Family of Woman who Died Following C-Section Awarded Malpractice Verdict

By Daniel Hawn

Published on October 25, 2005

On January 17, 1999, Sabine Elias, 36, was taken to St. John's Episcopal Hospital to have her fourth child delivered. Not long after her baby was born via C-section, however, Elias began to exhibit signs of being in severe distress. She lost consciousness and her blood pressure dropped significantly.

The attorney for Elias' family, Steven Pegalis, argued in court that internal bleeding was the clearest cause of Elias' condition. He said that a blood vessel had likely been ruptured during surgery.

Dr. Dina Weiss, Elias' obstetrician-gynecologist, however, did not ascribe the condition to internal bleeding at the time. She continued to reject that possibility even after cardiologist Jyoti Ganguly concluded that surgical bleeding was the problem and advised Weiss to render the appropriate treatment.

Two days after giving birth to her baby, Elias died from cardiac arrest. A medical report indicated that large amounts of blood had accumulated in her abdomen, Pegalis said.

The lawsuit accused Weiss of neglecting to treat Elias' bleeding. It also accused Ganguly of failing to ensure that such treatment was implemented.

In court, Weiss' attorney claimed that internal bleeding was not the cause of Elias' death, but rather an amniotic fluid embolism, which cannot be treated.

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