$5,900,000 Recovery in Wrongful Death Surgical Positioning Case
Daryl Zaslow obtained a $5.9 million recovery on behalf of the Estate of a 67-year-old man who was the victim of multiple acts of negligence. The litigation originally arose out a motor vehicle accident. As a result of the accident, the Plaintiff sustained a partially torn rotator cuff. After conservative physical therapy failed, the plaintiff underwent what was anticipated to be a “routine” arthroscopic shoulder surgery. Tragically, during the perioperative or postoperative period the Plaintiff sustained an anoxic incident which left him brain damaged and unable to care for himself until he died several years after the accident.
The Plaintiffs filed the lawsuit against the driver who caused the motor vehicle accident as well as the 3 anesthesiologists who cared for him during the surgery. The medical records contained absolutely nothing unusual or inculpatory and the underlying medical issues involved in the medical malpractice aspect of the case were extraordinarily complex. In short, Plaintiff’s expert anesthesiologist opined that as a result of the positioning of Plaintiff during the surgery there was a reduction of the mean arterial blood pressure and cerebral profusion pressure which caused the anoxic injury. At the time the surgery was performed, this theory of medical negligence or medical complication had not even been recognized in the medical texts.
The case was litigated for nearly 10 years. During the course of litigation, the venue was changed, the case was stayed, and an insurance company become insolvent. The recovery of $5.9 million represents the full limits of the insurance for the defendants.