Jury awards family $12.39M in punitive damages in case of doctor who left before finishing operation

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- A jury has awarded a family another $12.39-million in punitive damages in case of Fresno doctor who walked out before the operation was complete. A jury awarded the family $55.6 million in general damages Monday.

Silvino Perez went into Community Regional Medical Center in Downtown Fresno needing heart surgery in 2012 and he never really came out.

Six years later, he hasn't woken up.

Investigators say the surgeon, Dr. Pervaiz Chaudhry, left before finishing the operation by closing the 70-year-old's chest.

Months later, the California Department of Public Health fined the hospital $175,000 without naming the patient.

CRMC reached a settlement with Perez's family before this trial, but still faces at least five more lawsuits related to Dr. Chaudhry's performance and one more from the whistleblower.