Fla. Jury Awards $1.2M in Botched Hysterectomy Suit

Law360 (February 20, 2025, 10:22 PM EST) -- A Florida state court jury has awarded more than $1.2 million in damages to a man whose 78-year-old wife died following a robotic- assisted hysterectomy surgery, finding that a medical doctor and nurse were negligent in the woman's death from sepsis, a blood infection.

A Palm Beach County, Florida, state court jury announced its verdict Tuesday in favor of Gareth Colletti in the wrongful death of his wife, finding Dr. Antonella R. Leary, Jupiter Medical Center Inc. and nurse staffing agency CareRev, through its employee Claudia Davids, negligent of the death of Diane Colletti in 2022. The trial lasted more than two weeks, court records show.

The jury found both Leary and CareRev 40% negligent in Colletti's death, while Jupiter Medical Center was found 20% negligent. Damages include $12,415 for funeral expenses, $500,000 in past damages and $750,000 for future damages.

Gareth Colletti brought his lawsuit against the defendants in August 2023, saying his wife came to Jupiter Medical Center in August 2022 for a "robotic-assisted total hysterectomy," a procedure scheduled to be conducted by Leary. Davids is listed in the suit as one of the nurses entrusted with the care of Colletti following her surgery.

Andrew B. Yaffa of Grossman Roth Yaffa Cohen PA, counsel for the plaintiff, told Law360 on
Thursday that Diane Colletti's surgery came as a result of post-menopausal bleeding. Abnormal cells were noted, possibly indicating cancer, leading to the hysterectomy procedure, Yaffa said.

Colletti's bowel was perforated in two places, with one perforation that was repaired, although Leary "closed her up" with one perforation that went unrecognized, according to Yaffa. He noted that the surgery was scheduled as an outpatient procedure but added that Leary intended to keep Colletti overnight to monitor her vital signs.

After surgery, Colletti was placed in the post-anesthesia care unit in stable condition but hours later was transported to the medical-surgical unit, where nurses administered medication to alleviate abdominal pain, according to the suit, which added that the nurses had orders to "notify provider" if Colletti began experiencing severe pain and other adverse symptoms.

The next day, a nurse provided Colletti with more medication but failed to report abnormal lab results and other symptoms, such as complaints of abdominal tenderness and nausea, according to the suit.

Leary examined Colletti before ordering the placement of a nasogastric tube, or "NG" tube, and pain medication, but didn't stay to ensure the tube was placed correctly or that it was effective, Yaffa said.

In a deposition taken in January 2024, Davids testified that she noted that Colletti had an
elevated heart rate but believed it was the result of the discomfort from inserting the NG tube into Colletti's nose.

"I felt that the heart rate was elevated because of me inserting the NG tube and the patient being in discomfort," Davids said.

The doctor also left orders to nurses to have Colletti's vital signs checked every four hours and tobe notified if the vital signs change, although Yaffa said Leary “failed to tell nurses what was going on and what to look for.”

The lawsuit said Davids documented Colletti as having a rapid heart beat and other abnormal vital signs that went unreported until hours later into the next day. Colletti was placed back into surgery but died two days after her initial procedure, according to the suit. Yaffa said Colletti died from sepsis stemming from a bowel leak that wasn't “timely recognized, diagnosed or treated.”

"There were no orders to support the level of concern Leary testified she had," Yaffa said. "It's one thing to have that concern, but another to have that concern and not tell anybody."
Counsel for the defendants did not immediately respond to emailed requests for comment on Thursday.

The plaintiff is represented by Andrew B. Yaffa of Grossman Roth Yaffa Cohen PA and Samuel M. Yaffa of Samuel M. Yaffa PA.

The defendants are represented by Mary J. Hall and Kelsey A. Weiss of McEwan Martinez Dukes Hall & Vancol PA.

The case is Gareth Colletti v. Antonella R. Leary M.D. et al., case number 2023-CA-012897, in the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit Court of Florida.

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