A Clark County jury awarded more than $5 million to the family of a Las Vegas chef who died after taking methadone prescribed by Dr. Gautham Reddy.

After a two-and-a-half week trial, the jury decided against the doctor, Gauthum Reddy, in the malpractice and wrongful death lawsuit, but also found Chris Davis partly responsible for his own death.

The jury’s total award of $9.5 million, delivered late Wednesday night after more than 10 hours of deliberation, accounted for 47 percent negligence on the part of Davis and 53 percent negligence on the part of Reddy.

The case drew media attention after the doctor’s lawyer, Jacob Hafter, leveled claims of anti-Semitism and racism against the judge because she declined to have the trial postponed during a Jewish holiday.  Hafter, who represented Las Vegas Dr. Gautham Reddy in the malpractice lawsuit, said his religion prohibits him from working on Wednesday and Thursday during Shavuot, and he did not anticipate the conflict in August, when the trial date was set.

Davis, who was married with three children, died Aug. 13, 2010, just four days after he started taking methadone, a pain reliever often used to treat drug addiction. He had a history of prescription drug and alcohol abuse, lawyers said.

Click here for the complete story…

Dr. Gautham Reddy is a medical graduate of Bangalore University, Karnatka, India.  He completed his residency at St. Josephs Hospital, New York in Family Practice.