Mark McAndrew and Brian Meisner secured a unanimous defense verdict in Nassau County Supreme Court on behalf of an Anesthesiologist

The plaintiffs, the mother and daughter of the 73 year-old decedent, brought an action against our client, and other physicians, claiming that the cardiac arrest following urgent surgery to repair a severely comminuted intertrochanteric femoral neck fracture was caused by undiagnosed fluid overload, as well as alleged improper vasopressor agent used to maintain blood pressure intraoperatively; leading to postoperative PEA arrest and ultimate death over 3 days later. 

The 73 year-old patient presented to the emergency department with complaints of pain in his right hip after falling at home the prior evening. He had a complicated medical history including chronic congestive heart failure MI, cardiomyopathy, A-fib, prior ablation/stenting, AICD implant, COPD, aortic abdominal aneurysm, chronic kidney disease, and severe pulmonary hypertension. Imaging revealed a comminuted intertrochanteric femoral neck fracture requiring urgent surgical repair. The patient’s coagulation panel was elevated, complicating the need for urgent surgery. The following evening, after being optimized for surgery by internal medicine, nephrology and internal medicine, the patient was taken to the OR with our client providing anesthesia services.   

The surgery to repair the patient’s badly fractured hip was completed without complication, and the anesthesia was managed masterfully by our client.  Post operatively, while in the PACU, our client noted that the patient’s blood pressure was “on the lower side.” Due to the patient’s extensive cardiac history, the patient was going to be transferred to the ICU to be more closely monitored. Approximately two hours after the conclusion of the hip surgery, the patient suffered the first of several PEA arrest events in rapid succession. Approximately 3 days later, he succumbed after to another PEA arrest and demised.

During the trial, we established, despite opposing expert testimony that there were no signs or symptoms of fluid overload at any time prior to the patient going into cardiac arrest.  We were also able to establish that our client managed the patient intraoperatively and postoperatively in a manner consistent with good and acceptable medical practice, and further, that the PEA arrest was not caused by fluid overload, or relative to the vasopressor agents utilized intraoperatively as claimed by opposing expert, or for that matter because of anything that was done, or not done, by our client. 

Following summations, and brief deliberations, the jury returned a unanimous verdict in favor of our client.