Jury awards $35M med mal verdict to woman who went into coma after cosmetic surgery

A Prince George’s County jury recently awarded a $35 million judgment to a woman who developed an infection after a cosmetic surgery, went into septic shock and spent more than three months in the hospital.

Faith Kunda, a Zambian immigrant who lives in Burtonsville, in Montgomery County, went to a plastic surgeon in Oxon Hill in May 2020 for liposuction and a Brazilian butt lift, or BBL, a procedure in which fat is transferred from other parts of the body.

She developed a postoperative infection, which a physician’s assistant allegedly did not recognize at two follow-up appointments. The PA didn’t check her temperature when she said she felt feverish, according to her lawyer. The surgeon said the PA didn’t inform him of Kunda’s requests to talk to him.

Ten days after surgery, Kunda was found in her bed in septic shock and was sent to a local hospital. She was diagnosed with a bacterial infection called necrotizing fasciitis, underwent two debridement surgeries — in which dead or infected tissue is removed — then was sent by helicopter to the Shock Trauma unit at the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore. She spent more than three months there, including about a week in a coma.

“The entire midsection of her body and front of her thighs (were) almost entirely removed and rebuilt with skin grafts,” the complaint stated.

In February 2023, Kunda sued Premier Surgical Pavilion of Oxon Hill, Lexington Plastic Surgeons, physician’s assistant Courtney Steiert, surgeon Paul Dillon and Michael Jones, a doctor who is the companies’ principal. Premier and Lexington are intertwined and located in the same building.

Kunda was represented by E.J. Hammann and Christopher Casciano of Brown & Barron.

“It’s amazing that she lived, really,” Hammann told The Daily Record.

Every defendant breached the standard of care, the jury determined, according to the verdict sheet.

The jury on March 20 awarded $30 million in noneconomic damages, $736,537 in past medical expenses, about $2.19 million in future medical expenses, about $1.46 million in lost income and $621,916 for loss of household services, for a total of $35,013,510.

But because an $830,000 cap on noneconomic damages applied, Kunda will receive far less — about $5.8 million.

The trial in Prince George’s County Circuit Court lasted seven days. Judge Beverly Woodard presided. Hammann said the jury deliberated for an hour and a half.

She said the damages were so high because Kunda had a compelling story, as an immigrant who fled political unrest in a country where women lack access to education and worked her way through the University of Maryland.

Now, Hammann said, Kunda is working as a nanny and is attempting to complete work on a CPA license and an MBA, but continues to suffer from migraines and short-term memory loss.

She has essentially no abdominal muscles, and has severely limited range of motion and back pain from the muscle imbalance. The grafted skin is tight and inflexible, and she won’t be able to bear children, Hammann said.

Lawyers for the defense on March 17 filed an emergency motion asking the judge to reconsider a decision stopping them from introducing evidence of contributory negligence — evidence that Kunda’s conduct contributed to her outcome. The judge rejected the motion, which, if successful, may have reduced the amount of damages Kunda could have won.

“The determination of whether a Plaintiff is contributorily negligent is always an issue of fact to be determined by the jury when a Defendant produces even the ‘slightest’ bit of evidence of contributory negligence,” the motion stated.

Jo Saint-George, a lawyer for the corporate defendants and the physician’s assistant, declined to comment, but said she intended to appeal.

In an interview, Dillon maintained that the surgery was done according to medical standards, that the environment was sterile and that Kunda’s infection did not originate from the surgery.

Dillon faulted a Maryland law that holds doctors responsible for physician assistants’ conduct. He said Steiert breached the delegation agreement when she neglected to tell him about the patient’s request to talk to him, and as such that he shouldn’t be found liable.

“Maryland law doesn’t seem to allow the physician discretion when the PA, or any physician-extender, breaks the terms of that agreement, and it’s just not fair,” Dillon told The Daily Record.

“I’m going to be thinking about this for the rest of my life,” he continued. “I’m not a villain. I’m a doctor who enjoys taking care of people. Medicine is not predictable, and I really hope this never happens to any other surgeon.”

Dillon said he is no longer practicing medicine in Maryland, but that this case was not the reason. According to the Maryland Board of Physicians, his license expired at the end of September 2024. His personal business is based in Schaumburg, Illinois, outside of Chicago, and he practices in multiple states.

Dillon represented himself at trial, he said, because he could no longer afford an attorney. He said there was a “communication error” at the time of his hiring, and he didn’t have an individual malpractice insurance policy.

He said he was working to come up with the money for an appeal.

“It’s unfortunate,” He said. “I think about it every day. If a patient says that they want to see their doctor, that should happen. And it didn’t.”