SBH Attorneys Mark Smith, Greta Powell, and Jack Moore Successfully Defend Vascular Surgeon

SBH partners Mark Smith and Greta Powell along with associate Jack Moore secured a defense verdict in Cook County on behalf of their client, a vascular surgeon.

The case involved the death of a fifty-eight-year old woman with significant atherosclerosis and peripheral vascular disease. Our client, a vascular surgeon, had attempted numerous interventions to treat blockages in the patient’s legs. Those treatments unfortunately failed, and the patient required a left leg amputation. While rehabbing, the patient developed wounds on her right leg, as a result of arterial blockages and reduced blood flow. Our vascular surgery client performed a femoral-tibial bypass surgery to restore blood flow and salvage the patient’s remaining leg. The patient’s hemoglobin and blood pressure were low throughout the procedure. A chest tube was placed after a chest x-ray showed a hemothorax. While the patient had some improvement she later became hypoxic, arrested, and died.  It was later revealed that when the central line was placed by the anesthesiologist during surgery, it had punctured the right innominate vein, resulting in internal bleeding. 

Plaintiff argued our client should have stopped surgery to investigate the cause of the low hemoglobin and low blood pressure. The defense argued the patient’s death was the result of a known complication of central line placement and due to the patient’s underlying medical conditions that limited her ability to withstand the insult. Stopping the procedure would have necessitated disposing of harvested vessels and amputating the patient’s remaining leg.  The defense further argued the patient had reassuring mean arterial pressures (“MAP”), that her hemoglobin improved to its preoperative level with the administration of blood products, and that other interventions caused the patient’s condition to improve without needing to stop the surgery.  Plaintiff asked the jury to award in excess of $4.5 million. After approximately four hours of deliberations, the jury returned a verdict in favor of the physician. The case was tried in the Cook County Circuit Court before The Honorable Brendan A. O’Brien.