a fetal demise was diagnosed. The jury deliberated and quickly returned a verdict in favor of the maternal fetal specialist, finding he was not negligent.
Attorneys Carolyn M. Bohmueller and Jamie N. Johnson secured a verdict in favor of two emergency room physicians and a hospital in a two-week trial in Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas involving a claim of failure to diagnose recurrence of breast cancer. The patient had been diagnosed with breast cancer at age 23 and underwent surgical and adjuvant therapy. She continued to follow with her oncologist. Fourteen years later, she presented to a local emergency department with complaints of left-sided chest pain, which were evaluated and determined to be non-specific, and she was instructed to follow up with her providers. The following year, she presented again to the emergency department with a complaint of pain in her head behind her right ear, which was evaluated and she was instructed to follow up with her primary care physician. Over two years later, the patient was diagnosed with widely metastatic recurrent breast cancer in her lungs, pelvis and brain. The jury determined that neither of the emergency room physicians, nor the hospital, were negligent.