$3 Million Settlement for Fatal Over-Administration of Opioids after Surgery

Attorneys Daniel S. Weinstock and Carolyn M. Chopko secured a $3 million settlement for the family of a 52-year-old woman who died from the over-administration of opioids following outpatient foot surgery — a result that required navigating a complex web of multiple defendant healthcare providers across the surgical, anesthesia, and nursing teams, who each sought to shift responsibility to the others.

The patient underwent foot surgery at a suburban Philadelphia hospital. During and after the procedure, the surgical and anesthesia team administered multiple doses of narcotic pain medication, including fentanyl, hydromorphone (Dilaudid), and oxycodone. While in the recovery unit, the patient complained of severe pain, and nursing staff administered repeated doses of hydromorphone. The providers did not investigate the underlying cause of her pain or consider non-opioid alternatives, and her rising carbon dioxide levels — a warning sign of respiratory compromise — went unaddressed.

Further complicating the matter, an oxycodone tablet was administered to the patient just before she was sent home, with the attending surgeon and podiatric resident giving directly contradictory testimony about who authorized the tablet.

The patient’s partner, who had not been given adequate written instructions about her medications, gave her one hydrocodone pain pill prescribed by her surgeon when she complained of pain after arriving home. The patient fell asleep shortly thereafter and was found dead the following morning. The autopsy confirmed her cause of death as drug intoxication from the combined effects of three opioids — hydromorphone, oxycodone, and hydrocodone.

Weinstock and Chopko retained a top-flight team of experts — including two board-certified anesthesiologists, a board-certified podiatric surgeon, two forensic pathologists, a toxicologist, and a post-anesthesia care nurse — and were prepared to prove at trial how each healthcare provider’s beach of the standard of care contributed to the fatal outcome.

The patient was the primary caregiver for her 88-year-old mother, who relied on her for daily visits, companionship, transportation, help with household chores, assistance with finances, and accompaniment to medical appointments. The settlement will help fund the professional care services her mother now requires.