A Connecticut anesthesiology group must pay $15.4 million to the estate of a 57-year-old woman who suffered a cardiorespiratory collapse and severe brain damage during a routine outpatient gastroenterology procedure, a state superior court jury has decided.
Maria Ocasio anesthesia death trial : Jury’s Verdict
The verdict, in favor of the estate of Maria I. Ocasio, applies to both Dr. Guy J. Aliotta, Ocasio’s anesthesiologist, and the Meriden-Wallingford Anesthesia Group PC. The jury awarded $1 million for the loss of enjoyment of life’s activities, $5 million for pre-death pain and suffering, and $9.4 million for Ocasio’s death.
“Maria Ocasio should have walked out of that outpatient procedure and enjoyed many more decades with her loving family,” said Kathleen Nastri, a Koskoff Koskoff & Bieder partner who represented the estate. “Instead, she spent her final days hooked up to machines.”
Maria Ocasio anesthesia death trial : Case Details
During opening statements, the estate alleged that Dr. Aliotta and a nurse anesthetist failed to properly monitor and respond to Ocasio’s vital signs, including a dangerous drop in blood oxygen content and a heart rate that plunged to 27 beats per minute. This occurred after administering propofol to render Ocasio unconscious during an endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) procedure.
