In September 2023, David Tyrrell and Scott Logan obtained a defense verdict for an anesthesiologist. The Plaintiff was a 42-year-old patient who underwent an EGD procedure on November 26, 2019. We represented the defendant anesthesiologist for the EGD procedure and the CRNA and hospital were also defendants. The Plaintiff was assessed preoperatively and a plan for a Rapid Sequence Intubation was made due to his risk for aspiration secondary to nausea and vomiting. After induction of anesthesia, the Plaintiff was not able to be intubated by direct laryngoscope and then was not able to be ventilated by bag mask ventilation. A period of oxygen desaturation occurred that lasted several minutes. Plaintiff alleged that Defendants did not properly assess him to be a difficult airway in advance of the procedure, that they failed to form a proper backup plan in the event they encountered difficulty, failed to adequately preoxygenate, failed to have necessary equipment available and failed to follow the American Society of Anesthesiologists’ Difficult Airway Algorithm once they encountered difficulty. At the conclusion of a two and half week trial, the Plaintiff asked for $72,614,046 in closing, including future medical expenses ($6,099,259), past lost wages ($311,813), future lose wages ($1,824,374) and noneconomic damages. In less than two hours of deliberations, the Jury returned a verdict in favor of the Defendants.
