The military spouse alleged in her FTCA lawsuit that the surgeon negligently performed her gastric sleeve procedure that resulted in a leak at the suture site…medicalmalpracticelawyers.com, $6.5M FTCA Medical Malpractice Verdict For Botched Gastric Sleeve Surgery, Nov 2024
As a result of the leak, gastric acid migrated into the area where her stomach used to be and further migrated onto her internal organs. Because of the surgeon’s lack of training and experience involving post-surgery gastric sleeve complications, the lawsuit alleged that the surgeon failed to return the patient to the operating room immediately so that the leak could be repaired and a washout of the gastric acid could be performed. Instead, the surgeon arranged for the patient to be transferred to another hospital, but it took over 18 hours for the transfer to occur.
The negligently performed procedure and the resulting leak and delay in repairing the gastric leak allegedly resulted in serious and permanent harm, and required more than ten additional surgeries over the course of several months. As a result of the surgeon’s negligence, the judge determined that the patient was entitled to the full amount of the life care plan entered into evidence, in the amount of $4.7 million, plus the judge awarded damages for pain and suffering, resulting in a total award of $6.5 million.