$3.5 Million Settlement
Marvin Besendorfer sued Freeman Hospital after doctors failed to remove a clamp used during cardiopulmonary bypass surgery, resulting in loss of vision and neurological injuries.
Besendorfer, 56, went to Freeman for evaluation of chest pain and suspected myocardial infarction. While in the emergency room, it was determined he had coronary artery blockage and needed cardiopulmonary bypass surgery.
During the bypass procedure, the heart doctor failed to remove one of the bulldog clamps from the right coronary artery bypass graft before Besendorfer was separated from the bypass machine. This eventually led to right and left side ventricular failure and required the use of ventricular assist devices.
As the operating room personnel worked to restart Besendorfer's heart, other problems developed. One problem involved his body temperature and hematocrit levels. In preparation for bypass surgery, a patient's body temperature is lowered and the red blood cell count, called a hematocrit level, reduced. In Besendorfer's case, his low temperature was not maintained but was allowed to rise to 100.4 degrees. His hematocrit level, which should have been at 21 percent, was allowed to drop to 17 percent. Besendorfer claimed the high temperature and lack of red blood cells resulted in oxygen deprivation, called stagnant hypoxia, which resulted in loss of vision and neurological injuries.
The hospital blamed the vision loss on a surgery for a sinus infection that Besendorfer had in the days following his bypass procedure. It denied any mismanagement of his temperature and hematocrit levels. Besendorfer claimed the defendants purposely concealed the doctor's error, because the discovery of the clamp was omitted from the medical records.
The defendants denied that any attempt was made to "conceal" facts in the case. On the contrary, they said, it was hospital employees who told plaintiff's counsel details of the surgery including the use and removal of clamps. They also claimed that a certain percentage of bypass patients suffer neurological problems, including blindness.
The parties settled for $3.5 million.
Type of Action: Medical malpractice
Type of Injuries: Severe loss of vision, neurological damage
Court/Case Number/Date: Jasper County Circuit Court/ 01CV682825/ January 2003
Caption: Besendorfer v. Freeman Hospital, Southwest Anesthesiology, and Baxter Perfusion
Judge, Jury or ADR: Jury
Name of Judge: William Carl Crawford
Verdict or Settlement: $3.5 million settlement
Allocation of Fault: N/A
Last Offer: N/A
Last Demand: N/A
Attorneys for Plaintiff: Ed Hershewe, Alison Hershewe and Michelle Boehm O'Neal, The Hershewe Law Firm, Joplin
Insurance Carrier: Not disclosed
Plaintiff's Experts: Dr. Solomon Batnitzky, Kansas City, Kan.; Dr. John Bullock, Dayton, Ohio (ophthalmologist); Dr. Martin Burke, Chicago, Ill. (cardiologist); Dr. Edward Lowenstein, Boston, Mass. (anesthesiologist); Dr. Sharo Raissi, Los Angeles, Calif. (thoracic surgeon)
Defendant's Experts: Dr. Christopher Feindel, Toronto ; Dr. Robert Groom, Portland, Maine; Dr. Gregg Hartman, Lebanon, N.H.; Dr. Graham Lee, Kansas City; Dr. Marilyn Rymer, Kansas City; Dr. John Toomasian, San Francisco, Calif.; Dr. John Vander Woude, Sioux Falls, S.D.
February 10, 2003
