A CO LIMERICK man has lost a case for compensation over the death of his wife following cosmetic surgery in the US in 2005.
A six-person jury found that an anaesthetist and nurse had departed from best medical practice in their treatment of mother-of-two Kay Cregan (42).
However it also found that those actions played no significant role in causing her death, and therefore awarded no damages to her husband, Liam Cregan.
Mr Cregan declined to speak to the media. His attorney, Tom Moore, said as he left court: “In 35 years, I have never seen a more shocking verdict.”
Mr Moore had sought damages on behalf of the Cregan family totalling $12 million.
The family will, however, receive $3.1 million. The cosmetic surgeon at the core of the case, Dr Michael Sachs, settled without admission of liability for $2.1 million last month.
Complicating last week’s case, a settlement was reached with Susan Alonzo-Francisco, the nurse, for $1 million shortly after the jurors began deliberating. They were not informed of the settlement – which also came without admission of liability – for legal reasons.
Referring to those settlements, Mr Moore said the case was “a victory in that sense” but that “it is all bitter-sweet” because of the jury’s verdict.
The nub of the case against the anaesthetist, Madhavarao Subbaro, was that he had failed Ms Cregan by departing on the night of the surgery without putting a written plan in place for her continued care.
The case against the nurse centred on the claim that she had not called the emergency services as fast as she should have done. The jury found both of those claims true but in essence said they did not cause Ms Cregan’s death.
Mr Moore indicated that Mr Cregan would appeal Friday’s verdict.
The basis for the appeal, he said, would be a claim that the jury had arrived at its verdict “against the weight of the credible evidence”.