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Malpractice Trial Starts For Surgeon
The late John J. Sebastino Jr. of North Adams had already undergone chemotherapy and radiation treatments for cancer of the esophagus seven years ago when he was referred to Dr. Parvis J. Sadighi, the director of surgery at Berkshire Medical Center.
Dr. Sadighi performed surgery to remove Sebastino's esophagus, but it was a procedure that his attorney, Martin C. Foster, termed a 'complicated operation' that contained several risks.
Mr. Sebastino died seven months later.
Through her attorney, W. Stanley Cooke, Sebastino's widow, Frances Sebastino, has accused on February 7, both Dr. Sadighi and Berkshire Physicians & Surgeons of medical malpractice.
In court papers, she claims Dr. Sadighi did not use proper skill in treating her late husband and further injured the Korean War veteran's health, causing him to suffer an early death. Mr. Sebastino was 68 years old when he died in April 2000.
In opening arguments yesterday before Berkshire Superior Court Judge Daniel A. Ford, Mr. Cooke said Mr. Sebastino was referred to Dr. Sadighi on Oct. 18, 1999, and that the operation was performed seven days later.
Mr. Cooke said that Dr. Sadighi's 'method of operating' damaged one of Mr. Sebastino's nerves, leaving him paralyzed and unable to breathe or swallow properly.
Mr. Sebastino died at the nursing home.
Dr. Sadighi explained in detail to both Mr. Sebastino and his niece the risks involved with the surgery, and Mr. Sebastino had signed a document stating he understood the risks and that the procedure provided 'no guarantees,' Martin Foster, Dr. Sadighi's attorney, said.
Mr. Foster referred to the 68-year-old Dr. Sadighi as a 'well-qualified' and 'well-certified' surgeon, who is the only thoracic (chest) surgeon certified to perform such procedures in Western Massachusetts.
Born in Iran, Dr. Sadighi has been chairman of medical surgery at BMC for 25 years, he said.