18-Year Old in Coma After Surgery Goes Wrong

December 20, 2019

A young girl is in a coma after a cosmetic surgery went wrong, Denver’s ABC Channel 7 reports.

Gross Negligence Led to Coma

18-year old Emmalyn Nguyen went in for breast enhancement surgery on August 1st and is now in a nursing home facility after suffering severe brain damage. Her parents have filed a lawsuit in Arapahoe County Court for gross negligence against the doctor and a nurse anesthetist who supervised her procedure. They claim that Ms. Nguyen went into cardiac arrest before the procedure was to begin, and the medical staff did not properly supervise her which caused her to suffer serious injuries.

The attorney for the girl’s parents commented that he feels that the nurse, Rex Meeker, did not properly give Emmalyn the sedative and failed to monitor her condition. He also commented that the staff let Emmalyn lie on the operating table for 5 and a half hours, before calling emergency services.

Previous Legal Trouble

This is not Mr. Meeker’s first encounter with the law. He has been sued before by a man back in 2009 after his wife passed away due to brain damage she suffered from another breast enhancement surgery, where he again provided the patient the sedative.

Oftentimes these types of procedures are done at an outpatient surgical facility where patients can go home that same day. Unfortunately, these types of facilities are not regulated by the state health department.

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