Dallas Fort Worth Injury Lawyer Blog
A Fairfax County jury has awarded nearly $3 million to the family of a man who died after his esophagus tore while he was swallowing a piece of steak, finding an Alexandria radiologist liable for misdiagnosing the man’s condition as a hiatal hernia.
Large civil jury verdicts are rare in Fairfax, and Virginia’s cap on medical malpractice judgments required the jury’s award of $2,933,500 to be cut by more than half, to about $1.25 million.
Read full story at the Washington Post.
Just before trial, the Fairfax anesthesiology group involved in the man’s death agreed to pay a settlement of $600,000.
Hector Alvarez, 52, of Springfield first went to the Inova HealthPlex at Franconia-Springfield on July 6, 2006, complaining of chest pains and trouble swallowing after he had barbecued a steak and taken a bite. The piece of meat had gotten stuck in his throat, attorney John J. Sellinger said, and “he later said it felt like it went down the wrong way.”
Alvarez was given a number of tests at Inova HealthPlex, including X-rays, an EKG and a CT scan of his chest. The CT studies were sent electronically to William J. Dunwoody III, a radiologist with the Association of Alexandria Radiologists.
Dunwoody’s computer notes indicated that his impression was that Alvarez was suffering from “a large hiatal hernia.” Sellinger said doctors continued to treat Alvarez with various oral medicines, but his pain did not decrease.
About midnight, Alvarez was taken by ambulance to Inova Fairfax Hospital. Doctors continued to search for the cause of his severe chest pain and continued to give him oral treatment. About 4 p.m. on July 7, a surgeon looked at Alvarez’s CT scan and spotted the perforated esophagus.
The surgeon ordered that Alvarez be immediately prepared for an operation to repair his esophagus. The surgeon also ordered that Alvarez be given an epidural catheter, so that he could receive pain medication after the operation.
But after the catheter was inserted and anesthetic applied, Alvarez went into cardiac arrest. Court documents show that a doctor at Fairfax Anesthesiology Associates performed the procedure.
There was difficulty resuscitating Alvarez, and he suffered irreparable brain damage. The surgery was not performed. Alvarez died July 17, 2006.
Alvarez’s widow, Deborah A. Alvarez, filed a wrongful death suit in March 2007, naming Dunwoody, the Association of Alexandria Radiologists and Fairfax Anesthesiology as defendants.
After a lengthy pretrial process, Fairfax Anesthesiology agreed in January to pay $600,000, court records show. But the Alexandria radiology firm, which was insured by ProAssurance, did not make a settlement offer and elected to go to trial.
The jury issued its verdict against Dunwoody and the Association of Alexandria Radiologists. The jury was not told of the state cap on medical malpractice awards, which is $1.85 million for actions that occurred in 2006.
If you or a family member has been injured because of the fault of someone else; by negligence, personal injury, slip and fall, car accident, medical malpractice, trucking accident, drunk driving, dangerous drugs, bad product, toxic injury etc then please contact the Fort Worth Texas Medical Malpractice Attorney Dr. Shezad Malik. For a no obligation, free case analysis, please call 214-390-3189 or Contact Me Online.
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