Autumn leaves come tumbling down, but then unite in reds and gold, Life to behold, though it is waning. And for you, there is still love. And for you, there is still joy. Flowers we will bring, Music we will sing to you.
Our medical experts are not limited to testifying in sterile
language about breaches in the standards of care and proximate causation. They can describe the non-linear nature of dementia. They can describe the essential role of the family in provid- ing context and orientation to the patient or resident with dementia. They can describe how a patient with moderate to severe Alzheimer’s who is, in the vernacular, “disoriented x 3,” may not know the year or the state in which he lives, but may experience orientation “x 1” when a son or daughter visits. Our experts can dispel the notion that a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s is worse than death itself, by describing any advances being made with treatment for dementia. The treating physician, nurses and social workers can describe how the family treated their parents’ lives as meaningful and derived meaning themselves from the experience. They can speak of patience, love, understanding, and the value of each to the family member’s well-being. In his remarkable book, Awakenings, the renowned neu-
rologist and author, Dr. Oliver Sacks, renders an unforgettable account of a group of patients who contracted sleeping-sickness during the great epidemic just after World War I. Frozen in a decades-long sleep, these men and women were given up as hopeless until 1969, when Dr. Sacks gave them the then- new drug L-DOPA, which had an astonishing, “awakening” effect. Dr. Sacks recounts the moving case histories of these individuals, the stories of their lives, and the extraordinary transformations they underwent with treatment. In the film of the same name, Robert DeNiro, one of the “awakened,” speaks with such difficulty, and shakes with such violence, that he asks his beloved to stop visiting him. He stretches his hand out in a gesture to say goodbye. She takes his hand and brings him close to her, holding him tight as they dance slowly in place. The jarring movements slow, then stop. All of time seems to be compressed in those few seconds. For every family we have the honor to represent, we can
surely take the time to discover that special moment, however brief, which tells the jury how much can be lost even if life is cut short for a single day. And we should tell that story. n
About the Author Ms. Russo is a trial attorney and appellate advocate. She is
a partner at Otway Russo, LLP in Salisbury, Maryland. She focuses her plaintiffs’ practice on serious personal injury, medical malpractice, and product liability actions. Ms. Russo has handled numerous appeals to Maryland’s Courts of Ap- peal. Her appellate victories include a decision affirming a substantial verdict in a defective product case alleging failure to warn of the dangers to passengers of using a reclined seat when the vehicle is in motion (Toyota Motor Corporation v. Kumar). Recently, she won an appeal on behalf of members of a volunteer fire company, the Court of Special Appeals holding that genuine issues of material fact had been demonstrated on the question of the application of exceptions to the Fireman’s Rule (IWIF v. Eastern Shore Gas Company). She is President of the Women’s Bar Association for the Lower Eastern Shore. Ms. Russo is the author of numerous articles and treatises.
She co-authored The Products Liability Law Manual (MICPEL 2d Ed.)(2003), the leading legal treatise in Maryland on the law related to defective products. She is also a contributing author to the leading book on Maryland appeals, Appellate Practice for the Maryland Lawyer: State and Federal (1st and 2nd eds. MICPEL). Her works are also cited in other leading treatises, including Pleading Causes of Action in Maryland (Paul Mark Sandler, 3d ed. 2004).
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Winter 2009
Trial Reporter
19
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