A Chicago plastic surgeon has been ordered to pay nearly $66 million, under a verdict ending a trial in a case accusing the surgeon and his associates of allegedly allowing a 39-year-old mother of four children to bleed to death following an ordinarily routine liposuction and "tummy tuck" procedure.
The verdict against Dr. Ayoub Sayeg was delivered by a jury in Cook County Circuit Court on Dec. 20 on behalf of the family of Idalia Corcoles, after about three hours of deliberations.
The family was represented by attorneys from the Clifford Law Offices, of Chicago.
The lawsuit was filed in 2021 by Corcoles' husband, Alejandro Cervantes. According to the Clifford firm, the couple, who lived on Chicago's South Side, had four children, ranging in age from 10 to 22 years old.
According to the Clifford firm, Sayeg performed the four-hour-long cosmetic surgical procedure on Corcoles at his Chicago office on Nov. 23, 2019.
According to a webpage maintained by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, Sayeg is a "well-respected plastic surgeon" who has practiced for more than two decades, including 20 years in the Detroit area. He launched his Chicago practice eight years ago.
The Clifford firm claimed that, "despite warning signs of lowering blood pressure and abnormal breathing, Dr. Sayeg never came to check on" Corcoles and instead "moved on to the next surgery."
Less than five hours later, Corcoles was taken by ambulance to Advocate Christ Hospital. She died the next day, allegedly as a result of severe internal abdominal bleeding.
At trial, the jury awarded Corcoles' family $56 million in damages. Pre-judgment interest under Illinois law would add an additional $10 million to the total slated to be received by the family, according to the Clifford firm.
The firm noted it is believed the verdict marks the largest such sum awarded against a plastic surgeon in Illinois history.
In a statement following the verdict, attorney Bradley M. Cosgrove, of the Clifford firm, said: "The negligence of this medical practitioner is so egregious that the jury knew they had to do the right thing for this innocent family. The jury obviously is sending a clear message that Dr. Sayeg ignored obvious signs that this patient was dying and yet he and the entire team did nothing to save her."
The verdict marks another example of what legal reform advocates call "nuclear verdicts." The possibility of obtaining such relatively easy massive multi-million dollar paydays continue to make Cook County courts a prime destination for lawsuits, and has helped to earn the county's courts the title of one of America's worst "judicial hellholes," according to the American Tort Reform Association. Such "hellhole" court systems are selected for the moniker because business advocates and court reform advocates assert business defendants struggle to receive a fair opportunity in courts considered to be stacked in favor of plaintiffs.
Sayeg and his medical practices were represented by attorneys Patrick J. O'Connor, of the firm of Smith Blake Hill, of Chicago, and Andrew Everest, of the Everest Firm, of Chicago.
O'Connor did not reply to a request for comment.