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Attorney: Daryl L. Zaslow
Settlement: $850,000.
Summer 2008

Blume Goldfaden Partner, Daryl L. Zaslow, (Red Bank and Chatham) obtained an $850,000 settlement on behalf of the Estate of a 63 year old man who died from anesthesiology events following cardiac surgery. The decedent had a history of cardiac failure and diabetes, and had been on disability since he was 51 years old. In 2003, the decedent underwent a procedure to remove infected defibrillator wires. There were complications pre-operatively in attempting to intubate the patient due to his rotund and thick airway. At the end of the surgery, a pulmonologist was called to perform a consultation due to concerns about the patient’s post-operative airway. Ultimately the anesthesiologist and pulmonologist extubated the patient, he went into respiratory and then cardiac arrest and died. The defense experts opined that the decedent died as a result of cardiac failure unrelated to the anesthesiology complications and extubation. Mr. Zaslow’s theory was that the plaintiff sustained an upper airway obstruction due to traumatic attempts at intubation and premature extubation by the defendants. As a result, the decedent sustained respiratory failure which caused his cardiac arrest and death. Mr. Zaslow retained experts in the fields of anesthesiology, pulmonology, cardiology and internal medicine who supported this theory.