$1,830,000 Settlement for Medical Malpratice During Knee Surgery

Attorney Michael J. Cunningham and Mathew G. Curtis obtained a $1,830,000 settlement in a medical malpractice case filed in Oakland County Circuit Court involving a Hypoxic Brain Injury.

The medical malpractice claim that was filed against the plaintiff’s anesthesia team who, during the course of a knee surgery, oversedated the plaintiff with anesthesia, failed to monitor her, failed to respond to her dropping vital signs, and ultimately failed to protect her airway. While on the operating room table, the plaintiff arrested and suffered a hypoxic brain injury.

It is an understatement to state that the plaintiff did not have the “A team” for her anesthesia care. The anesthesiologist was not board certified and the CRNA was on probation for using Fentanyl for personal use. Ultimately, the CRNA’s anesthesia and nursing license was revoked.

After the plaintiff suffered her cardiopulmonary arrest in the operating room, the CRNA wrote a second anesthesia record and when comparing the two anesthesia records that existed, they were different in many respects. During discovery, it was disclosed that the CRNA and anesthesiologist sat down together after the plaintiff was in the ICU and recreated the second anesthesia record. All of the experts deposed on both sides, including all of the nurses involved, readily admitted that they had never seen two different anesthesia records prepared for the same surgery. None of the defendants could provide any explanation as to why the second anesthesia record was prepared.

Not only should there not have been two anesthesia records surrounding the same surgery, but the CRNA claimed that one of them was altered in the “comments” section of the record. Not only was the anesthesia record altered to change the timing of when certain critical events occurred, but neither the anesthesiologist, nor the CRNA could agree as to which anesthesia record was the one that was prepared contemporaneous with the actual care being given.

Based upon the numerous violations in the standard of care that occurred prior to the start of the surgery, the plaintiff became overly sedated, causing her airway to obstruct, which in turn caused her to develop significant hypotension and bradycardia. Based upon the delays that occurred in recognition and timely intervention, the plaintiff went on to develop respiratory and cardiac arrest ultimately causing a hypoxic injury to her brain. At the time of surgery, the plaintiff was 48 years of age and employed at a steel plant earning approximately $55,000 a year. Although the plaintiff recovered well from her cardiorespiratory arrest, she was still left with some neurologic deficits.

The matter settled for $1,830,000