QPWB trial attorneys, Anthony J. Fernandez, co-managing partner of QPWB’s Arizona office, and Sydney D. Goodhand, received a defense verdict in a jury trial in northern Arizona on behalf of a general surgeon in a medical malpractice matter. In January of 2019, the female plaintiff presented at a hospital emergency department with ongoing worsening pain. The general surgeon, on-call that evening, diagnosed an inflamed gallbladder and performed emergent gallbladder removal surgery the same day. The jury heard the surgeon admit to inadvertently cutting multiple ductal structures, which caused a bile duct injury and necessitated repair surgery by a specialist in Phoenix. The jury heard the admitted errors were a reasonable consequence of perceptual challenges of this patient’s anatomy given her significant inflammation, scarring and contracting of the anatomy around the gallbladder. The jury determined that, despite multiple errors and confusion in the OR report, the physician met the applicable standard of care.
Anthony J. Fernandez is co-managing partner of the Arizona office. He has extensive trial experience with medical negligence matters, nursing home liability defense, products liability and the defense of various catastrophic injury claims. Mr. Fernandez represents healthcare providers and professionals in numerous medical specialties in Board Complaints, arbitration, trial and appeal. He received his Juris Doctor from St. John’s University School of Law in 1996. Mr. Fernandez is licensed to practice law in Arizona and New Jersey.
Sydney D. Goodhand is an associate in the Arizona office focusing on professional and general liability defense, including medical malpractice, correctional healthcare and long term care facility defense. She received her Juris Doctor in 2015 from the University of Minnesota Law school. Ms. Goodhand is licensed to practice law in Arizona and Minnesota.
Quintairos, Prieto, Wood & Boyer, P.A., is the largest minority and women owned law firm in the nation with approximately 400 lawyers serving clients from 31 offices in the United States and abroad across a spectrum of industries in over 40 areas of practice. Our lawyers provide representation in litigation, business, real estate and governmental law.