Dr. Arnold Smith said he was vindicated after a jury decided in his favor in a lawsuit brought by a former patient’s estate.
The family of Joe Terry, who died in December 2008 at 50, had been seeking more than $92,000 in damages for medical expenses plus pain and suffering. They alleged that Smith, a Greenwood oncologist, broke the standard of care by treating Terry for cancer when he actually had tuberculosis.
But a Leflore County Circuit Court jury voted 11-1 Thursday in Smith’s favor following a four-day trial. According to the doctor, jurors only deliberated 10 minutes.
Smith said when he began treating Terry, Terry’s condition improved.
When Smith stopped, Terry took a turn for the worse ending in his death, according to Smith.
“The jury just decided that I was the only one who helped him,” Smith said.
John Cox, a Greenville attorney who represented Terry’s estate, said he believed jurors factored in Terry’s poor health before being treated by Smith.
When the 6-foot-3 disabled former farm worker first came to Smith in 2007, he weighed only 94 pounds and was too weak to stand, according to Smith.
“I think the jury probably saw that and maybe took that in a different light than if you had a less sick person,” Cox said.
He said another factor may have been that jury instructions weren’t clear that a Medicaid lien would have sent part of the verdict back to the state. Instead jurors may have felt that a windfall would be coming to Terry’s estate, Cox said.
After coming to Smith, Terry, who was illiterate, refused a biopsy, but Smith began chemotherapy and radiation.
Smith said Terry’s chest X-ray was highly indicative of cancer and that radiologists had the same interpretation, although they had also said it could have been a fungal infection or TB.
Terry had an active case of TB in 2000 but refused treatment because he didn’t want to stop drinking.
He was also diagnosed with colon cancer in 2006 and was treated by Dr. Ed Rafique, Smith’s estranged former medical partner.
Smith said Terry gained weight up to 120 pounds after treatments and was again walking. The tumors in Terry’s chest also shrank, the doctor said.
“If they were TB, they wouldn’t have shrunk,” Smith said.
He also said there’s no reason Terry couldn’t have had both cancer and TB.
Smith said the lawsuit reflected a mentality that since a man died, somebody must pay.
He said he never offered a settlement because he also believed it was a shakedown and part of a conspiracy to ruin him financially.
Smith said the ultimate aim is to cause his clinic, the North Central Mississippi Regional Cancer Center, to collapse.
“It’s a not-so-well hidden agenda to find some way to get to me,” Smith said.
Cox disputed Smith’s allegation.
“I don’t think anybody pushed the lawsuit,” he said.
• Contact Charlie Smith at csmith@gwcommonwealth.com.
