Virginia Lawyers Weekly VA Lawyers Weekly
Type of action: Medical malpractice
Injuries alleged: Wrongful death due to admitted failure to take decedent to rescheduled dialysis appointment
Name of case: Yvonne Bazil, Administrator of the Estate of Marvin Bazil, deceased v. Envoy of Woodbridge, LLC
Court: Prince William County Circuit Court
Case No.: CL-19-4222
Name of judge or mediator: Judge Angela L. Horan
Date resolved: 12/16/2021
Offer: $1,500,000
Verdict or settlement: Verdict
Amount: $2,004,669.14
Attorneys for plaintiff (and city): Travis W. Markley, Richard L. Nagle, Benjamin M. Wengerd and James N. Knaack, Reston
Description of case: Marvin Bazil was a 36-year-old resident of Envoy of Woodbridge, LLC, the defendant long-term care facility. Although Mr. Bazil was a fully-functioning individual and talented artist, he required more assistance with management of his end-stage renal disease and brittle diabetes than his family could provide. As a result, Envoy of Woodbridge was responsible for managing Mr. Bazil’s medical needs and ensuring his transportation to dialysis three times per week.
On Sept. 16, 2017, his 36th birthday, Mr. Bazil had his regular dialysis appointment rescheduled due to pain from a dental appointment earlier that day. Envoy of Woodbridge thus documented that Mr. Bazil’s dialysis appointment had been rescheduled for Sept. 18, 2017.
Despite the clear documentation of the rescheduled appointment, Envoy’s staff failed to take Mr. Bazil to dialysis on Sept. 18, 2017. In the early morning hours of Sept. 19, 2017, Envoy’s nursing staff found Mr. Bazil unconscious and in distress. Mr. Bazil was rushed to the hospital, where he was diagnosed with cardiac arrest and hypoxic brain injury. Mr. Bazil never regained consciousness and his family agreed to withdraw life support measures a week later, resulting in his death on Sept. 27, 2017.
Trial of this matter was originally scheduled for August 2020, but was postponed due to issues related to COVID-19. Trial was initially reset for April 2021, but it was again continued due to the prioritization of criminal trials in Prince William County resulting from the COVID-19 backlog. The case was rescheduled yet again and finally tried in front of a jury in December 2021.
Approximately two weeks before the December 2021 trial date, the defendant stipulated that it had breached the standard of care and caused the wrongful death of Mr. Bazil. Given the liability stipulation, plaintiff did not present testimony from any of her previously retained and designated expert witnesses. Instead, plaintiff presented testimony from Mr. Bazil’s mother and his five surviving siblings regarding the sorrow, mental anguish and loss of solace that each suffered as a result of his death.
Although it had stipulated to liability for Mr. Bazil’s wrongful death, the defendant nonetheless presented trial testimony from two retained expert witnesses. In short, the defense experts testified that as a result of his underlying health conditions, Mr. Bazil had a decreased life expectancy.
Following the three-day damages trial, the jury deliberated for more than three hours before awarding $600,000 to Mr. Bazil’s mother, $225,000 to each of Mr. Bazil’s five adult siblings and the full medical and funeral expenses of $126,853.21 that were incurred by Mr. Bazil’s estate. The jury further awarded pre-judgment interest from Aug. 1, 2020, resulting in a total verdict of $2,004,669.14. The verdict amount was $500,000 more than the defendant’s highest settlement offer of $1,500,000, which was made five days before trial.
[021-T-191]
