The Law Office of Marshall Silberberg in Orange County, California, has secured a $28.7 million medical malpractice verdict for a man who suffered a paralyzing anoxic brain injury during what should have been a routine 10-minute surgical procedure. Attorney William Collins and Attorney Sean O’Neill from Stalwart Law Group tried this case together. The large verdict ranks as one of the top California medical malpractice verdicts of all time.
Details of the Botched Throat Surgery
Antonio Leon was eating a fish taco when a fish bone became lodged in his throat. A routine, 10-minute surgical procedure was planned to remove the fish bone. Originally, he would undergo monitored anesthesia care, which would allow him to breathe on his own during the procedure. However, Dr. Georgia Bode was selected as the replacement anesthesiologist when the first anesthesiologist was unavailable, and the decision was changed to general anesthesia, which required paralyzing and intubating Mr. Leon for the procedure.
After Mr. Leon was paralyzed by the anesthesiologist and no longer breathing on his own, the medical team failed to intubate him, so the oxygen reaching his brain was limited. For 45 minutes, they tried to intubate Mr. Leon several times, without success. Dr. Bode, did not have the drug that would immediately end the paralysis and wake Mr. Leon, preventing her from aborting the procedure.
Against medical standards, once Leon began to breathe on his own again as the paralytic drug wore off, Dr. Bode decided to paralyze him again. Again, because intubation had failed, his oxygen saturation levels rapidly plummeted, causing his brain to be deprived of oxygen. An emergency tracheostomy was performed, but significant damage had already occurred.
Once the surgery was completed, Mr. Leon was placed into a medically induced coma for weeks. While in a coma, he suffered several seizures and would awaken weeks later, completely wheelchair-bound and bedbound. The unsafe and unreasonable medical decisions of Dr. Bode permanently altered Leon’s life and livelihood.
Taking the Case to Trial
During the case and as it proceeded to trial, Dr. Bode would not admit liability for the medical malpractice and surgical errors that had left Leon permanently paralyzed and struggling to live with a traumatic brain injury (TBI). Attorneys Collins and O’Neill took Dr. Bode to a jury trial, where evidence and arguments could show the court and jurors the facts of the case.
When Attorney O’Neill questioned Dr. Bode on the stand during trial, she admitted that she felt that the surgeon in the operating room was trying to “hijack” her anesthesia care of Mr. Leon. At one point during her testimony, she testified that she considered a “fistfight” with the surgeon.
After a two-week trial with many witnesses and experts taking the witness stand, the arguments were concluded, and the case was handed to the jury to deliberate. After two days deliberation, the jury returned a verdict for Mr. Leon. The $28,700,000 verdict places this result as one of the highest verdicts of all time for medical malpractice cases in California.
The Law Office of Marshall Silberberg Fights for the Wrongfully Injured
Do you need a legal team to stand up for you or a loved one after a life-changing injury was caused by another party’s negligence and mistakes? The Law Office of Marshall Silberberg proudly represents the wrongfully injured in Orange County and across California. To learn more about what we can do and how we help our clients, please review our case results, browse our client testimonials, and contact us online. You can also call (949) 565-4281 to speak with a member of our law firm directly.