Type of Case: Medical malpractice
Attorneys: William Kilduff, and Christopher Spinelli, Richmond
Summary: The patient underwent a routine laparoscopic cholecystectomy. During the laparoscopy, defendant surgeon thought he might have perforated the small bowel and told his partners to investigate this if the patient returned.
Plaintiff presented to the ER with symptoms of a bowel perforation. The surgeon’s partners were told, but decided the patient did not have a perforation without doing anything to investigate this possibility, even knowing what their partner had warned. Over the next week, the patient deteriorated in the hospital until one of the laparoscopy wounds burst open, releasing the contents of her abdomen. The patient underwent numerous open surgeries in an attempt to repair her bowel. She lost 40 pounds, going from 127 to 87. She survived, but will never be the same. She had some preexisting bowel issues that complicated the case. Nonetheless, the Emroch & Kilduff attorneys won a settlement that will provide her with financial security for the foreseeable future.