In September 2025, a Georgia medical malpractice jury found in favor of the defendant hospitalist in claims for medical malpractice wrongful death arising from the death of a 61-year-old patient who died in January 2020 from sepsis 15 days after having had surgery to remove a mass in his intestine.
The defendant hospitalist was part of a healthcare team responsible for the care of the patient in the ICU after the patient’s surgery. The Georgia medical malpractice wrongful death lawsuit alleged that the defendant hospitalist failed to properly care for the patient in light of signs that the patient had a leak in the seam of his intestine created during the surgery that led to sepsis and ultimately caused the patient’s death. The Georgia lawsuit named additional defendants, all of whom, expect for the hospitalist, had settled the claims against them before trial.
The hospitalist’s defense centered on arguing that the hospitalist had a limited role on the team responsible for the patient’s care in the ICU, telling the jury that the healthcare team included an intensivist and a surgeon: “He is part of the team, [but] he is not managing these issues. Nobody’s calling him. This isn’t his lane. And everyone in the hospital knows that.” The defense told the jury that the defendant hospitalist’s responsibility was to follow the patient for the continuity of care with the expectation that the patient would return to the general ward of the hospital. In such a role, it was not the hospitalist but the surgeon and intensivist who were responsible for the patient’s medical care and treatment. Hence, the defense argued, the defendant hospitalist acted reasonably with regard to the patient’s care.
After the Georgia medical malpractice wrongful death jury returned a defense verdict, the defendant hospitalist’s lawyer stated, “I think the key evidence was likely the specialists to whom Dr. Sangani deferred, coming to trial and owning their decision-making on the stand. While the jury may have had some concerns about their decisions, their testimony showed the complexity of the care at issue, and therefore how reasonable it was for a hospitalist like Dr. Sangani to defer on each of the issues raised by the plaintiff.”
The plaintiff’s lawyer stated after the verdict, “Defense counsel did a tremendous job successfully emphasizing their empty-chair defense, and we congratulate them on a well-tried case. We are grateful to the ever-professional Judge Jeff Hanson and the entire Bibb County team for an efficient, respectful, and fair trial setting, and we look forward to the next one. “
If you or a loved one suffered harm (or worse) as a result of hospitalist medical malpractice in Georgia or in another U.S. state, you should promptly find a Georgia medical malpractice attorney, or a malpractice attorney in your state, who may investigate your hospitalist medical malpractice claim for you and represent you or your loved one in a medical malpractice claim against a hospitalist, if appropriate.
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