By Kevin Doyle
Wednesday September 10 2008
THE family of an Irish woman who died after a botched plastic surgery operation in New York are to begin a multi-million-dollar lawsuit next week.
Tragic Kay Cregan (42) died just three days after undergoing a facelift at the Manhattan clinic of Dr Michael Sachs in Central Park South.
Shortly after the operation, she collapsed and had to be rushed from the disgraced surgeon's clinic to the nearby St Luke's Roosevelt Hospital, where she died on March 17, 2005.
Her husband Liam, who did not know Kay had decided to have facial surgery, got a call at the family home in Croom to say his wife was on a life-support machine.
Liam Cregan and the Limerick couple's two young sons are now set to sue Dr Sachs with the help of a leading New York civil action lawyer, Thomas Moore.
Millions
Mr Moore said: "We will be looking for quite a bit of money. We are talking in millions of dollars at least.
"Parental loss to children is regarded in cases such as this as a very significant matter.
"The jury will have to decide on two central issues, negligence and medical malpractice, and what damages are to be awarded."
He continued: "At the end of the trial the judge will submit a written question to the jury as to the deviation from acceptable practice and the jury then answers this question.
"Depending on the verdict, the jury will then be asked about monetary damages for the loss and in New York there is no upward limit."
According to the lawyers, the case will open on Monday, but it is unlikely that the details surrounding Mrs Cregan's death will be debated until a later date.
Mr Moore said damages would be assessed on the loss of a wife, a mother of two young children, along with the pain and suffering Kay endured prior to her death.
He said the economic loss of Mrs Cregan, who was a senior official with Limerick City Council, would also be taken into account.
Dr Sachs has generated huge wealth from his practice and earlier this year sold his luxury Manhattan home to the Russian government for a reported €24m.
Kay Cregan was not aware that Dr Sachs was among the most sued doctors in the US when she paid $32,000 for the surgery.
She found out about him in an Irish Sunday newspaper which made no reference to his appalling record. Dr Sachs, has settled 33 malpractice suits since 1995.
- Kevin Doyle
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