On Oct. 6, 2000, plaintiff’s decedent Eufemia Martinez, 36, a homemaker, underwent gastric-bypass surgery. The procedure was performed by Dr. Bashir Zikria, at North General Hospital, in Manhattan.
Martinez experienced postoperative complications that included blockage of her intestines. The complications necessitated the performance of two revisionary surgeries.
On Jan. 19, 2001, Martinez presented to St. Barnabas Hospital, in the Bronx. Dr. Fadel Ahmad and others doctors determined that she was suffering weakness that stemmed from malnutrition. Martinez underwent 10 days of treatment, but her condition continued to deteriorate. On Feb. 6, 2001, she returned to St. Barnabas Hospital, and doctors determined that she was suffering malnutrition and starvation. Treatment was not effective, and Martinez eventually died. Her family claimed that her death was a result of the gastric-bypass surgery.
Martinez’s mother, Australia Rosario, acting individually and as administratrix of her daughter’s estate, sued North General Hospital, St. Barnabas Hospital, Ahmad and Zikria. The plaintiffs alleged that Zikria failed to appropriately address Martinez’s presurgical condition, that Zikria and North General Hospital’s staff failed to properly perform the procedure, that Ahmad and St. Barnabas Hospital’s staff failed to render proper postoperative care, and that the failures constituted medical malpractice.
St. Barnabas Hospital cross-claimed against Ahmad. The hospital sought indemnification.
St. Barnabas Hospital also impleaded Martinez’s other attending physicians: Drs. Arturo Batlle, Joseph Edwards, Carl Guillaume and Bonnie Ann Muller. The hospital sought indemnification.
The estate, Ahmad, Batlle, Edwards, Guillaume, Muller and St. Barnabas Hospital agreed to a pretrial settlement. Terms were not disclosed. The matter proceeded to a trial against North General Hospital and Zikria.
Plaintiffs’ counsel claimed that Martinez’s body-mass index indicated that she was not an appropriate candidate for gastric-bypass surgery. They explained that body-mass index is a product of a person’s height and weight, and they also noted that gastric-bypass surgery is typically restricted to people who are morbidly obese. Plaintiffs’ counsel contended that Martinez’s actual body-mass index did not establish that she was morbidly obese, but that Zikria intentionally misreported Martinez’s height and that, as a result, her reported body-mass index did establish that she was morbidly obese. Thus, plaintiffs’ counsel argued that Martinez did not provide informed consent to the initial gastric-bypass procedure.
Plaintiffs’ counsel also claimed that the initial procedure was not properly performed.
Zikria contended that Martinez was an appropriate candidate for gastric-bypass surgery. Thus, he claimed that he obtained Martinez’s informed consent to the procedure. He also claimed that the procedure was properly performed.
Plaintiffs’ counsel claimed that Martinez’s initial gastric-bypass surgery was not properly performed. Martinez experienced postoperative complications that included blockage of her intestines. The complications necessitated the performance of two revisionary surgeries. Those surgeries necessitated a hospitalization that lasted about six weeks.
On Jan. 19, 2001, Martinez presented to St. Barnabas Hospital. Doctors determined that she was suffering weakness that stemmed from malnutrition. Martinez underwent 10 days of treatment, but her condition continued to deteriorate. On Feb. 6, 2001, she returned to St. Barnabas Hospital, and doctors determined that she was suffering malnutrition and starvation. She was admitted to the hospital, but her condition did not improve. She ultimately suffered failure of her liver, and she died Feb. 26, 2001, at age 36. She was survived by two minor sons, ages 15 and 10.
Martinez’s estate sought recovery of wrongful-death damages that included damages for the children’s loss of parental guidance and damages for about 12 weeks of Martinez’s pain and suffering. Martinez’s mother, Australia Rosario, presented a derivative claim.
Defense counsel contended that Martinez was appropriately treated by the staff of North General Hospital, but that she was not appropriately treated by the staff of St. Barnabas Hospital.
The jury found that Zikria and North General Hospital’s staff departed from accepted standards of medical care, but it also found that Ahmad and St. Barnabas Hospital’s staff departed from accepted standards of medical care. North General Hospital and Zikria were assigned a total of 60-percent liability, and Ahmad and St. Barnabas Hospital were assigned a total of 40-percent liability.
The jury determined that the estate’s damages totaled $28 million, but that amount was reduced by the percentage of the settling defendants’ liability. Thus, the estate’s recovery totaled $16.8 million.
Estate of Eufemia Martinez
$22,000,000 Wrongful Death: loss of parental guidance
$6,000,000 Wrongful Death: conscious pain and suffering
During pendency of defense counsel’s post-trial motion, the parties agreed to a $5.2 million settlement.