$2,050,000
Woman Suffers Brain Damage during Hysterectomy
A 45 year old woman with endometriosis and heavy menstrual bleeding went into a local hospital for an elective hysterectomy. While her gynecologist was performing the surgery under general anesthesia, the anesthesiologist allowed the patient's blood pressure and fluid status to become unstable. When the patient developed airway compromise ("bronchospasm") - perhaps due to drugs given to her - the anesthesiologist failed to treat the problems promptly. This led to further respiratory and cardiac compromise, resulting in cardiac arrest during the surgery. Although the patient was resuscitated and survived, she was left with severe and permanent brain damage, including stroke, quadriparesis and cortical blindness.