Family of actor Bill Paxton sues surgeon

THE family of the late American actor Bill Paxton are suing a Los Angeles hospital and the surgeon who performed a heart operation on him, asserting they are responsible for his premature death.

The 61-year-old died on February 25 last year, 11 days after he underwent heart surgery.

The actor’s family is suing surgeon Ali Khoynezhad — as well as the Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre in Los Angeles, where he performed the operation — for wrongful death, court documents obtained by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram stated.

In the lawsuit, Paxton’s family accuses Khoynezhad of carrying out an improper procedure that caused complications that ultimately resulted in the actor’s death, while also blaming the hospital for inactivity.

“Bill Paxton and his family trusted the physicians and staff at this medical facility but instead Cedars-Sinai betrayed their trust,” the family’s lawyer Bruce Broillet said in a statement. “The surgeon’s actions resulted in this tragic and preventable death.”

Paxton had a stroke 11 days after Khoynezhad operated on him, according to the Star-Telegram. Paxton’s cause of death was officially determined to be a stroke.

The release states Khoynezhad stopped working for Cedars-Sinain not long after Paxton passed away.

“We are pursuing accountability and justice from a physician and a hospital that failed to adequately protect Mr Paxton,” lawyer Steve Heimberg said in the release, according to the newspaper.

Although, not a major star, Paxton was well regarded in Hollywood and had appeared in films such as Apollo 13, Titanic, The Terminator and Twister, among others.

He also starred in the HBO series Big Love and was appearing in the small screen version of Training Day at the time of his death.
Paxton is survived by his wife Louise and their two children, James and Lydia.