Thou v. Russo (Lawyers Weekly No. 11-134-14)
NOTICE: All slip opinions and orders are subject to formal revision and are superseded by the advance sheets and bound volumes of the Official Reports. If you find a typographical error or other formal error, please notify the Reporter of Decisions, Supreme Judicial Court, John Adams Courthouse, 1 Pemberton Square, Suite 2500, Boston, MA, 02108-1750; (617) 557-1030; SJCReporter@sjc.state.ma.us 13-P-1610 Appeals Court MONYRETH THOU, administrator,[1] vs. JOSEPH RUSSO. No. 13-P-1610. Middlesex. June 3, 2014. – October 23, 2014. Present: Cypher, Brown, & Agnes, JJ. Medical Malpractice, Tribunal, Bond, Standard of care. Negligence, Medical malpractice, Doctor. Doctor. Civil action commenced in the Superior Court Department on April 17, 2012. A motion to dismiss was heard by Maureen B. Hogan, J. John N. Lewis for the plaintiff. Gisela M. DaSilva for the defendant. CYPHER, J. The plaintiff, administrator of the estate of Sophal Chan Chin (decedent), appeals from a Superior Court judgment dismissing his malpractice action against the defendant doctor, Joseph Russo, following an adverse decision of a medical malpractice tribunal and the plaintiff’s failure to post a bond. See G. L. c. 231, § 60B. We agree with the plaintiff that his offer of proof was sufficient. Background.[2] The decedent died from cardiac arrest after liposuction and abdominoplasty[3] procedures performed at Milton Hospital (hospital) by Russo on May 17, 2011. As detailed by Russo in his operation report, after the decedent was brought into the operating room, a general anesthesia was induced. In performing the liposuction procedure, Russo utilized a tumescent solution[4] containing xylocaine (lidocaine) and epinephrine delivered through “several small stab incisions” into the areas to be suctioned. Approximately one liter of tumescent solution was infused into each side of her waist. In treating the medial thigh and knee areas, approximately 600 milliliters of tumescent solution were infused. When the upper arms were treated, approximately 300 to 400 milliliters of tumescent solution were infused into each upper arm. Russo recorded that the total infusion was 3,800 milliliters (or 3.8 liters). No tumescent solution use was reported for the abdominoplasty. The two procedures took place between 1:30 P.M. and approximately 6:00 P.M. Russo reported that, as the abdominal wound was about one-half closed, at about 6:03 P.M., the anesthesiologist reported a sudden drop in the decedent’s blood pressure. Code emergency procedures immediately were instituted and performed over the next one and one-half hours. The decedent briefly was stabilized to a normal blood pressure and was transferred to the intensive care unit. After about one hour, she suffered cardiac arrest, was unable to be resuscitated, and was declared dead at 9:50 P.M.[5] The plaintiff filed a complaint in the Superior Court on April 17, 2012, alleging […]