Jury awards family another $12.39M in case of Fresno doctor who left before finishing operation

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Wednesday, March 21, 2018
Jury awards family another $12.39M in case of doctor who left before finishing operation
A jury has awarded a family another $12.39-million in punitive damages in case of Fresno doctor who walked out before operation was complete.

FRESNO, Calif. -- A jury has awarded a family another $12.39 million in punitive damages in case of Fresno doctor who walked out before the operation was complete. A jury awarded the family $55.6 million in general damages on Monday.

Silvino Perez went into Community Regional Medical Center in Downtown Fresno needing heart surgery in 2012 and he never really came out.

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Six years later, he hasn't woken up.

Investigators say the surgeon, Pervaiz Chaudhry M.D., left before finishing the operation by closing the 70-year-old's chest.

Months later, the California Department of Public Health fined the hospital $175,000 without naming the patient.

CRMC reached a settlement with Perez's family before this trial, but still faces at least five more lawsuits related to Chaudhry's performance and one more from the whistleblower.