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James and Josephine Fasolini hug after receiving a $4 million verdict on Thursday in District Court. The judgment was the first major verdict rendered in a medical malpractice case in Nevada since state legislators enacted tort reform.
Photo by Jeff Scheid.
| Friday, August 16, 2002
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal MEDICAL MALPRACTICE: Couple awarded $4 million Judgment comes after state lawmakers enacted tort reform By CARRI GEER THEVENOT
REVIEW-JOURNAL
A Las Vegas couple were awarded $4 million Thursday in the first major verdict against a doctor since the state enacted tort reform. "To get this verdict in this climate with the medical malpractice insurance crisis is just absolutely phenomenal," said attorney Bob Vannah, who represents the couple. Jurors deliberated about three hours before returning the verdict for Josephine and James Fasolini, the 66-year-old owners of Fasolini's Pizza Cafe at 222 S. Decatur Blvd. The verdict stemmed from a medical malpractice lawsuit against Dr. Deborah Gold, a Las Vegas obstetrician and gynecologist who performed vaginal surgery on Josephine Fasolini in 1997. Vannah said the surgery caused irreversible damage. "She's just no longer able to have sex with her husband as a result of a markedly shortened vagina," he said. Attorney Art Tuverson, who represents Gold, said his client will appeal the verdict. "It's clear that awards like this are what put the state in a crisis, as they have no relation to the actual damages sustained," he said. Legislators passed a bill Aug. 1 to help stem Southern Nevada's medical crisis. The bill, passed at the conclusion of a special legislative session, includes a $350,000 cap on noneconomic damages and takes effect Oct. 1. Vannah said the verdict against Gold covers pain and suffering for Josephine Fasolini and a loss of consortium for her husband. All of the couple's damages would have fallen under the cap had the new law applied to their case, the attorney said. Both he and Tuverson said jurors chosen for the Fasolini trial, which began Aug. 6 before District Judge Lee Gates, were aware of the new law. Vannah said Gold's insurance provider, the St. Paul Companies, refused to settle the case for her policy limit of $1 million. "We were willing to settle right up until the last minute," the attorney said. The St. Paul Companies stopped offering liability coverage nationwide in December. The pullout of the largest insurer in the state left the majority of Nevada doctors scrambling for new coverage. St. Paul's spokeswoman, Andrea Wood, has said the company pulled out of the market nationwide because of increasing jury awards and frivolous lawsuits. Tuverson said the defendant made the Fasolinis a reasonable settlement offer before trial. He would not disclose the amount of the offer. "Of course we think the damages were obviously excessive and that the jury based them on sympathy," the attorney said. He argued that Josephine Fasolini's injury was caused by an errant stitch from a urologist who also participated in the surgery. That doctor was not named as a defendant in the case. Tuverson also argued that Josephine Fasolini could have ameliorated her condition with a "simple home remedy." The attorney said his client has practiced medicine in Nevada since 1996. "I was very disappointed and surprised that the jurors would disregard what I thought was compelling evidence that her surgery was done appropriately and had no effect on the length of this lady's vagina," Tuverson said. The Fasolinis, who have been married for 45 years, moved to Las Vegas in 1991. Both said they received justice in the case.
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