Top Verdict Recognizes Shernoff Bidart Echeverria For Top National Verdict

Top Verdict recognized Shernoff Bidart Echeverria LLP for obtaining one of the Top 50 Verdicts in the United States in 2018.

Ricardo Echeverria led a trial team that obtained a $68 million verdict in Arteaga v. Fresno Community Regional Medical Center, a medical malpractice lawsuit.

A Fresno Superior Court jury awarded $68 million (including $12.39 million in punitive damages) to the family of Silvino Perez, ruling that Dr. Pervaiz Chaudhry was responsible for putting Mr. Perez into a coma as a result of his negligence during surgery. The Perez family was represented by Ricardo Echeverria of Shernoff Bidart Echeverria LLP, Steven A. Heimberg, M.D. and Marsha E. Barr-Fernandez of Heimberg Barr, LLP and Jeffrey S. Mitchell of Mitchell Law Group.

In December of 2017, the trial in Fresno Superior Court began, alleging a pattern of negligence, cover-ups, fraud and more on the part of Dr. Pervaiz Chaudhry. On April 2, 2012, Silvino Perez, then age 71, underwent open-heart surgery at CRMC. The planned procedures were aortic valve replacement and an ascending aortic aneurysm repair. Severe bleeding complications required extensive additional surgery. This included an unanticipated and unexplained right coronary artery reimplantation and a (dishonestly) hidden subsequent aortic repair.

As a result of complications stemming from this undisclosed damage to the aorta, Mr. Perez suffered severe bleeding leading to cardiac arrest, perforation of the ventricle, and then even more extensive bleeding from this perforation and the unexplained aortic tear. By the time the proper repair was affected and his bleeding had stopped, Mr. Perez had suffered extreme ischemia to all his organs causing wide-ranging damage, from kidney failure to severe, permanent and global brain injury. He will be in a near-vegetative state for life.