Location: Chesterfield County Circuit Court
Verdict: $5,021,000
On Friday, a Chesterfield County jury returned a $5,021,000 verdict in our medical malpractice wrongful death case following a five-day trial and approximately six hours of deliberation.
Trial Team: Derrick Walker and Kari LaFratta
Venue: Chesterfield County Circuit Court
Verdict Date: Friday, May 2, 2025
Settlement History:
No demand was made. No offer was extended.
Our trial team and our client are grateful that the jury saw the full measure of this family’s loss and delivered a verdict that honors the life of this young mother.
Case Summary:
This case involved the death of a 30-year-old woman following a six-hour dental procedure performed under general anesthesia. The decedent, who was obese and taking oral contraceptives, was not provided with mechanical deep vein thrombosis (DVT) prophylaxis-namely, sequential compression devices (SCDs) – despite her moderate risk profile.
The defendant anesthesiologist administered anesthesia for the surgery but failed to assess the patient’s risk for intraoperative DVT and did not include SCDs or any other mechanical prophylaxis in the anesthesia plan. Immediately after the procedure, while being assisted into her husband’s vehicle, the patient collapsed. Dental staff and the defendant initiated CPR, and EMS transported her to the emergency department, where she was later pronounced dead.
An autopsy performed a few days later revealed multiple pulmonary emboli in the lungs.
Plaintiff called two board-certified anesthesiologists who testified that because the patient was obese and was on oral contraception and in light of the prolonged duration of the surgery under general anesthesia she was at least at a moderate risk for developing a DVT and that the failure to use SCDs or some other form of mechanical DVT prophylaxis was a breach of the standard of care and that the procedure should have been postponed until appropriate prophylaxis could be implemented.
Plaintiff also called a board-certified hematologist with a faculty appointment at UVA who testified that the patient likely developed a lower-extremity clot during the prolonged immobilization during surgery and that the clot traveled to her lungs, resulting in a fatal pulmonary embolism. She opined that proper use of SCDs would have prevented the DVT and the resulting death.
Plaintiff’s forensic pathologist testified regarding the likely age of the fatal embolus. Specifically, he used the autopsy findings to support his conclusions that the patient’s fatal emboli likely developed intra operatively. Specially he highlighted the fact that the size, shape and texture of the emboli was consistent with recently form clot tissue. He also focused on size, shape, and the absence of microscopic features associated with older thrombi.
The defense anesthesia experts disagreed with plaintiff’s expert’s risk assessment of the patient. They argued that despite the patient’s obesity and use of oral contraceptives she was still a very low risk for DVT and therefore mechanical prophylaxis was unnecessary.
The defense’s forensic pathologist opined that the histological findings from the autopsy were consistent with a clot formation process which predated the surgery. A critical care pulmonologist testified that, in his extensive experience, he had never seen a DVT develop during a procedure as short as six hours. A defense pathologist also pointed to the presence of fibroblasts in the clot tissue as evidence of an older thrombus.
Decedent:
A 30-year-old wife and mother of a 3-year-old son. She was not employed outside the home. Plaintiff did not pursue a claim for loss of household services or economic support.
Beneficiaries:
- Surviving spouse, a logistics manager for a commercial trucking company, married to the decedent for five years
- Minor son, age 7 at trial (3 at the time of death)
Damages:
- Non-Economic: Loss of solace and grief under the Virginia Wrongful Death Act
- Medical and other expenses: $19,734
Verdict Allocation:
- $2,000,000 to surviving spouse
- $3,000,000 to minor son
- $19,734 for medical and other expenses
- Total: $5,021,000
Plaintiff’s Experts:
- Alan Kaye, M.D. (Anesthesiology)
- Daniel Forest, M.D. (Anesthesiology)
- Hillary Maitland, M.D. (Hematology)
- Francisco Diaz, M.D. (Forensic Pathology)
Defense Experts:
- Victor Tapson, M.D. (Pulmonology/Critical Care)
- Jonathan McMullen, M.D. (Anesthesiology)
- Roger Wesley, M.D. (Anesthesiology)
- Victor Arden, M.D. (Forensic Pathology)
