Cook County, Illinois — Meyers & Flowers Trial Attorneys Craig D. Brown and Nicholas I. Flowersrecently secured a $1.5 million settlement in a surgical malpractice case arising from a routine sinus procedure that nearly killed their client.
Our client underwent endoscopic sinus surgery performed by an otolaryngologist. The operation was elective. It was not supposed to involve any risk to the patient’s life.
During the procedure, the surgeon used a microdebrider, a powered cutting instrument, to widen the opening of our client’s sphenoid sinus to address chronic sinusitis. During the surgery, the surgeon lost track of the anatomical position and the microdebrider traveled far beyond where the surgeon intended, through the back wall of the sinus, and cut open the internal carotid artery. Catastrophic bleeding followed and required emergent transfer to a Level 1 trauma center for emergency surgery.
Our client survived only because interventional radiologists in the intensive care unit were able to place a stent in the damaged artery after multiple procedures.
During the discovery process, the defense took the position that the injury could have resulted from a pre-existing aneurysm that burst on its own, without any negligence. That was the only conceivable defense in the case, and Attorney Brown and Attorney Flowers dismantled it in fact discovery.
During the depositions of the defendant surgeon and treating interventional radiologist, Attorney Flowers demonstrated that the only reasonable explanation for our client’s injury was the surgeon cutting open the internal carotid artery with the microdebrider.
The treating neurovascular interventional radiologist, a physician the defendant surgeon described as an expert in his field, testified without qualification that the angiogram showed clear evidence of direct mechanical trauma to the artery, not a spontaneous rupture. At the deposition, the defendant surgeon deferred to the treating interventional radiologist and agreed to not offer any contrary aneurysm opinion at trial. And although the defendant surgeon denied that the microdebrider caused the injury, under questioned from Attorney Flowers, the defendant surgeon was unable to identify any other explanation for the injury.
Attorneys Brown and Flowers also secured testimony from our client’s subsequent treating ENT, who explained the well-known dangers of using a powered instrument inside the sphenoid sinus and testified that he never does so himself, opting for hand-powered instruments. The treating ENT described the fundamental obligations of a sinus surgeon to identify and follow anatomical landmarks so that the surgeon knows exactly where their instruments are at every moment.
“Sinus surgeons work within millimeters of the carotid artery every day, and they do it safely because they know where they are,” said Attorney Brown. “Unfortunately, our client’s surgeon did not. No amount of money undoes what our client went through, but we were able to get a result quickly and without dragging our client through years of court proceedings.”
By the close of fact discovery, the record established the sequence of events from the defendant’s own operative note and deposition testimony. The case resolved before expert discovery began, sparing our client and their family months of further litigation and expense.
“Establishing clear evidence early in the discovery phase is critical,” added Attorney Flowers. “By holding the surgeon accountable to basic surgical standards during fact discovery, we were able to dismantle their defense early and secure justice for our client without going through a prolonged trial.”
Craig D. Brown, Nicholas Flowers, and the entire team of trial lawyers at Meyers & Flowers have earned a reputation for relentlessly pursuing justice for people who have been seriously injured or killed by wrongful conduct.
If you or a loved one has been harmed by a surgical error or negligent medical care, we want to hear from you. Call Meyers & Flowers at 630-232-6333 for your free, no obligation case evaluation.
About Meyers & Flowers
Led by Illinois Top 100 Super Lawyer and former President of the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association, Peter J. Flowers, the Meyers & Flowers team of experienced trial attorneys routinely take on large challenges and succeed. For more than two decades, the firm has represented clients both locally in Chicago and nationally in a full spectrum of cases involving catastrophic personal injuries, sexual abuse, medical malpractice, product liability, and corporate litigation.
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