Ali Martino and Jim Kjar secure a defense verdict on behalf of their plastic surgeon client and defeat Plaintiff’s motion mid-trial to add a cause of action for medical battery

Plaintiff was a prominent entertainer promoted by Rolling Stone Magazine and other media outlets in the music industry, who had silicone breast implants placed by the Defendant Plastic Surgeon in the year 2000 by as part of an Adjunct Study Protocol. The implants then ruptured 17 years later. Plaintiff argued that the silicone implants caused her to develop “Silicone Toxicity” which lead to numerous medical problems including autoimmune disorders which affected her mental and physical capacity, prevented her from pursuing her singing career or any gainful occupation, and resulted in her marriage ending.

After dismissing the various products liability causes of action, Plaintiff sole cause of action against the Defendant Plastic Surgeon was for lack of informed consent on the grounds that silicone toxicity was well known and that she did not meet the FDA criteria for the use of silicone implants as part of the Adjunct Study Protocol. Mid-trial, Plaintiffs filed a motion to amend the complaint in order to add a cause of action for medical battery, which was already defeated on summary adjudication.

Ms. Martino and Mr. Kjar were not only able to defeat Plaintiff’s motion to add the medical battery cause of action, but were able to secure their client a defense verdict after less than 1 hour of deliberation.