Montgomery County jury awards $3M in med-mal suit

A Montgomery County jury has awarded more than $3 million in damages to the family of an Ethiopian man who died from complications following a gallbladder removal surgery.

The judgment, entered earlier this month by Montgomery County Circuit Judge Michael McAuliffe, is reduced to $1.2 million pursuant to Maryland’s cap on noneconomic damages and past medical expenses.

The jury found Dr. Garry Ruben breached the standard of care in his treatment of Dula Chera, ultimately causing Chera’s death, when Ruben performed a gallbladder removal surgery on Chera in August 2019 after Chera presented to the Holy Cross emergency room with abdominal pain with nausea and vomiting.

According to the complaint, as Ruben began the laparoscopic procedure, he found dense adhesions, “tremendous inflammation,” and pus within Chera’s gallbladder. Shewalem Kerse, Chera’s wife, and six of his surviving children allege Ruben “failed to alter his approach” to the procedure, negligently injured Chera’s left hepatic artery and failed to realize the injury, which resulted in Chera’s death.

Jeffrey Quinn, counsel for Chera’s family, said his clients feel vindicated by the jury’s verdict.

“I think the family felt vindicated and really felt a sense of justice, and that the system worked,” Quinn said in a phone call Wednesday. “The jury really understood the case clearly, they got the case, and they understood how significant the damages were and the loss was to the family.”

Counsel for Ruben did not immediately return The Daily Record’s requests for comment.

In an answer to the family’s complaint, Ruben wrote he “complied with the standards of care of a reasonably competent health care provider” and denied that the injuries alleged by Chera’s family were caused by any negligent act or omission of Ruben.

“The injuries and damages alleged to have been suffered or incurred by the Plaintiffs were the result of a naturally occurring medical and/or disease process for which these Defendants cannot be held legally responsible,” Ruben wrote.

Quinn said the verdict is not expected to be appealed.

According to the complaint, just prior to removing Chera’s gallbladder by dividing the cystic duct, Ruben noticed blood oozing from the portal area. Ruben then used fibrillar collagen, packing and a biologic sealant to control the bleed, after which he inserted a drain into the abdomen and completed the procedure.

While still in the hospital, Chera experienced a slow decline in hemoglobin and had ongoing mild abdominal distention, the complaint said.

On Aug. 17, 2019, Chera experienced cardiac arrest in the hospital and was found unresponsive, after which medical staff performed CPR and resuscitated Chera.

Later that same day, Ruben performed an emergency exploratory laparotomy to control intraabdominal hemorrhage, placing clips on what Ruben felt to be the cause of bleeding, according to the complaint. Ruben then transferred Chera from Holy Cross Hospital to George Washington University Hospital due to concerns for further bleeding.

A doctor at George Washington University Hospital performed another exploratory laparotomy and found “copious” amounts of blood in Chera’s abdomen and determined Chera to be in full and uncontrolled disseminated intravascular coagulation with uncontrollable hemorrhagic shock. The doctor informed Chera’s family that Chera would likely pass that day, and Chera did.

The complaint originally also named Holy Cross Hospital in Silver Spring as a defendant, but Chera’s family dismissed the claims against the hospital in January last year.

Quinn said he hopes the jury’s verdict helps resolve future cases, particularly where defense attorneys and insurance companies are skeptical that juries will rule against doctors.

“I’m hopeful that a verdict of this nature and this size will cause [defense attorneys and insurance companies] to reevaluate and hopefully help get other future cases resolved knowing that juries in Montgomery County will hold people accountable,” Quinn said.