Bill Paxton’s Widow and Children to Receive $1M in Partial Settlement in Wrongful Death Suit
From People Magazine By Dan Heching February 24, 2022
Natalie’s Commentary: Bill Paxton was much too young to die at 61. The family has reached a partial settlement with an anesthesiologist medical group in the wrongful death/negligence suit filed following the actor’s death in 2017. Paxton was a great actor and in the middle of his career when he was suddenly snuffed out in seconds in that cold heart surgery room at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, never to return to the sanctity of his home to recover.
If the actor was given too much anesthesia that would imply a wrongful or negligent death had occurred and that happens in the surgery room. They shouldn’t wheel out a patient in an unstable condition or worse and if the doctors in charge do so, that in itself can present more critical problems possibly leading to death.
We trust in our doctors but it is very important to get second and third opinions from other heart specialists before going through a very serious and invasive surgery.
It’s something no family is prepared for when someone you love dies while in surgery. Quite a shock to the system. You leave that hospital without the person you walked in holding their hand, thinking everything was going to okay. These kinds of negligent surgeries do the most damage to the family left behind because there are no immediate answers. ~ Natalie
The actor, famous for his roles in Twister, Aliens, Titanic, and more, died shortly after heart surgery in 2017 at the age of 61.
Bill Paxton‘s family has reached a partial settlement with an anesthesiologist medical group in the wrongful death/negligence suit they filed following the actor’s death in 2017.
According to court papers submitted on Wednesday with the Los Angeles Superior Court, attorneys for co-defendants General Anesthesia Specialists Partnership are seeking approval of a settlement of $1 million between Paxton’s family and the company.
The agency was involved in Paxton’s heart surgery that occurred at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles less than two weeks before his death on Feb. 25, 2017, at the age of 61.
While General Anesthesia denied any direct responsibility in Paxton’s death, documents showed that the intent of the settlement was to reach an agreement that would “reasonably compensate plaintiffs and avoid exposing defendant to an expensive and time consuming litigation.”
The filing says the settlement is contingent on the court’s finding it was made in good faith, NBC News reports.
Trial of the remainder of the 2018 lawsuit filed by the actor’s widow Louise Paxton and their children, James and Lydia Paxton, is scheduled for September 19, according to Deadline.
The other defendants named in the suit are Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and Dr. Ali Khoynezhad, a cardiothoracic surgeon employed by Cedars-Sinai who the Paxton family alleges provided the actor with “negligent diagnosis, management, and treatment,” leading to the complications that resulted in his untimely death.
According to court documents first obtained by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, the family claims Cedars-Sinai “misrepresented and/or concealed information relating to the risks of surgery and care that would be provided and/or failed to adequately explain the proposed treatment or procedure.”
The family is also claiming that the hospital “failed to disclose that [Dr. Khoynezhad] was going to use a high risk and unconventional surgical approach with which he lacked experience and which was, based upon information and belief, beyond the scope of his privileges.”
Furthermore, they allege that Dr. Khoynezhad was “not in the hospital” when Paxton “began suffering the complications” and failed to arrange for “continuous care and coverage” for the actor while he was away. This, the lawsuit alleges, caused “a delay in treatment resulting in damage.”
As a result of the hospital and surgeon’s alleged negligence, Paxton had to undergo a series of procedures that ultimately led to his death ten days later, according to the documents.
“Bill Paxton and his family trusted the physicians and staff at this medical facility but instead Cedars-Sinai betrayed their trust,” said the family’s attorney Bruce Broillet in a statement at the time. “The surgeon’s actions resulted in this tragic and preventable death.”
Broillet, as well as press contacts for Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, could not be immediately reached by PEOPLE for comment on Thursday.