Turning Clinical Judgment Against the Defense: $11.9M Win, with Karen Zahka and Austin Dana

Artwork for podcast Elawvate: The Trial Lawyer Podcast

Episode 10 • 26th May 2025 • Elawvate: The Trial Lawyer Podcast • Benjamin Gideon & Rahul Ravipudi

00:00:00 00:41:02

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When FDA guidelines failed their client, trial partners Austin Dana and Karen Zahka flipped the script by arguing for clinical judgment, typically a defense position. Hospitalized with an epileptic seizure at age 13, their client was old enough to receive an adult dosage of an anti-seizure medication, according to the FDA – but she weighed only 61 pounds, the weight of a child. That adult dosage led to their client getting Stevens-Johnson syndrome. “Our position was that the defendant should have deviated from the guidelines,” Karen explains to hosts Ben Gideon and Rahul Ravipudi. Tune in as Austin and Karen break down how they secured an $11.9 million verdict.