Montco doc, anesthetist found liable after complications claim life of teen

Daniel and Colleen Fledderman, of Newtown Square, Delaware County, decided in 2001 that the doctor who performed the fatal liposuction surgery on their daughter, an 18-year-old Penn State freshman, must be held accountable for her death.

And they wanted to warn the public about Dr. Richard Glunk, who they say refused to call an ambulance before it was too late to save her life.

Glunk, a board-certified plastic surgeon who has been practicing for 21 years, insists that Fledderman died from a rare and virtually untreatable complication that was out of his control.

Yesterday - exactly seven years after Fledderman walked into Glunk's King of Prussia office to have pockets of fat removed from her chin and stomach - a Philadelphia jury said he was wrong.

And they want him to pay for it.

The jury of nine women and three men deliberated for 14 hours over three days before awarding the Fleddermans $20.5 million in compensatory and punitive damages, finding that Glunk and his nurse anesthetist were responsible for Amy's death.

To read the entire article, go to: http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20080524_A__20_5M_AWARD_IN_LIPO_DEATH.html