Donovan Vieira, Dominic Vieira, Shelby Lyons, a minor by and through his Guardian ad Litem, Karie Collins v. Richard Betcher
Published: Feb. 18, 2004 | Result Date: Nov. 4, 2003 | Filing Date: Jan. 1, 1900 |Case number: 6504252 Verdict – $0
Judge
Court
Fresno Superior
Attorneys
Plaintiff
Steven L. Saldo
(Saldo Law Group)
Defendant
William M. White
(White & Canepa LLP)
Experts
Plaintiff
Gary N. Furman
(medical)
Defendant
Pardeep Bhullar
(medical)
Leo J. Murphy
(medical)
Facts
Alvin Vieira was a 44-year-old truck driver suffering from morbid obesity and related problems. Unable to sustain weight loss through self- and physician-directed diets, Vieira elected to have gastric bypass surgery. His surgeon, Richard Betcher, informed him of all possible risks, and then performed the surgery on Vieira at St. Agnes Hospital. (Informed consent was not an issue at trial.) The surgery was completed without initial complications and Vieira was taken to the post-anesthesia care unit at 10 a.m. At 5 p.m., Betcher was informed of a lack of urine output. Betcher ordered one liter of Ringers Lactate over one hour. Vieira was transferred to ICU where Betcher ordered another liter of Ringers Lactate over one hour until Vieira began discharging more than 25cc of urine per hour. At 3:14 a.m. the following morning, Vieira went into cardiopulmonary arrest due to a highly-elevated potassium level and "code blue" was called. Vieira was resuscitated, but suffered anoxic brain injury. He died 10 days later when his family requested that life support be discontinued as he was declared "brain dead." Vieira's surviving sons sued Betcher for medical malpractice alleging that Betcher did not maintain the required standard of care in treating Vieira post-operatively. They alleged that Betcher both over-hydrated Vieira and failed to order a Swan-Gans catheter to monitor fluid levels, which resulted in the arrest. Betcher contended that he did not fall below the standard of care by deciding not to utilize invasive monitoring of fluid levels.
Settlement Discussions
The plaintiffs demanded $124,000 C.C.P. Section 998, lowered to $95,000 during trial. The defendant offered a C.C.P. Section 998 waiver of costs.
Injuries
Wrongful death.
Result
Defense
Other Information
St. Agnes previously settled for a confidential amount. The court granted plaintiff's motion to tax costs by $13,000.
Deliberation
1.45 hours
Poll
9-3 (no negligence)
Length
eight days
For reprint rights or to order a copy of your photo:
Email
jeremy@reprintpros.com
for prices.
Direct dial: 949-702-5390