Judge ends trial against ex-County doctor

BANGOR – A U.S. District Court judge Tuesday ended a malpractice trial a day and a half into testimony when he granted a defense motion for judgment.

Judge D. Brock Hornby agreed that plaintiff John Little, 58, of Presque Isle had not presented enough evidence to ask a jury to decide if his former physician, Dr. Sheelagh Prosser, had deviated from the standard practice of care.

The testimony of the three expert physician witnesses in the case did not differ substantially enough from Prosser’s to continue the trial, Hornby said, stating the reasons for his decision.

Hornby dismissed jury members after announcing his ruling while they were out of the courtroom.

Prosser worked as a physician between 1997 and 2000 as a family practitioner at Pines Health Services in Presque Isle. Little had a history of neck injuries and degenerative joint disease among other ailments, according to testimony. He first sought treatment from Prosser in May 1998.

Little went to see her that August complaining of neck pain after he had helped move a sofa. During that visit, Prosser did not order an MRI for Little. The diagnostic tool is used to identify disc injuries in the neck and spine.

Julian Sweet, Little’s Lewiston attorney, argued that because Prosser delayed ordering the MRI almost a month, his client “had very limited functional use of his left hand” as a result of the surgery he eventually underwent for a herniated disc.

Defense attorney George Schelling of Bangor said that he was not surprised by the judge’s decision and that the case had been moving in that direction in the weeks leading up to the trial.

Prosser left Aroostook County in the spring of 2000 to return to her native Ireland. The case was eligible to be tried in federal court because the doctor is not a U.S. citizen.