$2.23 Million Verdict For Wrongful Death From Sepsis: On April 3, 2023, a Virginia medical malpractice wrongful death jury returned its verdict in the amount of $2.23 million after a five-day trial and five hours of jury deliberations, beating the defense’s top settlement offer in the amount of $700,000, in a medical malpractice case in which the patient died from sepsis and necrotizing fasciitis ten days after successful abdominal surgery to remove a segment of her colon. The plaintiff was the estate of a 58-year-old nurse who worked at the hospital where the medical negligence occurred, and the beneficiaries of the verdict are the 31-year-old twin daughters of the decedent.
The decedent had undergone resection surgery of her colon on April 4, 2018. She died ten days later after undergoing several post-operative surgeries including amputation of her right leg resulting from the effects of septic shock and necrotizing fasciitis.
The estate alleged at trial that her surgeons had ordered a blood test four days after her resection surgery that revealed highly abnormal band neutrophils indicative of an infection. Despite the evidence of an infection, her surgeons failed to order a CT scan that the estate argued would have resulted in the diagnosis of a leak of fecal matter from her intestine into her abdominal cavity near the surgical site over the prior several days. The surgeons also failed to order antibiotics for the woman.
A repeat blood test the following day reportedly showed that the bands had increased to nine times the normal level. The estate’s Virginia medical malpractice lawyers were able to establish through a medical record audit trail that one of the surgeons had accessed the blood test results both days but took no action based on the results. The exploratory surgery did not occur until two days later, during which time the woman continued to suffer the leak into her abdomen.
The estate’s infectious disease physician expert testified during trial that had he been consulted after the first blood test results, he would have suspected septic infection, started antibiotics, requested an abdominal CT scan, and urged the attending surgeon to do immediate exploratory surgery for an intra-abdominal leak.
The estate’s other medical experts testified as to the woman’s multi-organ failure due to septic shock and the necrotizing fasciitis she suffered that led to her death.
The Virginia medical malpractice verdict was against Bon Secours Surgical Specialists, Bon Secours DePaul Hospital, and one of its former surgeons. The decedent was a nurse in the neurosurgical operating suite at DePaul Hospital.
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