Colonoscopy Death MedMal Case Results in $24.6M Verdict
Routine procedures are typically just that…until they are not. How the medical professionals respond when routine goes off the rails can literally be the difference between life and death. In this case, the patient was scheduled for a colonoscopy at a surgical clinic rather than in a hospital setting. Not unusual, but given the patient’s health history of obesity, hypertension, and sleep apnea, attorney Sean Claggett argued that the patient should have had the procedure in a hospital due to the risks. Shortly after the procedure began, the patient’s airway became obstructed, and his blood pressure rose while his oxygen levels fell. The sedation nurse noted signs of respiratory distress, but was allegedly ignored while the anesthesiologist attempted to manually ventilate the patient and instructed the doctor to continue with the procedure rather than pausing to focus on reestablishing the airway. No one initiated a code for the patient until it was too late. The patient had been deprived of oxygen for 22 minutes causing severe brain injury and, a few days later, his death when he was removed from life support.
Mr Claggett came to Focus Graphics to recreate the scene in the surgical suite as an animation based on deposition testimony. Once in trial, however, testimonies changed as to where people and objects were located during the procedure, and the plaintiff team realized their animation would not be correct. Mr Claggett reached out to see how we could help with this issue and we came up with an interactive PowerPoint on the fly in which he and his team could move people and objects around, during trial, based on the testimony of the various medical professionals who had been present during the procedure. This would ensure that everyone and everything was placed correctly. Focus Graphics then took that PowerPoint and updated the animation for them to use during closing. This helped demonstrate that the response was lacking and the patient was ignored while he slowly suffocated under general anesthesia.
The jury came back the day after closing with a verdict of $24.6 million dollars, significantly higher than both the highest settlement offer of $500,000 and the $3 million policy limit demand.
“Our process to prepare for trial includes JuryBall big data and live focus groups to test everything, including our visuals. Focus Graphics is always prompt and creative in what they provide for us to show these mock juries. Our visual exhibits are a huge piece of our trial prep and I wouldn’t walk into a courtroom without them. It threw us for a loop when testimonies changed from depo to trial, but Focus Graphics was right there to help us make sure our final animation was spot on. Our data accurately predicted this verdict, so we knew exactly what to expect and how to prepare. I hope that this verdict sends a message to healthcare providers that they need to be prepared for emergency resuscitations in any setting where general anesthesia is administered.”
~Sean Claggett, Esq., Las Vegas, NV | Claggett & Sykes Law Firm
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