A former coxswain for the USC women’s rowing team suffered a near-life-threatening injury during normally routine surgery and should be awarded more than $1.3 million for medical malpractice, her lawyer told a jury Monday, but a defense attorney blamed the plaintiff’s medical complications on the inherent risks of the procedure.
In his final argument to a Los Angeles Superior Court panel, lawyer Howard Kapp said Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and Dr. Ankur Gupta should be found negligent for the injuries suffered by Dionne Licudine.
He said Gupta made mistakes that caused Licudine to suffer adhesions causing bowel obstructions as well as a visible scar. Gupta and another physician performed gall bladder removal surgery on Licudine in February 2012.
Kapp displayed for jurors a photo of Licudine strapped to machines in her hospital bed and another image displaying her scar. He said that despite the medical setback, Licudine rejoined her teammates a month later as they rowed to victory in the San Diego Crew Classic.
“This is one of those things that TV movies are made of,” Kapp said. “It’s about a girl at death’s door who was the leader of her team that won the race.”
But defense attorney Raymond Moore said Kapp’s damages estimate was “speculative.” He also said Gupta was not negligent and used sound medical judgment in inserting an instrument called a trocar into Licudine’s abdomen so that her body cavity could be viewed with the help of a camera attached.
“But that does come at the price of increasing the risks of striking organs because you can’t see them,” Moore said.
Moore said that if the jury does decide negligence occurred, Licudine should be compensated by no more than $75,000 to $100,000 for her hospital stay and her scarring.
Gupta performed the surgery along with Dr. Brendan Carroll, who is no longer a defendant.
Kapp maintains Gupta damaged a blood vessel while inserting the device and that Licudine may one day suffer a complete bowel obstruction that would require more surgery.
Licudine sued Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and Gupta in January 2013. Gupta’s alleged error required vascular surgery by another physician to save Licudine’s life, according to Kapp.
Her scar, which extends from her navel to her breastbone, caused severe emotional distress to a young woman who often wore two-piece bathing suits for rowing activities or during recreation, Kapp said.
“She can’t stand to look at herself in the mirror,” Kapp said.
Licudine was accepted at several law schools after graduating from USC, but her ongoing medical struggles have forced her to delay making a decision, Kapp said. Now 25, she has a life expectancy of another 57 years and she likely would have earned about $100,000 annually as an attorney, Kapp said.
Licudine’s abdominal pain often keeps her up late at night and she has to make up for it by sleeping much of the day, he said.
Licudine was nominated as USC’s female Trojan athlete of the year in 2012.
— City News Service