$2.05 Million Settlement for Inadequate Anesthesia Care

The family of a woman who suffered an anoxic brain injury following a minor surgical procedure, and who subsequently died, agreed to accept a recovery in the amount of $2.05 million dollars for alleged malpractice committed by her anesthesiologist. The woman, who required hemodialysis to treat a kidney disorder, was undergoing a minor surgical procedure to insert a dialysis catheter. The procedure itself took only about 10 minutes. However, after the procedure was completed, and while the patient was still in the operating room, her blood pressure began to drop. The anesthesiologist delayed in providing proper medication to timely address the drop in blood pressure, and, as a result the woman had a cardiac arrest requiring that a Code Blue be called. After 10-12 minutes, she was revived, but not after suffering a hypoxic injury to the brain as a result of inadequate perfusion of blood carrying oxygen to the brain during the occurrence of the cardiac arrest. The client never recovered and subsequently died. It was claimed that had medication been given to reverse the hypotension (low blood pressure) in a timely manner, the cardiac arrest would never have occurred. Blume Donnelly partner, Michael B. Zerres, represented the family.