west log
Benefits to State Bar of Wisconsin Members Case Highlights & Features Publicize Your
Case Results
As a service to its members, the State Bar of Wisconsin has entered into an alliance agreement with West, a Thomson Reuters business, to provide award information on Wisconsin civil jury trials, bench trials, settlements, and arbitrations.

State Bar members can:
  • Request a full case summary, free of charge
  • Submit their own case results for online publication in Westlaw's® West's Jury Verdicts – Wisconsin Reports, free of charge
  • Order a paid online subscription to Westlaw's® West's Jury Verdicts – Wisconsin Reports
  • Contact West: west.juryverdicts@thomsonreuters.com or 800-689-9378
For State Bar members submitting their own results for publication, West will:
  • Send each submitter a pdf of his/her published case as it appears online in Westlaw's® West's Jury Verdicts – Wisconsin Reports, free of charge
  • Consider highlighting and/or featuring the case in our semi-monthly "West's Jury Verdicts" article in InsideTrack, and on this web site.
State Bar of Wisconsin's InsideTrack Web Site
  • Highlights - Our attorney editors select 6 cases to highlight in the State Bar of Wisconsin's semi-monthly "InsideTrack" web site in concise one-paragaph format from the approximately 25 Wisconsin cases we publish each month in full summary format.
This Web Site
  • Case of the Month - Our attorney editors also select one case to feature in its entirety in its full summary format.
dec
Case of the Month September 2019
See below
Would you like West
to consider featuring
or highlighting your case?

» Online Submission Form
Westlaw Litigator
Your key resource
for every phase of litigation

» Learn More
Recommend Another
State Bar
Would you like West
to provide similar content
for another State Bar?

» Contact Us

Case of the Month September 2019

Med Mal Claim Against Anesthesiologist Settles For $22.5M

V.P.R.M. v. Injured Patients & Families Compensation Fund

Case Type:
Medical Malpractice - Anesthesia

Specific Liability:
Minor reportedly suffered brain damage as a result of oxygen deprivation

General Injury:
Brain Damage: Severe

Jurisdiction:
State: Wisconsin
Circuit Court of Wisconsin, Fifth Judicial District, Dane County.

Related Court Documents:
Plaintiffs' complaint: 2017 WL 11140063
Petition for approval of minor settlement: 2019 WL 2163174

Case Name:
V.P.R.M., pro ami v. Injured Patients and Families Compensation Fund; Continental Casualty Company; Chalifoux

Docket/File Number:
2017-CV-002152

Result Amount:
$22,500,000


Result Date:
April 08, 2019

Judge:
Josann Reynolds

Attorneys:
Plaintiff: Daniel A. Rottier, Habush Habush & Rottier S.C., Madison, WI
Defendant: David E. McFarlane, Bell, Moore & Richter S.C., Madison, WI

Result Type:
Settlement

Experts:
Plaintiff: Not reported
Defendant: Not reported

Breakdown of Award:
Total Compensatory Award: $22,500,000


Summary of Facts:
V.P.R.M., a minor male surgical patient, reportedly suffered brain damage as a result of oxygen deprivation, requiring the need for future medical care, lifelong care and support, and the inability to be gainfully employed, due to the administration of general anesthesia by defendant Michael Chalifoux, who was 3 months from completing his residency, during surgery for a tethered cord. The plaintiffs contended that the defendant failed to react to prolonged low blood pressures. The defendant claimed the attending anesthesiologist failed to obtain blood pressures every 5 minutes, provided an overdose of inhaled anesthetic and other sedating medication, failed to determine that the patient was hemodynamically stable before leaving the operating room, and failed to immediately return to the operating room when a severely abnormally low blood pressure was reported. He also claimed the attending was aware that he had never been involved in an operation on such a young and small patient with the congenital conditions presented.

Circuit Court of Wisconsin, Fifth Judicial District, Dane County.

Westlaw Citation:
2019 WL 3712143


This web page has been specially designed for State Bar of Wisconsin Members.
WJV Home | WJV-WisBar Home | Contact Us | Privacy Statement | © 2019 Thomson Reuters/West. All rights reserved.
Thomson Reuters logo