JERSEY CITY — A New York jury has awarded a Harrison police officer and his children $13 million in a malpractice suit he filed in 2012 after his wife died days after undergoing surgery in Manhattan.
Cheryl Raefski, 43, underwent surgery to remove a polyp from her colon at NYU Langone Medical Center in November 2011 but surgeon Dr. Christian Hirsch did not realize he burned a portion of her small bowel during the procedure. Raefski was in excruciating pain and on powerful pain medication after the surgery, but Hirsch did not order a CAT scan until four days later. The scan detected a severe infection. Before doctors could operate again to address the issue, Raefski died of septic shock.
Her husband — Harrison Police Officer Darren Raefski — sued the doctor and the Manhattan jury took less than a day to award his family $13 million. The couple’s children, Madison, 17, and twins Kyle and Paige, 13, will get $3 million each and the father will get the remainder..
Darren Raefski, a 24-year veteran of the department, made the news in 2016 after making a daring arrest in the case of a stolen truck. He declined to comment on the $13 million award.
Thanks to Michaelangelo Conte and The Jersey Journal.
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