Ann Arbor Medical Malpractice Attorney Settles Wrongful Death Lawsuit
Our Buckfire & Buckfire, P.C. Ann Arbor medical malpractice attorneys recently settled a wrongful death lawsuit on behalf of patient who underwent a bariatric weight loss surgery and died a few days later due to the surgeon and medical staff failure to timely diagnose and treat a post-operative leak. The lawsuit was filed in the Washtenaw County Circuit Court in Ann Arbor, Michigan and settled for $240,000.00 based upon the amount of damages available under Michigan law and the disputed issues in the case.
The wrongful death lawsuit alleged that the patient who underwent a bariatric surgery, also known as a laparoscopic roux n y surgery, was discharged home after a twenty-four hour post-operative admission with signs and symptoms of a post-operative leak. After her discharge, her family took her to a local hospital emergency department due to the patient becoming severely ill and in significant pain and distress at home. She tragically died the following day. The medical examiner determined the cause of death was sepsis from a post-operative bariatric surgery leak.
Our medical malpractice attorneys filed the lawsuit against the surgeon and Ann Arbor medical facility. The claim was brought by the surviving family members, the patient’s son and daughter. The wrongful death claim alleged that the surgeon and medical staff failed to timely diagnose the patients condition and discharged her home with the signs and symptoms of a leak that tragically lead to her death. We argued that if the condition was properly diagnosed before she was discharged home, she would have not died and would have been able to undergo another surgery to treat her condition.
The defendants argued that the leak occurred after she left the medical facility and that her vital signs at the time of discharge were appropriate to send her home. It was also argued by the defendants that the death was not in fact caused by sepsis, but due to cardiac arrest not related to her bariatric leak. (more…)
