Anesthesia Malpractice Lawsuit Ends in $20 Million Verdict

The jury in an Alabama wrongful death lawsuit has returned a hefty verdict of $20 million filed on behalf of a woman who died during surgery as a result of anesthesia malpractice.

Paulett Pettaway Hall was about to undergo exploratory surgery to identify the cause of severe stomach pains when she received a dose of anesthesia.  The lawsuit claims that Dr. Randal Boudreaux and Nurse Don Ortega failed to identify several risk factors for Hall, which were all listed in her medical records.

Once Hall was anesthetized, she started to breathe bile into her lungs and died shortly thereafter.  Hall’s family claims that had medical staff paid attention to her records, and properly examined her abdomen, she’d be alive today.

According to a study in the medical journal Anesthesiology, there were more than 2,200 anesthesia deaths between 1999 and 2005.  Some of these deaths were a direct result of the anesthesia, and others, like in this case, were from anesthesia complications.

If you suspect that someone you love may have been a victim of anesthesia malpractice, an experienced medical attorney can help.