Jury: Doctor not negligent
By Peter Rebhahn, Star-Times
A jury found a Mile Bluff Clinic doctor not guilty of medical malpractice in Juneau County Circuit Court last week.
Jurors deliberated about two and a half hours Tuesday before finding Dr. Robert Buss and the clinic not negligent in the treatment of a pregnant patient and her newborn child
Brenda and Lyle Olson of New Lisbon had claimed that Buss failed to properly treat Brenda Olson's gestational diabetes before the birth of their daughter, Emily Olson, at Hess Memorial Hospital in Mauston in May of 2002. Buss is an employee of the clinic, not the hospital.
The Olsons' suit also claimed that Buss and the clinic did not properly respond to dangerous conditions in the child that resulted from her mother's diabetes, including low blood sugar, immediately after her birth.
The Olsons had sought judgments in amounts to be determined by a jury.
Emily Olson, now 7, was born with a host of irreversible cognitive and physical problems that include cerebral palsy.
Cerebral palsy refers to a group of disorders—usually caused by brain injury—that appear in the first years of life and affect a child's ability to coordinate body movements, according to information from the Mayo Clinic.
Gestational diabetes is a type of diabetes that occurs in pregnant women not previously diagnosed with the disease.
In people with diabetes, the body fails to produce sufficient insulin, a hormone that regulates blood sugar levels.
The elevated blood sugar levels in mothers with gestational diabetes can pose health risks for the unborn baby.
Once diagnosed in pregnant women, gestational diabetes is managed with a combination of diet, exercise and, sometimes, medication.
The trial, which played out over parts of three weeks, was unusual for Juneau County in its length and complexity. Expert testimony included some from out-of-state witnesses.
Madison-based Physicians Insurance Company of Wisconsin, Ohio Insurance Company and the state Patients' Compensation Fund were also defendants in the case, which was litigated by lawyers from Chicago and Milwaukee.
The state's Injured Patients and Families Compensation Fund was created in 1975 for the purpose of paying the portion of medical malpractice claims that exceed the limits of primary medical liability insurance coverage, according to information from the Wisconsin Medical Society.
Juneau County Judge John Roemer presided over the trial.