A jury has awarded $8.5 million to the wife and estate of a patient who died after a routine knee-replacement surgery at a private surgical practice based in Glastonbury.
A jury in Hartford Superior Court ruled Tuesday that Orthopaedic Sports Specialists failed to detect a blood clot, which killed Peter Sobin, a Wethersfield architect who died weeks after the surgery.
The trial lasted two weeks. The jury awarded $5.5 million to Sobin’s estate and $3 million to his wife, Linda Sobin, according to a spokesperson for the law firm that represented the Sobin family and estate, Koskoff Koskoff & Bieder.
According to court documents, Sobin’s knee-replacement surgery was performed in August 2015 by Dr. Michael Joyce of Orthopaedic Sports Specialists. Shortly afterward, he developed a deep vein thrombosis, commonly known as a blood clot, in his leg.
In the two weeks following the surgery, Sobin repeatedly informed Orthopaedic Sports Specialists about increasing pain and swelling in his calf, which are signs of a blood clot, the jury found.
The jury determined that Orthopaedic Sports Specialists ignored those concerns and failed to order an ultrasound of Sobin’s leg, which would have detected the clot and prompted life-saving treatment.
Sobin died two days after his second follow-up visit when the clot in his leg embolized and traveled to his lungs.
The Sobin family and estate were represented by Chris Mattei and Doug Morabito of Koskoff, Koskoff & Bieder.
“Peter Sobin’s death was completely avoidable, and I am pleased that the jury held Orthopaedic Sports Specialists responsible for its negligence,” said Chris Mattei, a partner at Koskoff Koskoff & Bieder. “Families deserve justice when medical professionals abandon their duty to their patients and cause injuries or even deaths that should be preventable.”
Sobin, a father of two sons, was an architect who designed some of Connecticut’s landmark educational facilities. He also led the Central Connecticut Youth Hockey Association when his sons were young and attended charity golf tournaments, according to the law firm.
An attorney for Orthopaedic Sports Specialists said the defendants were very disappointed with the verdict.
“We have concerns in several respects about the trial that we will be raising on appeal and are looking forward to a fair Appellate review of the case,” said Edward Mayer, principal with Danaher Lagnese.
