ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, May 26, 1996 TAG: 9605280052
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SANDRA BROWN KELLY STAFF WRITER
A Martinsville man's $1 million lawsuit against a Salem spine surgeon ended in a mistrial late Friday when jurors couldn't reach a verdict.
The jury of three men and four women deliberated for more than eight hours in the suit of Larry Lawrence against Dr. Eric Korsh, a former Lewis-Gale Clinic physician. Lawrence had charged that Korsh did not follow accepted medical practice when Lawrence came to him with a bad back in November 1993.
Lawrence said he was damaged and left unable to work full time because Korsh did not use conservative treatment.
"Surgery is treatment of the last resort and conservative care has to be given," argued attorney Elizabeth Coughter of Charlottesville.
It is accepted medical practice to use therapy and rest to see if a back can get better without surgery, said Coughter. The speed with which Korsh made the decision to operate on Lawrence did not follow that practice, she said.
Lawrence first saw Korsh in November, and a month later operated on Lawrence's lower back. Incisions were made in Lawrence's stomach and back and a couple of vertebrae were removed and screws added to stabilize the spine while the remaining vertebrae grew together.
When the vertebrae didn't fuse and the pain continued, Lawrence sought treatment from a Richmond surgeon who had to do more surgery.
Lawrence was employed by Dupont Co. when he went to Korsh for treatment. After the surgeries, he was able to return to work for four hours a day. Recently, Dupont told him it no longer had a job for him, Lawrence said.
Both sides in the case indicated disappointment at the hung jury, which is a rare occurrence in a civil suit.
"We were disappointed they couldn't reach a decision," Anita Lawrence, wife of the plaintiff, said Saturday. "It gives us another bite at the apple, though."
"It's awfully hard to have worked as hard as we did and have to go back to square one," said John Jessee, attorney for Korsh.
If Lawrence requests a new trial, Jessee said it likely couldn't be set before September or October.
Another suit against Korsh is scheduled to be heard in August. Last month, Korsh won a suit filed against him by a Floyd County man. He has settled several suits without going to trial. About 20 others are pending against the doctor. All also name the Lewis-Gale Clinic as co-defendant. Some also name Lewis-Gale Hospital, where Korsh did his surgeries.
Korsh is a fellowship-trained spine surgeon, meaning he has a year's additional training in that specialty over and above his surgical training. He came to the clinic in 1991 to open a spine center. The center has closed. Korsh is in private practice and no longer with the clinic.
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