S.C. Wrongful Death Medical Suit Settled for $1.7 Million

The family of a 73-year-old South Carolina man who died after receiving the wrong drug during surgery will receive $1.775 million in the settlement of a wrongful death lawsuit, according to court documents.

According to attorneys for Martha Cogan, widow of Herbert Cogan, Piedmont Medical Center will pay the bulk of the settlement — about $1.275 million. The remainder will be paid by an insurer for the doctors and other medical personnel involved in the case.

According to the lawsuit, anesthesiologist Dr. Suzanne Lupo and Adam Darden, a certified registered nurse anesthetist, accidentally gave Herbert Cogan the wrong drug during his heart surgery in 2002. The suit also contends that surgeon Dr. Steven Chapman failed to tell the family how Cogan died.

The original death certificate said Cogan died of natural causes, but that was changed after the body was exhumed, according to the suit. The autopsy found that Cogan died of a heart attack after receiving the wrong drug from a health care provider, according to the York County coroner’s office.

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Information from: The Herald, http://www.heraldonline.com