HUONG M. NGUYEN, et. al. v. KARL D. STECHER, JR., M.D.

Doctor Sued After Patient Dies as the Result of Routine Surgery

Court:
Araphahoe County District Court

Plaintiff's Counsel:
Chalat Law Offices, P.C.

Facts

Karl Stecher, Jr., M.D., performed a routine, anterior cervical discectomy on Be Thi Luong, a 54 year old female, in September 2000. During the operation, Dr. Stecher injured Be Thi Luong’s left common carotid artery. Dr. Stecher attempted to repair the damaged artery but, after the surgery, imaging studies revealed a large cerebral cortical infarct. Be Thi Luong died two days later as a result of the injury to the carotid artery and cerebral cortical infarct.

Plaintiffs testified that Dr. Stecher came out of the operating room and confessed to them that he had punctured Be Thi Luong’s artery during the surgery.

Dr. Stecher testified that he had to use the blunt side of a curette to retract the carotid artery during the surgery because he did not have a retractor. Michael Dobersen, M.D., Ph.D., the Arapahoe County Coroner who performed an autopsy on Be Thi Luong, testified that he believed Be Thi Luong’s carotid artery had been lacerated during the surgery. Dr. Dobersen also testified that Be Thi Luong’s carotid artery was healthy and could not have ruptured spontaneously.

Plaintiff Huong M. Nguyen was the surviving spouse of Be T. Luong, and the only plaintiff seeking economic damages. Mr. Nguyen was a gardener. His annual earnings, after expenses, were less than $10,000. Be Thi Luong, at the time of her death, was a dietitian for a hospital, earning approximately $32,000 annually, plus benefits.

Plaintiffs contended that Dr. Stecher failed to adequately protect Be Thi Luong’s common carotid artery during the surgery, which failure was a breach of the standard of care. Be Thi Luong’s carotid artery was injured as a result of this breach, and Be Thi Luong died as a result thereof.

Plaintiff Huong M. Nguyen sued for economic damages, which included the loss of Be Thi Luong’s annual income, plus benefits including health insurance and profit sharing. Be Thi Luong’s five children sued for non-economic damages.

The medical expenses incurred for the three days that Be Thi Luong was hospitalized before her death were approximately $50,000.

Dr. Stecher contended that Be Thi Luong’s carotid artery was unhealthy and friable due to radiation treatment that Be Thi Luong received in the early 1990's to treat thyroid cancer. Dr. Stecher also contended that Be Thi Luong had a large amount of scar tissue in and around her carotid artery from previous neck surgeries. Dr. Stecher testified that some of this scar tissue, when pulled, caused a small hole to open in Be Thi Luong’s carotid artery.

After an eight day jury trial, the jury deliberated for about 2.5 hours and returned a verdict for Plaintiffs. The award was $540,094 to Huong M. Nguyen for economic damages and $160,000 to each of the five other plaintiffs for non-economic damages, for a total award of $1,340,094. Costs and prejudgment interest were not included as part of the jury’s award.

The Court then reduced the non-economic damages award to $250,000 ($50,000 to each of the five children, as is noted in the Court’s Order dated August 9, 2002). The Court also awarded costs and interest, as noted in the Order. Dr. Stecher was insured by The Doctor’s Company. The policy had a limit of $1,000,000 per occurrence. The judgment was satisfied.