Settlement in excess of $1 million

A teenage girl from Pittsburgh with scoliosis underwent surgery to correct her spine. During the surgery, some misplaced surgical screws caused injury to the spinal cord, which led to a significant drop in the patient’s blood pressure during the operation. In addition to the surgical error, the problem was compounded because the anesthesia team monitoring the patient failed to adequately react to correct the abnormal blood pressure. Sadly, this young college student died a few hours after surgery. Wrongful death and medical malpractice claims were filed by her parents against the orthopedic surgeon and the anesthesia team involved in the case, and a settlement in excess of $1 million was obtained.