Motorcyclist who claimed anesthesia led to crash settles with U.S.

Alan Scher Zagier//April 24, 2023//

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A man who crashed his motorcycle following surgery at a VA hospital in St. Louis reached a $780,000 settlement with the federal government.

Michael Steinway of Madison County, Illinois, underwent a cardiac catheterization at Cochran Veterans Hospital in May 2018. Hours later, he drove his motorcycle off the road. He suffered multiple fractures, was placed in a medical coma for five days and nearly needed amputation of his left leg.

Lead plaintiff’s attorney Genavieve Perino of Burger Law in St. Louis alleged her client was still under sedation and anesthesia at the time of the crash, as he was given 25 micrograms of fentanyl and 1 milligram of a benzodiazepine before being discharged four to five hours after the surgical procedure.

The assistant U.S. attorney who represented the VA hospital did not respond to a request for comment.

The suit was mediated before Michael David of Baker Sterchi Cowden & Rice, a former circuit judge.

Perino said the VA disputed Steinway’s impairment and noted that the police accident report indicated that the discharged patient’s motorcycle first hit a rock before running off the road. The VA doctor also claimed that the plaintiff was told not to drive, but no such instructions were found in his medical records.

The settlement amount reflected Missouri medical malpractice caps for noneconomic damages.