Lawsuit Claims Medical Malpractice In Death Of Bridgeport Pastor

BRIDGEPORT, CT — The estate of a longtime local pastor filed a wrongful death lawsuit this month, claiming doctors at Bridgeport Hospital perforated his bladder while trying to place a urinary catheter and then failed to properly treat him after he developed an infection and sepsis.

Rev. Yves Abichet’s estate is suing Bridgeport Hospital, Yale New Haven Health Services Corp., Yale University and Northeast Medical Group Inc.

The Stamford-based law firm Silver Golub & Teitell, which is representing the estate, filed the lawsuit April 2 in Superior Court in Bridgeport. The lawsuit seeks damages for Abichet’s pain, suffering and death.

Prior to his death in 2023 at the age of 55, Abichet served as a pastor for more than 20 years at Word of Life Church of God and at Zion Church of God, both in Bridgeport. At his memorial service, relatives described Abichet as a family man, and said preaching was something he was “born to do.”

Ernie Teitell, a partner with Silver Golub & Teitell, said doctors who treated Abichet were “negligent on so many fronts.”

“They perforated his bladder while inserting the catheter, which should have been routine, they didn’t realize what they had done, and when they did, they didn’t take definitive action to correct their error,” Teitell said, in a press release announcing the litigation. “There were many opportunities to intervene and save his life, and the doctors missed all of them.”

Amanda Raus, media relations coordinator for Bridgeport Hospital, said in an emailed statement this week, “Bridgeport Hospital is aware of this lawsuit and is committed to providing the safest and highest quality of care possible, however, we are unable to comment on pending litigation.”

According to the lawsuit, Abichet first went to the hospital on Nov. 22, 2023 to get a suprapubic catheter replaced. The device drains urine from the bladder, and it is inserted through an incision in the abdomen.

Two days after this procedure, Abichet went back to the hospital because he had blood in his catheter bag and he was experiencing persistent abdominal pain, the lawsuit states.

“A CT scan showed that the replacement catheter had passed through the bladder and terminated in the abdomen, where a hematoma that measured up to 15 cm had formed, indicating that the catheter was misplaced and perforated through the bladder itself,” according to Silver Golub & Teitell.

The lawsuit asserts the doctors at the hospital caused the bladder perforation by improperly placing the suprapubic catheter through the bladder. It claims they then failed to remove the misplaced catheter or address the bladder injury and resulting hematoma. As a result, Abichet’s condition got worse, according to the lawsuit.

By December 2, 2023, Abichet had developed a fever of 102 degrees. On Dec. 8, he was transferred to the medical intensive care unit for management of “septic and circulatory shock,” the lawsuit states. On Dec. 19, Abichet experienced respiratory arrest and had to be intubated. On Dec. 23, he was placed on comfort measures only, and he died on Dec. 24, 2023, the lawsuit shows.

According to the lawsuit, Abichet's cause of death was due to "complications of urinary bladder perforation, replacement of suprapubic catheter, and benign prostatic hypertrophy."