Doctor ‘ran out’ on patient

THE New York lawyer taking a multi-million dollar negligence action against a plastic surgeon over the death of Limerick mother of two Kay Cregan claims she was “abandoned” while recovering at his Manhattan clinic.

Mrs Cregan, aged 42, a senior official with Limerick City Council, died on March 17, having developed complications following plastic surgery carried out by Dr Michael Sachs on March 14.

Medical malpractice lawyer Tomas Moore, who has been hired by the dead woman’s husband, Liam, said Mrs Cregan was not moved to hospital soon enough after she started to complain of breathing difficulties while recovering in the surgeon’s clinic.

“I will argue there was a series of failures in surgical care that led to Kay’s death, amounting to gross negligence,” he said.

“I will contend that this doctor basically ran out on his patient, that he left her to nursing staff and didn’t oversee her recovery properly. There was a period of at least two hours where Kay was indicating respiratory problems and should have received emergency medical care.”

Mr Moore alleges that Mrs Cregan complained she could not breathe properly due to bleeding at the operation site and if these complaints had been acted on, she would still be alive.

Sachs’s lawyer claims she may have died because of an undiagnosed irregular heartbeat, but Mr Moore said the coroner ruled she had no pre-existing condition that could have played a role in her death.

Mr Moore said: “I have seen the autopsy findings and Kay Cregan was one of the healthiest women I have come across.”

The New York Daily News reported in 2000 that Sachs was one of New York’s most sued surgeons.

He had been involved in more than 30 malpractice cases since 1995, according to the Office of Professional Misconduct.

Anaesthetist Madhavrao Subbarao is also named in the case filed by Mr Moore. The doctors are accused of negligence, carelessness and gross indifference.

Mrs Cregan decided on plastic surgery after reading about an Irish woman who had undergone a face lift at Dr Sachs’s clinic in the Sunday Independent.

Sachs did that surgery without charging a fee for the free publicity.

Mr Moore said Sachs was drumming up business in Ireland at a time when there were serious questions about his work in the US.

Mrs Cregan agreed to pay $32,000 (€26,340) for facial surgery and this included accommodation in an apartment while she recovered.