Sommers Schwartz attorneys Matthew Curtis and Richard Groffsky secured a settlement on behalf of a 49-year old woman who presented to the hospital for elective colon surgery. Prior to going to the operating room, a thoracic epidural was placed for post-operative pain control. Before surgery even began, the anesthesia assistant activated the epidural without approval or direction of the anesthesiologist. The defendant anesthesiologist then entered the room where an IV anesthesia induction of the patient took place with Lidocaine, Fentanyl, Propofol, and Nimbex. He then left the room and left the anesthesiology assistant in charge. The patient immediately suffered a drop in her heart rate and blood pressure. The assistant failed to promptly react and, as a result of the anesthesiologist’s negligence, the patient suffered a significant hypoxic injury to her brain that left her permanently disabled.