Urologist Arnaldo Trabucco, MD, was outraged when he learned of a legal claim filed by a patient’s family blaming him for the patient’s death.
Dr. Trabucco had performed a successful laparoscopic left radical nephrectomy on Gerald Scharf, but he died 3 days later from an unrelated condition, said Dr. Trabucco, who now practices in California. The claims alleged not only wrongful death, but also that Dr. Trabucco “committed willful and malicious actions upon” the patient, eventually resulting in his death, and that Dr. Trabucco’s actions constituted “extreme and outrageous behavior.”
The accusations were levied on behalf of the patient’s family by a bankruptcy attorney who admittedly had no experience in medical malpractice litigation.
“It was a vicious allegation that I intentionally tried to kill my own patient,” said Dr. Trabucco, 66. “It’s an allegation that was outlandish. Those were fighting words.”
As the case dragged on, Dr. Trabucco filed a complaint against the Scharfs and bankruptcy attorney Jeffrey Cogan for malicious prosecution and abuse of process. In 2018, Dr. Trabucco prevailed when a jury awarded him $6,232,000 in compensatory damages and $1,768,000 in punitive damages against Mr. Cogan. (No damages were assessed against the patient’s family.)
“This was a principle issue more than anything else,” Dr. Trabucco said. “My name was tarnished and thrown through the mud. I’m very proud of my name and my reputation.”
Mr. Cogan, a bankruptcy attorney licensed in Nevada and California, disputes that his actions were malicious and disagrees with the jury’s verdict.
“I don’t think I did anything wrong with filing the lawsuit,” he said.
Despite the $8 million award, the legal fight between Dr. Trabucco and Mr. Cogan has continued – and is not over yet.
Not your ordinary legal journey
Dr. Trabucco completed his medical training in Rome before moving back to the United States to begin his residency in Brooklyn, New York.
He quietly practiced urology in New York for years before moving to Columbus, Ind., to work at a urology clinic. In 2005, Dr. Trabucco made headlines when the Bartholomew County, Ind., sheriff’s deputies found marijuana plants growing in his home. His medical license was suspended, and he pled guilty to a misdemeanor.
Dr. Trabucco said he was unaware that a family member was growing the plants in the home and that he was not responsible for the operation. The misdemeanor has since been expunged from his record, according to Dr. Trabucco. Bartholomew County records do not list the offense. He later moved to Arizona, where he opened a medical practice.
Before the Scharfs filed their malpractice case in 2013, Dr. Trabucco had been embroiled in a series of unrelated legal disputes, including postdivorce proceedings and a complaint against him by another physician, alleging defamation. In that case, the physician claimed Dr. Trabucco published false and defamatory communications about him, including that the physician committed intentional fraud.
Dr. Trabucco filed his own suit for defamation and infliction of emotional distress against the same physician for alleged threats and harassment and making false reports about him to several Arizona state entities. The defamation suit against Dr. Trabucco ended in a settlement, the terms of which are confidential, according to Mr. Cogan. Dr. Trabucco’s defamation case against the physician was dismissed, according to court records, but they do not specify the reason. Dr. Trabucco said he dropped the defamation case because of the other relentless litigation he was facing.
In November 2012, Dr. Trabucco filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection.
Mr. Cogan was representing Dr. Trabucco’s ex-wife’s interests as a creditor in the bankruptcy proceeding and eventually represented the physician who sued Dr. Trabucco, according to court documents. In all, Mr. Cogan represented six creditors in connection to Dr. Trabucco’s bankruptcy, including the Scharfs. He also took over the Scharfs’ malpractice case in Arizona’s Mohave County Superior Court after their attorney died.
As part of a filing in Nevada bankruptcy court called a “Complaint to Determine Nondischargeabiliy of Debts,” Mr. Cogan alleged that Dr. Trabucco knew he lacked sufficient expertise regarding the laparoscopic nephrectomy, that an intraoperative complication occurred because of his error, and that Dr. Trabucco hid the complication and did not attempt to remedy the situation, among other claims.
In addition to the Mohave County filing and the bankruptcy filing, Mr. Cogan filed a similar medical malpractice case against Dr. Trabucco in Arizona district court.
“I believe, based upon the statements by [a retired medical malpractice attorney], that Dr Trabucco squeezed the abdominal aorta,” Mr. Cogan said. “When he did so, plaque from Mr Scharf blocked blood from going to his remaining his kidney, causing his death. My lawsuit said that Dr Trabucco knew he made a mistake and went home rather than fixing the mistake.”
Dr. Trabucco said the laparoscopic nephrectomy went smoothly. A few hours after the surgery, however, Mr. Scharf was transferred to a Las Vegas hospital with a diagnosis of potential occlusion of the abdominal aorta. Surgery was performed, and while the operative report noted the presence of severe atherosclerosis of the abdominal aorta, there was no indication of an intraoperative injury to the aorta from Dr. Trabucco’s surgery, according to court documents filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona. An autopsy performed on Mr. Scharf reported “severe calcific aortic atherosclerosis, primarily at the aortic arch and abdominal aorta at the level of the branching of the renal arteries with small adherent thrombus.” The autopsy did not include any indication or suggestion of an intraoperative injury to the abdominal aorta.
A federal jury found unanimously in favor of Dr. Trabucco, concluding that he did nothing wrong. The original medical malpractice case in Mohave County court was ultimately dismissed and in 2014, the bankruptcy court entered an order discharging Dr. Trabucco from all prepetition debts, according to court records.
Meanwhile, as the malicious prosecution case against Mr. Cogan continued, Dr. Trabucco’s name again drew media attention. His former girlfriend was arrested for plotting to kidnap and kill an attorney who was representing Dr. Trabucco’s ex-wife in a divorce proceeding. Renee Perillo was sentenced to 27 years in prison for conspiracy to commit kidnapping and murder for hire for trying to kill Noblesville, Ind., attorney Rebecca Eimerman. Ms. Eimerman was pursuing divorce settlement money from Dr. Trabucco on behalf of his ex-wife. Ms. Perillo’s son was also charged in the crime.
No charges related to the crime were filed against Dr. Trabucco, according to the Hamilton County Prosecutor’s Office and federal charging records. Dr. Trabucco said he was not involved in the incident and had no knowledge of Perillo’s plans.