Supreme Court Overturns Jury Award in Medical Malpractice Case

A split Ohio Supreme Court on Wednesday sidestepped ruling on the merits of a medical negligence lawsuit that accused a doctor of failing to inform a patient about the debilitating side effects of a drug prescribed for her.  The justices decision effectively overturned a $141,000 verdict a Franklin County Common Pleas Court jury awarded to a West Virginia woman in 2002.  The court voted 5-2 to dismiss an appeal in the case as having been improvidently accepted.  Dissenting justices maintained the court should have considered the matter because the 10th Ohio District Court made a mistake that has been repeated elsewhere around the state.  In dispute is the issue of informed consent, and whether expert testimony is needed to prove part of a legal test for determining the extent to which doctors should disclose dangers of drugs.  The Supreme Court spelled out the three-prong test in 1985.  The appeals court said expert testimony must be presented in order to prove the standard of care for doctors in disclosing potential side effects from medications.  Justices heard oral arguments in the case in 2004, but on Wednesday announced their decision to dismiss the appeal.