A settlement in the maximum amount permitted for general damages was obtained for the heirs of a 77-year-old woman, following a routine laparoscopic cholecystectomy at Kaiser Walnut Creek. The decedent underwent laparoscopic cholecystectomy in order to relieve abdominal pain resulting from gallstones. She was sent home following the procedure, only to return to the emergency department two days later, complaining of severe abdominal pain, inability to eat, and inability to walk due to pain.
She underwent two additional exploratory laparotomies, where bowel perforations were found. Decedent died in the hospital due to an abscess in her heart. Due to the original failure of the doctor who performed the laparoscopic cholecystectomy to discover the rents in decedent’s bowel and cystic leaks caused by slippage of the clips, the 77-year-old decedent was subjected to numerous surgeries, each of which rendered her increasingly weakened.
