A Philadelphia jury yesterday awarded a Delaware County couple $20.5 million in damages for the death of their 18-year-old daughter following a liposuction procedure.

The young woman’s family had alleged that Glunk was not permitted to conduct the procedure without supervision, did not fully explain possible complications to his patient, and delayed for hours seeking medical help when complications developed.

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In the Fledderman v. Glunk wrongful death and survival action, the jury awarded $15 million in punitive damages; $3.5 million under the Survival Act; $2 million for Glunk allegedly negligently inflicting emotional distress on Colleen Fledderman; $20,000 under the Wrongful Death Act; and $5,000 for Glunk’s alleged failure to obtain Amy Fledderman’s informed consent.

The jury found Glunk 75 percent liable for Amy Fledderman’s death and found DeStefano 25 percent liable regarding Fledderman’s medical care and treatment.

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The lawsuit, filed in August 2001, claims, among other things, that Glunk delayed in calling an ambulance for Amy and that the delay was what caused her death.

“She pleaded, she begged, ‘Please call an ambulance for my daughter.’ But he wouldn’t. He refused,” McLaughlin said.

The jury found yesterday that Glunk and his nurse anesthetist, Edward DeStefano, were negligent. It awarded $5.5 million in compensatory damages. The liability is split 75 percent for Glunk and 25 percent for
DeStefano. Glunk is on the hook for an additional $15 million in punitive damages.

“The more that he talked and said things that weren’t supported by what other witnesses said and what the evidence was, they got angrier and angrier,” McLaughlin, of the Beasley Firm, said of the plastic surgeon.
“And obviously a $15 million punitive award is an angry jury.”

Glunk was later found to be operating without a state license for “ambulatory surgical facilities.” He said his office doesn’t meet that definition and, therefore, he doesn’t need the license, but he got it in 2004 “just to prove that the place is safe.”

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