LIMA — After a jury awarded a verdict in his favor Wednesday, the attorney representing a doctor in a medical malpractice trial said he felt vindicated.
“They reached the conclusion that Dr. [Farzin] Fotouhi acted reasonably and provided good medical care and that these are terrible, unfortunate outcomes that happen sometimes in medicine,” said attorney Jeanne Mullin, who successfully represented Dr. Fotouhi.
An Allen County jury ruled in favor of Fotouhi finding no negligence in the lawsuit Tim and JoAnn DeHaven filed against him.
The DeHavens were suing the doctor and his corporation, Ohio Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgeons, blaming him for amputations after heart surgery. DeHaven had amputations to his lower leg, multiple fingers and toes.
Mullin said she was able to show the jury Fotouhi “provided excellent medical care.”
Tim DeHaven said he does not plan on appealing and will let the verdict stand.
“We lost fair and square. The jury found against us. JoAnn and I will just have to go on. We had a chance to put our case on trial and the jury found in Fotouhi’s favor,” DeHaven said.
DeHaven said he was able to put all his evidence before the jury and felt his attorney did a good job. He said he will move on and close that chapter of his life.
“It’s time. It’s been going on since September 2011. It’s time to get it behind me and let things heal. I was a very bitter person for a while. I don’t want to be a bitter person anymore,” DeHaven said.
The DeHavens, of DeHaven Home & Garden Showplace, said Tim DeHaven was admitted to St. Rita’s Medical Center on Sept. 6, 2011, by Fotouhi to undergo minimal invasive mitral valve replacement surgery. After the surgery, he developed breathing problems which required the use of a ventilator. He also developed other complications including problems with his liver and kidneys.
DeHaven was transferred out of St. Rita’s on Oct. 17, 2011, to The Ohio State University Medical Center.
The DeHavens originally named numerous other defendants when filing the lawsuit but Fotouhi and his corporation were the only remaining defendants he took the case to trial against.
