The suit involved a claim brought by Michael Bowbliss, who suffered nerve damage as a result of a lab technician's failure to properly draw blood for a routine, insurance related blood test. The award, originally for 5.7 million dollars, was first reduced by State Court Judge Patsy Porter to 4 million dollars, and then further reduced after the judge questioned Bowbliss's spouse's award for consortium damages, which exceeded Bowbliss's award for his original injury. However, the Georgia judge eventually eliminated the entire verdict as a sanction against the couple for perpetrating a fraud upon the court. Evidence, including the couple's Facebook posts, seemed to indicate that the couple had been in a troubled marriage during the time Dee Anna Bowbliss was seeking loss of consortium damages. The attorneys for the defense claimed the marriage itself was a sham and that the Bowbliss's intention was to divorce after the completion of the trial. Moreover, the plaintiff's Facebook posts indicated that his injuries may not have been as severe as professed to the court. One such post included, "can not go to gym til lawsuit over...due to it not looking right for me to be working out...and saying I have a bad arm." With respect to the defense attorney's "sham marriage" assertion, one of the plaintiff's other posts read ""Judge is f[**]king on my case...dee and I aren't divorced yet because of piece of s[**]t judge and case."
Although the attorneys for defendant, Quick-Med, Inc. and its parent Quest Diagnostics, requested that the suit be dismissed with prejudice, Judge Porter refused. The plaintiff's attorneys have already refiled the case.
Read more about this case in The Daily Report.
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