Johnson County, Kansas. Defense Verdict
The plaintiff’s decedent was a 71 year old male patient with a history of smoking, central nervous system lymphoma, hypertension, and prostate cancer. A colonoscopy revealed several benign polyps that were too large to be removed. Our client recommended and performed a colon resection to remove the area where large polyps were found. Postoperatively, the patient initially did well, but eventually developed renal failure, hypotension, respiratory failure, sepsis, and acidosis. A CT scan was later performed which suggested an anastomotic leak. Our client took the patient back to surgery. After confirming that the contamination of the abdomen was limited and that the patient’s family desired to avoid an ileostomy, our client performed a re-anastomosis. The re-anastomosis ultimately leaked and a subsequent laparotomy with resection of the ileocolonic anastomosis and ileostomy formation was performed. The patient ultimately expired on March 13, 2008 from a recurrence of the CNS lymphoma. At trial plaintiff claimed damages for pain and suffering and medical expenses for a total claim of $1,000,000. The jury returned a verdict in favor of our client.