$1.5 million jury verdict against a surgeon for failing to diagnose and treat an intestinal perforation following a hernia repair. Estate of Ruth Ficarella v. Dr. Richard Bass. Ruth Ficarella was an 85-year-old woman who underwent a laporascopic hernia repair surgery that was performed by Dr. Bass in Joliet, Illinois. The day after discharge, Ruth came back to the emergency room with severe abdominal pain, and she was admitted to the hospital. Dr. Bass, however, failed to see Ruth in the hospital; and therefore, he failed to diagnose that he had perforated her intestine during his surgery the day before. As a result of the failure to timely diagnose and treat the perforation, Ruth died from sepsis. No offer to settle the case was ever made on behalf of Dr. Bass.
