Family Sues After Surgery Leaves Woman Comatose

Judy Frumkin’s bubbly voice still can be heard on the family’s telephone answering machine, but the 38-year-old wife and mother of two daughters now lies in a vegetative state in a hospital critical care unit.

On Sept. 5, the Anaheim Hills woman underwent what was expected to be simple outpatient surgery to remove scar tissue associated with a previous breast implant removal. During the procedure, which her husband says was expected to last 20 minutes, her brain was deprived of oxygen for at least 10 minutes, the family’s attorney alleges.

She now is in a coma at AM Medical Center, with no chance of recovery, the attorney said Monday.

The Frumkin family last week filed a lawsuit in Orange County Superior Court, seeking at least $75 million. The suit alleges plastic surgeon Timothy A. Lim and anesthesiologist Ky Young Rhee committed medical malpractice during the procedure at the North Anaheim Surgicenter. But the bulk of the damages are sought from Columbia/HCA Healthcare Corp., owner of the outpatient center.

Lim’s attorney said he had not seen the suit but called the case “a tragic situation.” Rhee could not be reached for comment.

Judy Frumkin was given general anesthesia for the surgery. What happened in the operating room is still unclear, said their lawyer, Nathaniel Friedman. But when she was revived, she had suffered severe brain damage.

Because she is otherwise healthy, she could live a normal life span in her vegetative state, Friedman said.

The Frumkins have been married 16 years. Ron and Judy worked together at the Daily Journal in Los Angeles and were together 24 hours a day, either commuting, working or being with their two daughters, Ron Frumkin said.

“I feel like she has been ripped from me,” he said.