Bill Paxton's Tragic Death: Actor's Family To Seek Punitive Damages From Cedars-Sinai
Bill Paxton's family can finally seek damages from the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center years after the actor's untimely death.
A Los Angeles Superior Court judge finally denied on Wednesday a defense motion that requested to dismiss the punitive damage claims. The lawsuit filed by Paxton's family came out after claiming that Cedars-Sinai and Dr. Ali Khoynezhad intentionally interfered with their request for an autopsy.
It led to the family assuming that they wanted to cover up the actor's cause of death.
"Cedars submits no evidence as to who made the misrepresentation to plaintiffs, who was involved in making the misrepresentation or who was involved in the decision to not perform the autopsy," the judge said, as quoted by Yahoo! Entertainment.
Meanwhile, the hospital attorneys defended its party, saying that Cedars-Sinai had "no advanced knowledge of the unfitness of any employees related to the disposition of bodies."
The attorneys added that the hospital never authorized any alleged wrongful conduct related to Paxton's body.
The actor's doctor, Dr. Khoynezhad, was a cardiothoracic surgeon at Cedars-Sinai who had been known as "cowboy medicine" and "AK-47" - a title of an assault weapon. He no longer works at the medical center as he reportedly left the institution soon after Paxton's death.
The trial related to Paxton's death was rescheduled from March to September.
Was Medical Malpractice Involved in Bill Paxton's Death?
In February 2017, the "Apollo 13" actor died at the age of 61. At that time, the family representative said that he died due to complications from surgery.
The actor reportedly suffered a stroke two weeks after receiving heart surgery to repair an aortic aneurysm and replace his bicuspid aortic valve.
A year after his death, his widow Louise Paxton, their children, and his estate filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court. They accused Dr. Khoynezhad and Cedars-Sinai Medical Center of wrongful death and negligence. The doctor also received a battery lawsuit.
The family's representatives alleged that the doctor was not in the operating room when Paxton began suffering complications, including compromised right coronary artery, excessive bleeding, ventricular tachycardia, and shock, among others.
The surgeon also did not provide Paxton continuing care, causing further cardiac damage.
