$5.3 Million Settlement for 3 Year Old Brain Damaged During Anesthesia Induction for Surgery.

Case settled on behalf of 3 years old who had suffered bleeding after a tonsillectomy.  The ENTs, involved in the boy's care at different points in time, failed to properly manage a post-tonsillectomy bleeding vessel that first developed 4 days after the surgery. When he was finally taken to the operating room to attempt to cauterize a bleeding blood vessel, initial intubation attempts failed and brisk bleeding from the tonsil bed developed, inhibiting further efforts at oral intubation.  During the bleeding episode, the anesthesiologist and the surgeon failed to properly manage the airway crisis and the boy suffered cardiac arrest due to the prolonged period he was without an airway and oxygenation (approximately 8 minutes). By the time an airway was finally established and effective circulation restored, the Boy's brain was extensively damaged. A settlement was reached with all defendants after many depositions were taken that totalled 5.3 million dollars.