By Joe Johnson
A Clarke County State Court jury recently awarded the estate of an Athens man $4.36 million following a recent trial in a civil lawsuit stemming from the man’s death that occurred during a cardiac catheterization procedure. the Athens Banner-Herald reported.
.The jury returned the medical malpractice verdict against Athens Heart Center and Dr. Subodh Agrawal after a weeklong trial presided over by Judge Charles Auslander in Athens.
According to the newspaper, the lawsuit was filed over the Aug. 25, 2017, death of Juan Molina, an Athens businessman who was also well known in the city’s music scene, where he performed with groups such as The Squalls that was active in the 1989s, and also Little Tigers and Go Van Go.
The trial began Jan. 30 and the case went to the jury on Feb. 6, with a verdict rendered days later. The jury awarded $3.8 million for the value of life, $500,000 for pain and suffering and $63,000 for medical and funeral expenses, according to the ABH.
Molina reportedly had gone to his physician and an EKG came back abnormal, so a cardiac catheterization was ordered to determine such conditions as a the extent of arterial blockage.
The doctor put the catheter into his ventricle wall, which you are not supposed to do, and injected a contrast or dye into the wall and that completely undermined the wall, which led to a perforation,” said attorney Steve Lowry, who represented Molina's estate in the trial.
This caused complications and they were unable to stop the bleeding “and Juan passed away,” Lowry said.