Anesthesia Malpractice Lawsuit Results in $2.25M Verdict

Published: June 29th, 2011

A California jury has awarded $2.25 million in a medical malpractice lawsuit filed against a medical center and an anesthesiologist who allegedly let the plaintiff go too deep under, resulting in a brain injury due to lack of oxygen. 

The anesthesia brain injury lawsuit was filed by a California man who suffered an anoxic brain injury during a botched eye surgery at Mazzocco Ambulatory Surgical Center. The complaint, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, charged both the anesthesiologist and the center with negligence for not meeting medical standards of care.

The plaintiff went to the medical center to have the lens on one eye replaced with an artificial one. It is a standard procedure that takes about two hours, with surgery only taking a fraction of that time.

According to the malpractice lawsuit, the anesthesiologist had a history of walking out of the operating room while patients were under the effects of anesthesia. In this case, the complaint alleges that the plaintiff had a reaction to the anesthesia and went into a deeper level of sedation than intended. The plaintiff’s attorneys argued that the anesthesiologist either left the room or left the plaintiff unattended, during which time the patient stopped breathing.

The lack of oxygen caused the plaintiff to suffer an anoxic brain injury, also known as cerebral hypoxia or hypoxic-anoxic injury. It is a serious, life-threatening injury that can cause permanent cognitive damage and can disable the victim.

The anesthesiologist settled with the plaintiff before the trial, according to a press release issued by the plaintiff’s medical malpractice lawyers. At trial, the jury found Mazzocco Ambulatory Surgical Center to be negligent, awarding $2.25 million in damages.

Tags: Anesthesia Malpractice, Brain Injury, California, Eye Surgery, Medical Malpractice