Death During Surgery Malpractice Settlement

Case Type: Death During Surgery Malpractice Settlement

Settlement: Confidential

Facts of the Case

This case involved a married, 65-year-old father of three children, who went to a local hospital for complaints of dizziness and shortness of breath. Test determined that he needed carotid artery surgery to remove plaque from within the vessel.

During an intubation that was necessary to perform the surgery, the patient’s trachea sustained significant trauma, causing a large amount of bleeding in his airway. Anesthesia was able to secure a temporary airway to allow the carotid surgery to continue.

However, there remained concern for the patient’s ability to breathe throughout the surgery, especially because a blood thinner needed to be used during the operation.

Immediately upon completion of the surgery, a massive amount of blood was again found impeding the patient’s airway. Despite efforts to stop the bleeding and maintain his airway, the patient died on the operating room table from aspirating his own blood.

Types of Injuries and Harm Suffered

• Wrongful death from intubation trauma and blood aspiration
• Loss of future wages
• Pain and suffering

Other Types of Damages

• Loss of society and companionship
• Loss of household services
• Medical bills
• Funeral and burial expenses

Legal Issues in the Case

• Whether the physicians violated the standard of care
• Whether the intubation was properly performed and whether his airway wsas properly secured
• Whether the carotid artery surgery should have been stopped when massive bleeding was found
• Whether the physicians’ conduct caused the patient’s untimely death

What We Did to Win the Settlement

After a detailed review of the medical records from numerous physicians and hospitals, we put together a detailed timeline of the events contained in the medical records.

We then retained leading experts in the fields of anesthesiology, vascular surgery, and pulmonology.

After extensive discovery and receiving key admissions from the Defendant physicians during their depositions, we were able to settle this claim prior to trial.