Bill Paxton’s family settles wrongful lawsuit with LA hospital over death

According to a court filing Friday, the family of late actor Bill Paxton has agreed to settle a wrongful death lawsuit against a Los Angeles hospital and the surgeon who performed his heart surgery shortly before his death in 2017.

The lawsuit, which was filed against Cedars-Sinai Medical Center more than four years ago, was set to go to trial next month. However, attorneys for Paxton’s wife of 30 years, Louise, and their two children, James and Lydia, filed a notice of settlement in Los Angeles Superior Court.

“The matter has been resolved to the mutual satisfaction of the parties,” plaintiffs’ lawyers Bruce Broillet and Steve Heimberg said in a statement.

According to the attorneys, the terms are confidential. Emails sent to the defendants seeking comment were not immediately returned. A judge must still approve the agreement.

Paxton, who starred in films such as “Apollo 13,” “Titanic,” and “Aliens,” as well as television shows such as “Big Love,” died on February 25, 2017.

According to his death certificate, the cause was a stroke 11 days after surgery to replace a heart valve and repair aorta damage.

A year later, a lawsuit was filed alleging that the surgeon, Dr. Ali Khoynezhad, used an unnecessary “high risk and unconventional surgical approach” that he lacked the experience to perform, and that he downplayed the procedure’s risks.

According to the lawsuit, the misguided treatment caused Paxton to suffer from excessive bleeding, cardiogenic shock, and a compromised coronary artery, and Cedars-Sinai was aware that Khoynezhad tended to “engage in maverick surgeries and show suboptimal judgment.”

According to court documents, the defendants stated that Paxton and his family were aware of the risks involved in the procedure and voluntarily went with the surgery. The defendants claimed that there was no negligence that resulted in his death.

The Paxton family’s four-year legal battle was marked by frequent attempts to extract more discovery evidence from the hospital, as well as frequent court hearings on the issue.

From the early 1980s until his death, Paxton, who was born and raised in Fort Worth, Texas, was one of the industry’s busiest actors, racking up nearly 100 credits, including “Twister” and “Weird Science.” When he died, he was starring in the CBS drama series “Training Day.”