Information about Death Resulting from Kaiser Permanente Failure to Monitor Following Brain Surgery

Attorneys at Walkup, Melodia, Kelly & Schoenberger obtained a settlement in the amount of $575,000 on behalf of the heirs of a 62-year-old Kaiser member who died due to a failure by Kaiser Redwood City nurses to adequately monitor his neurological status following brain surgery.

The member underwent a resection of the third ventricle to remove a tumor. He came through the procedure in stable condition, but developed increased intracranial pressure during the night following surgery. Nurses failed to adequately monitor his neurological status as required by existing protocols, and the swelling of his brain was not reported to the member’s neurosurgeon until the following morning. That physician attempted to reduce the pressure caused by the swelling by performing an emergency shunt procedure, but it was too late, as the increased intracranial pressure had caused irreversible global brain damage. The member was comatose until his death three days later.