A medical malpractice lawsuit brought by a woman who claimed that the failure of a hospital employee to begin emergency resuscitation quickly enough during surgery left her with permanent brain damage settled the case for an undisclosed amount.
Billed as a $63 million lawsuit, the case involved plaintiff Elisa Sales and Summerlin Hospital Medical Center located in Las Vegas, NV. The confidential settlement was reached shortly after the jury heard closing arguments in a trial involving 15 days of testimony. The plaintiff’s attorney was Sean Claggett of the Claggett & Sykes Law Firm who accused the Summerlin doctors and supporting staff of failing to act in a timely manner when Ms. Sales went into respiratory arrest during what should have been a routine outpatient pacemaker replacement.
Attorney Claggertt argued in the medical malpractice lawsuit that the lack of blood flow to Ms. Sales’ brain left her with the mental capacity of a child and asked the jury to award he rand her husband up to $63 million in damages.
Summerlin Hospital was represented by Michael Prangle of Hall Prangle & Schoonveld and he argued the hospital’s resuscitative efforts were consistent with the standard of care. He also argued that Ms. Sales’ alleged neurological impairment was the result of a pre-existing condition.
Both attorneys argued over how and when current medical standards dictate emergency resuscitation should begin as well as whether Ms. Sales condition during the surgery required such measures. Neither attorney talked to the media after the confidential settlement was reached.
The trial included 18 factual witnesses and 13 expert witnesses.
The case is The case is captioned Elisa Sales v. Summerlin Hospital and Medical Center, case number A-17-758060-C in the 8th District Court of Nevada, Clark County.
