Gary Samms Discusses His Defense Verdict Win in $12M Infant Death Case in The Legal Intelligencer

Gary Samms, Chair of Obermayer’s Professional Liability Practice Group and the Catastrophic Loss Group, was quoted on July 2, 2024, in The Legal Intelligencer regarding the defense verdict in a $12 million infant death case. A Philadelphia jury determined that the infant’s death was not due to her doctor’s failure to diagnose a life-threatening heart condition.

Attorneys for the estate of decedent Jazlyn Rosado had gone into the trial with a $12 million demand, but while the jury found that defendant Dr. Jamie Katz had been negligent, they also found that her negligence was not a factual cause of Rosado’s death.

Gary Samms, representing the defendants, acknowledged that the plaintiffs presented a compelling case that emotionally resonated with the jury. He noted that the defense anticipated and prepared for this response from the beginning of the trial.

“We developed right from the opening a theme of medicine vs. emotion and highlighted that just sometimes there can be bad outcomes without negligence,” Samms said. He said the defense reminded the jury that “they took an oath of jurors to make the decision based on the medicine and the facts and not allow sympathy to interfere.”

Gary added that the defense brought in “top shelf” experts to make its case that Katz exceeded the standard of care. After a seven-day trial before Judge Glynnis Hill of the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, the jury on June 26 determined Katz was not responsible for Rosado’s death.

Samms said the outcome of the case, captioned Rosado v. Katz, is significant at a time when large verdicts in Philadelphia are drawing attention.

“You can still try potentially explosive cases in Philadelphia,” he said. “And, in fact, we need to continue to try cases so that we can get better value on those cases that need to be settled despite some of the surprisingly high verdicts in Philly recently.”

Read the full article here.