Los Angeles Jury Clears Doctors in Simon Wrongful Death

Case Background

The case unfolded in Los Angeles Superior Court, where six members of the Simon family brought a wrongful death lawsuit. They alleged that medical negligence at Glendale Adventist Medical Center caused the death of their relative, 77-year-old Razmi Simon.

Razmi tripped and fell on November 19, 2018, breaking his hip. He was taken by ambulance to Glendale Adventist. His son, Theod Simonian, met him there. Doctors operated on his hip the next day. At first, his recovery seemed positive. The hospital kept him for monitoring, planning to discharge him once he stabilized.

However, his condition soon worsened. According to his family, he complained of chest pain the day after surgery. His family reported it to nurses, but staff initially dismissed the complaints. Later, doctors confirmed he had a heart attack. Medical records showed he had lost significant blood after surgery. His cardiologist ordered a transfusion and additional tests, including an angiography.

Over the next two days, Simon’s health spiraled downward. His kidneys failed, he was sedated and placed on dialysis, and he remained connected to multiple machines. On November 23, while nurses changed his catheter, his blood pressure dropped, and he went into cardiac arrest. He did not recover.

His family believed his death resulted from negligent care. They filed their complaint in January 2020, naming Glendale Adventist Medical Center and affiliated Adventist Health entities as Defendants. Later, individual physicians including Dr. Vahe Badalian and Dr. Michael Abdulian were drawn into the case.

Cause

The family alleged medical malpractice, wrongful death, and negligence. They claimed the hospital and its staff failed to meet the standard of care by ignoring chest pain, failing to check blood levels, and using risky diagnostic procedures that harmed his kidneys. They also accused nurses of mishandling a catheter change, which they said triggered the final cardiac arrest.

The Plaintiffs argued that these failures directly caused Simon’s decline and death, transforming a routine hip surgery into a fatal hospital stay.

Injury

The central injury was Simon’s death, which his family believed was avoidable. They claimed he had been in otherwise good health for a man of his age before the fall. They said negligence deprived them of his companionship, care, guidance, and love.

Damages Sought

In their complaint, the Plaintiffs sought compensatory damages exceeding $25,000, with the final amount to be determined at trial. They requested recovery for medical expenses, loss of earning capacity, and non-economic losses such as grief, loss of consortium, and the absence of Simon’s support. They also asked for attorneys’ fees, interest, and costs of suit.

Key Arguments and Proceedings

Legal Representation

Plaintiffs: Akoupian Lidoosh | Simon Arbey | Simonian Theod

· Counsel for Plaintiffs: Carney R. Shegerian | Anthony Nguyen | Astineh Arakelian | Madjidi Mahru

· Plaintiff's Expert Witness: Kendall S. Wagner | Matthew Budoff | Phillip Newman | Kevin Shaw

· Defendant’s Expert Witness: Kevin Ehrhart | Raul Fernando Roth | Jeffery S. Shapiro

Claims Asserted

The Plaintiffs pressed three major claims.

Medical Malpractice
They alleged the hospital and its staff breached the standard of care by failing to monitor blood loss, mismanaging chest pain complaints, and conducting inappropriate procedures that harmed Simon’s organs.

Wrongful Death
They claimed the negligence caused Simon’s premature death, leaving his heirs without his companionship and support.

Negligence
They argued the Defendants failed to ensure adequate staffing, supervision, and patient monitoring, amounting to systemic neglect.

Defense Arguments

The defense denied all allegations. Dr. Badalian, for example, filed a general denial of negligence. He argued that Simon and his family bore responsibility by failing to exercise ordinary care and prudence. He also raised defenses based on informed consent, asserting Simon had accepted the risks of treatment.

The defense further argued that the family lacked standing, that statutes of limitation applied, and that any damages should be reduced under California law, including Proposition 51’s rules on joint liability. They also reserved the right to argue that other individuals or entities, not the Defendants, bore responsibility.

Jury Verdict

After hearing testimony and reviewing evidence, the jury deliberated. On August 21, 2025, they returned a special verdict.

The jury found that neither Dr. Abdulian nor Dr. Badalian was medically negligent in their treatment of Simon. They concluded the Plaintiffs did not prove negligence by these physicians. The jury did not reach the question of damages because they had cleared the Defendants on liability.

They also found that, based on information available by January 3, 2020, the Plaintiffs did not know and could not reasonably have known that these doctors were probably liable for Simon’s death.

The outcome was a defense verdict. The Plaintiffs took nothing from these Defendants.

Court documents are available upon request at jurimatic@exlitem.com