10.06.2022

This matter was a medical malpractice action in Suffolk County Supreme Court. It allegations centered around an alleged enterotomy that was caused intraoperatively by our client during a laparoscopic ventral hernia repair. Additionally, it was alleged that our other client failed to appreciate the patient’s signs and symptoms of sepsis post-operatively. Further, it was alleged that once the enterotomy was diagnosed, the patient was septic and required a second surgery consisting of a small bowel resection and anastomosis. The patient experience a prolonged hospital course and subsequent hospital admissions totaling approximately 5 months with respiratory failure, need for tracheostomy, CT drainage of abscesses, total parenteral nutrition, and a wound vac. The jury found in favor of our clients after we established that a serosal tear, and not an enterotomy, was caused during the initial surgery, which was missed not as a result of negligence, but due to the presence of intrabdominal adhesions. With respect to the post-operative symptoms, the jury found in favor of our client after we established that the overall clinical picture did not fit what one would expect for an enterotomy and/or sepsis. Instead, the clinical picture was entirely consistent with an ileus, which is an expected finding post-operatively and typically resolves on its own, and as such no intervention was warranted. The enterotomy was timely diagnosed, and plaintiff’s prolonged hospital course was a result of plaintiff’s co-morbidities, and the fact that even limited exposure to a bile leak can have dire consequences.

Congratulations to Trial Partner Robert Castillo and the team that was with him every step of the way, Danielle Chin and Michael La Pinta