Rock County medical malpractice trial goes to jury

Frank Schultz, The Janesville Gazette, Wis.
·2 min read

Oct. 13—JANESVILLE — A jury began deliberating Wednesday afternoon in a medical malpractice lawsuit at the Rock County Courthouse.

Robert Vyvyan of Milton accuses Dr. William Brandt of not following accepted standards of care during a 2015 procedure, resulting in a hole in Vyvyan's esophagus, causing pain and suffering that continue to this day.

The 12-member jury of three women and nine men began left the courtroom at 2:53 p.m. to begin deliberations.

Judge Jeffrey Kuglitsch told jurors that only 10 of them must agree on all questions in the case, but he urged them to try for a unanimous verdict.

Vyvyan filed his lawsuit in 2018, claiming malpractice in Brandt's performance of an upper endoscopy, a probe inserted through the mouth and throat that was used to view problems in Vyvyan's esophagus, the tube that conveys food to the stomach.

The procedure at SSM Health St. Mary's Hospital-Janesville included insertion of dilators into the esophagus that were intended to expand a narrowing of Vyvyan's esophagus.

The case boils down to whether Dr. Brandt, who is now retired, followed the standards of care required for the procedure.

Salemi and defense attorney Mark Budzinski each accused the other of playing fast and loose with the truth in their closing arguments.

Salemi said Brandt erred in not seeing that Vyvyan's esophagus was inflamed and therefore susceptible to perforation when Brandt tried to open a narrowing in the esophagus.

Salemi argued that Brandt could have decided not to dilate and treat the problem with an acid blocker or steroids.

Budzinski said Brandt did what he had done thousands of times before as an internal medicine specialist in Janesville for over 40 years: He saw a ring of scar tissue that narrowed the esophagus and tried to expand the stricture with dilators.

Budzinski pointed out that a perforated esophagus is seen in 1% of these procedures, and this was just one of those times.

"Bad things happen to good people. That doesn't always mean someone ... was negligent," Budzinski said.

Salemi suggested that compensation for medical expenses, past pain and suffering, lost wages and future pain and suffering could be "in the millions" of dollars.

Budzinski made no suggestions, saying he didn't think the jury would decide his client was negligent.

This story will be updated.