UPDATE: 19-Year-Old Left In A 14-Month Coma After Botched Breast Surgery Dies
Last December, we reported that the parents of a 19-year-old woman were filing a negligence lawsuit against a doctor and nurse in Colorado who allegedly botched their daughter’s breast surgery, leaving her in a 14-month coma. Sadly, the young woman has recently passed away.
In August 2019, Emmalyn Nguyen went into surgery for a breast enhancement. Allegedly, the operating officials, Dr. Geoffrey Kim and nurse anesthetist Rex Meeker, administered an improper anesthesia before the surgery and left her “unobserved” for 15 minutes; during which time she went into cardiac arrest twice and stopped breathing. Family attorney David Woodruff says the plastic surgery center allegedly performed CPR twice, then waited five-and-a-half hours before calling 911; during this time, the parents were never alerted.
RELATED: Parents File Lawsuit Against Doctor & Nurse After Daughter Is Left In Coma From Breast Surgery
In the 15 minutes time that Nguyen was left unattended, she “suffered a massive anoxic brain injury,” which left her requiring constant care and a permanent feeding tube. In the last few months, Nguyen had been living in a nursing home, in a coma, and most recently developed pneumonia, sending her into cardiac arrest over the first week of October. After being transferred to a hospital, she suffered multiple attacks over a 24-hour period, before passing on October 4. The family has now amended their lawsuit, claiming wrongful death.
Furthermore, after Nguyen was sent into a coma, the Colorado Medical Board suspended Kim’s medical license, however, after reaching an agreement in March, the board allowed him to practice under a probationary status over the next three years.
RELATED: Study Shows Healthy Black Kids Die More Often After Surgery Than White Kids