Medical Malpractice: Verdicts, Settlements, and Experts

On June 12, 2015, the plaintiff's decedent presented to the hospital with complaints of abdominal pain, gallstones, and choledocholithiasis. an endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography demonstrated a CBD obstruction secondary to Mirizzi's syndrome with compression of the bile duct. The decedent's liver was of normal size, and no abnormalities were evident. On June 14, 2015, the defendant performed a laparoscopic cholecystectomy with the T-tube placement. Immediately upon opening. the defendant could not identify the gallbladder with certainty, and thus converted to an open cholecystectomy. At this point, it became clear that the decedent's Mirizzi's syndrome had caused fibrosis to the gallbladder and the common bile duct. The defendant noted that "some bleeding was encountered." The defendant blindly placed a stitch in the hepatic portal vein, which ligated the hepatic artery. The decedent was taken to the ICU in critical condition. The decedent later went into renal failure. A CT of the decedent's abdomen demonstrated no discernible flow within either the left or right hepatic artery. The decedent died on June 24, 2015. The case settled for an undisclosed amount.