News

Mike Florie and Joe Miller obtained a defense verdict for an anesthesiologist in a wrongful death medical malpractice case. The plaintiff was the 42 year old patient’s spouse. She alleged that the defendant had improperly extubated her husband after a hip surgery, resulting in an airway obstruction that could not be relieved. The patient died in the operating room. The plaintiff presented expert testimony from an anesthesiologist who is well published on difficult airways. She testified that the standard of care required the defendant to use an airway exchange catheter at extubation, due to the known difficult airway. She also testified that the defendant was below the standard of care in failing to attempt a surgical airway. The defense presented both factual and expert testimony that the standard of care was met, and that a surgical airway was impossible due to the patient’s abnormal cervical anatomy. The jury returned a verdict in behalf of the defendant anesthesiologist.