$20 Million Jury Verdict for the Death of a Patient After Improper Post-Anesthesia Monitoring

Sharon Kimble, 50, suffered from chronic back pain. She took opioid pain medication and other drugs to alleviate her back pain. Kimble underwent back surgery at Laser Spine Institute to address her back pain.

Following this surgery, she was under the care of an anesthesiologist, Dr. Glen Rubenstein. Dr. Rubenstein ordered several essential nervous system depressants, including Dilaudid and Flexeril for pain control.

The Laser Spine Institute discharged Kimble two hours after her surgery to a nearby hotel with a prescription for oxycodone and instructions to continue her preoperative medications, including other central nervous system depressants.

She was discovered unresponsive by her husband the same afternoon and later died. An autopsy was done that determined that an adverse interaction of drugs caused her death. She is survived by her husband.

Her husband, individually and on behalf of her estate, sued Dr. Rubenstein and the Laser Spine Institute. The lawsuit alleged that the defendants chose not to provide adequate post-surgical monitoring and negligent post-anesthesia care.

Her family asserted that the defendants negligently prescribed excessive amounts of Dilaudid in combination with other central nervous system depressants, and that Laser Spine Institute should not have discharged her to a hotel under those circumstances.

The jury signed a verdict for $20 million apportioning liability at 65% to Laser Spine Institute and 35% to Dr. Rubenstein.

The attorney successfully representing the Kimble family was Lane R. Jubb Jr.

Kimble v. Laser Spine Institute-Philadelphia, No. 16-00569 (Pa. Ct. Com. Pl. Chester County).

Kreisman Law Offices has been handling wrongful death lawsuits, hospital negligence lawsuits, physician negligence lawsuits, misdiagnosis negligence cases, birth trauma injury lawsuits and traumatic brain injury cases for individuals, families and loved ones who have been harmed, injured or died as a result of the carelessness or negligence of a medical provider for more than 40 years in and around Chicago, Cook County and its surrounding areas, including Bedford Park, Maywood, Forest Park, River Forest, Elmwood Park, River Grove, Franklin Park, Schiller Park, Yorkfield, Hinsdale, Clarendon Hills, Inverness, Olympia Fields, Riverside, Park Forest, Stickney, Steger, South Holland, Schiller Park, Roselle, Chicago (Pulaski Park, Ravenswood Gardens, Roscoe Village, Wrigleyville, Hyde Park, Jackson Park Highlands, Garfield Park, North Lawndale, Canaryville, Norwood Park, Near South Side, West Loop, Little Italy, Chinatown, Wildwood, Lincoln Park, Belmont Central, Armour Square), Lockport, Morton Grove, Des Plaines and Fox River Grove, Ill.