The husband of a woman who died following alleged medical negligence that occurred during a procedure on June 4, 2014 to remove a lead wire of her automatic implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (“AICD”) filed a federal medical malpractice wrongful death lawsuit in West Virginia on June 3, 2016 against a medical practice and five individuals involved with the procedure, alleging that their negligence led to a hypotensive episode during the procedure that was caused by internal bleeding. The woman was given a transfusion and then brought to the operating room where she arrived in full cardiac arrest with CPR in progress and was suffering from severe hypotension.
It was discovered during the open heart surgery that the woman’s superior vena cava was completely lacerated from the junction of the superior vena cava to the right atrium, that the left innominate vein was lacerated up to the sternal margin, and that the junction of the right innominate vein was completely disrupted. The surgeons found profuse bleeding and when the pericardium was opened, there was a large gush of blood from the pericardial cavity and a large amount of blood in the right pleural cavity.
The woman was placed on life support after her open heart surgery and a repeat CT scan of her head on June 11, 2014 revealed bilateral areas of low attenuation within the posterior temporal occipital lobes that was interpreted as being consistent with nonhemorrhagic infarcts, and low density within the frontoparietal region. After a discussion with the woman’s husband regarding his wife’s poor prognosis, she was provided comfort care only and she died the following day.
The husband’s West Virginia medical malpractice wrongful death lawsuit alleges that the defendants breached the standard of care in performing the AICD lead wire removal procedure and that the departure from the standard of care resulted in his wife’s death. The husband seeks both compensatory and punitive damages from the defendants.
What Is An AICD?
An AICD is a implantable medical device that monitors the heartbeat and can deliver an electrical impulse or shock to the heart when the device senses a life-threatening change in the rhythm of the heart. The AICD device consists of a pulse generator that can deliver an electrical impulse or shock to the heart, electrodes that sense the heart rhythm and delivers the electrical impulse or shock to the heart muscle, and a battery that can deliver approximately 100 shocks and is designed to last from four to five years. The AICD contains a computer chip that monitors heart rhythm and determines when an electrical shock is necessary.
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