Following gastric bypass surgery, a 56 year old overweight man began to experience respiratory difficulty in the recovery room. Instead of ordering a tracheotomy to be preformed, the anesthesiologist tried to insert a tube into his throat for over an hour without anesthesia because she was afraid to put him to sleep.

As a result of the improper delay, the man died of cardiac arrest. Blume Goldfaden Principal Carol Forte settled the case against the hospital and the anesthesiologist for $ 1.1 million.