Couple Awarded After Malpractice Left Man a Quadriplegic

A couple has recently been awarded as the result of a medical malpractice lawsuit filed against an orthopedic surgeon. 

The man and his wife jointly filed the lawsuit after the man underwent surgery that ended up leaving him a quadriplegic.

The couple had accused the surgeon of being negligent when he ordered the man, whose vital signs were unstable, to be taken out of the hospital’s pre-operative room and taken to have a CAT scan performed. The couple also named the Medical Center in the lawsuit since it was at that facility that the malpractice occurred.

On April 17, 2004, the man was in an automobile accident and was severely injured. Several arteries in his forearm were severed in the crash. He was rushed to the Medical Center for immediate surgery so that surgeons could stop the profuse bleeding from his arm. However, as he was being prepared for surgery by medical staff, the surgeon decided to have a CAT scan of the man’s injured knee done before he went into surgery for his arm.

Before the man could even be taken into surgery he went into cardiac and respiratory arrest. Lawyers for the the couple argued during the trial that it was the 30 minute delay that lead to his already unstable condition becoming critical. The man needed to be resuscitated. Fortunately, an anesthesiologist was able to revive him, but not before irreparable damage was done. The man is now permanently paralyzed from the waist down because the cardiac and respiratory arrests lead to the death of a portion of his spine.

One of the members of the couple’s legal team said that the surgeon should have recognized that the man was in serious danger of going into cardiac arrest by observing his blood pressure. His blood pressure was dangerously low – 72 over 56 – as he was being prepared for surgery. The doctor should have seen this and realized that delaying surgery in favor of having the knee checked out was unwise.

The couple’s lawyer noted that in addition to the experts from Harvard Medical School, Charleston, and Connecticut who testified for the plaintiffs that the surgeon’s actions were negligent, even the doctors who were called to testify on behalf of the surgeon agreed that the man’s vitals were too low for any delays to be an option.

For between 8 and 27 minutes after the man suffered the cardiac arrest, his lawyer said that he had no blood flow to his body and his pulse and blood pressure were at zero. Witness statements and medical records give different amounts of time.

The couple also entered into a separate settlement with the Medical Center where the malpractice occurred. That settlement is confidential.

The man’s blood pressure and pulse were allegedly zero after the cardiac arrest, meaning he was without blood flow to his body for between eight minutes and 27 minutes, depending on different witness accounts.

The jury agreed that the surgeon’s actions were negligent and awarded $2.3 million to the victim and $550,000 to his wife, the man’s sole caregiver.

St. Louis Medical Malpractice Lawyer

If you or a loved one have been harmed by medical negligence, do not hesitate to contact a medical malpractice attorney in your area to discuss your legal options.

If you have been a victim of medical malpractice in the state of Missouri, contact a St. Louis medical malpractice attorney at the Zevan and Davidson Law Firm. The results of malpractice can be devastating.

You and your family deserve answers so you can move forward.

Call us today at (314) 588-7200 or contact us online. We can evaluate your case for free and help you determine what legal options are best for you and your family.