Medical Malpractice Trial Begins Over Gastric Bypass Surgery

Shannon Weidemann

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Notre Dame's football coach is back in court for the second trial involving the medical malpractice case he filed against two doctors. He had surgery in 2002 for a gastric bypass. There were complications that required a second surgery and put him into a coma.

In opening statements to the jury, Weis's lawyer, Michael Mone, said the doctors acted negligently by allowing Weis to bleed internally for 30 hours after the surgery before performing a second operation to correct the complication. Weis was in a coma for two weeks and nearly died.

But William Dailey Jr., a lawyer for Ferguson and Hodin, said internal bleeding was a well-known complication of gastric bypass surgery. Dailey said Ferguson, Hodin and several other doctors who cared for Weis believed the bleeding would stop on its own, as it does in most cases following such surgery.

The first trial ended in a mistrial. Weis's attorney claims he still suffers damage from the surgery.