A severe brain injury due to medical negligence during neck surgery caused Margaret Mary Niedzwiadek, 59, to pass into a coma in October 2013, and pass away in December 2013. It also led to a $4.2 million settlement for her family. The family, accused the doctor, Craig J. Anmuth, of driving to the office while talking on his cellphone and looking over other patient records. The family clams he was supposed to be at the Bacharach Institute for Rehabilitation looking over Margaret’s neuromonitoring signals.
Evidence states that an employee at Bacharach allegedly installed software to eliminate evidence on Anmuth’s computer the day the surgery took place – and that Anmuth took seven phone calls, one from a plumber while he was supposed to be focused on tracking the neuromonitoring signals. The surgery had been in progress for 50 minutes before Anmuth logged in to track Margaret’s signals. Also, he was accused of false statement perjury.
The failed surgery that led to Margaret’s death occurred at AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center in New Jersey. Neuromonitoring is used to identify if the brain is still functioning correctly during surgery.
The suit claimed other issues, including that the neuromonitoring technician, Robert Perro, did not make surgeons aware of Margaret’s signal changes. It’s believed the brain injury was due to the placement of Margaret’s neck, thus cutting off blood flow to the brain.
In 2017, $256.3 million in medical malpractice claims was paid to victims or family member of victims who passed away. Just like in any profession, doctors and specialists make the wrong decision from time to time. If this happens to you or someone you love, allow a personal injury attorney to fight for what you deserve.