Man Dies After Bariatric Surgery, Family Awarded $5.9 Million
December 21, 2012Man Dies After Bariatric Surgery, Family Awarded $5.9 Million
Weighing 550 pounds, Warren Jupiter's obesity was putting his life at risk. So, in his early 50's, Jupiter decided to have weight loss surgery in hopes to live a healthier and longer life. The Army veteran, a father of three, was looking forward to being thin when he underwent bariatric bypass surgery in April 2003 at a Manhattan VA hospital.
But a deadly complication in the form of a gastric leak went undetected for several months and Jupiter's health continued to decline. Doctor's claimed that he was too obese to fit inside a CAT scan machine and that is why the leak was not found. By the time the leak was discovered, Jupiter's body was filled with infections and covered in bed sores. The Chelsea man died two years later in a VA nursing home. Having served his country and once a man filled with hope for his future, he had died a very painful death.
Jupiter's family sued the VA for $15 Million dollars. His wife Barbara testified in court that she had never seen anything so horrific in her life. "It was like you actually cut someone open and you could see their insides."
It was learned from court testimony that at one point, the doctor's had thought about sending Jupiter to the Bronx Zoo where there would be specially equipped examination tools for the super morbidly obese patient, but that did not happen.
A mental health report for the VA claimed that Jupiter had a personality disorder and was intentionally starving himself. The judge did not agree.
Yesterday, Brooklyn federal Judge Leo Glasser awarded Jupiter's family $5.9 million dollars stating that the hospital’s egregious malpractice led to his death at the age of 54 in 2005.
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