Cardiologist dies after choking on flight—family’s lawsuit points to alleged negligence
Asoka Jayaweera, MD, a veteran cardiologist living in California, died in 2023 after choking on a Qatar Airways flight to Sri Lanka. Now, two years later, his family has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the airline, claiming he was given meat despite the fact that he was on a “strict vegetarian” diet.
Jayaweera underwent treatment on the flight for several hours before the plane performed an emergency landing and he was taken to a U.K. hospital. He died in that hospital, two days after boarding his flight to Sri Lanka.
According to the lawsuit filed by Jayaweera’s family, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, the cardiologist requested a vegetarian during the flight. The airline was out, however, and he “was instructed to eat around the meat portions of the meal.” He started choking soon after he had started eating and required medical attention.
The lawsuit alleges that Qatar Airways was negligent in the way it handled the situation. The airline “refused to land the plane for an additional eight hours,” for example, even though he was unconscious and his oxygen saturation levels were low. Jayaweera’s family alleges that the plane was over the United States at the time of the incident, which should have made it easy to quickly perform an emergency landing. The airline, however, said the flight was already over the ocean at that point, making an immediate landing impossible.
Jayaweera’s family is seeking damages of an amount “exceeding the statutory minimum of $128,821” or “an amount exceeding that to be proven at trial.”
Qatar Airways is not commenting on this lawsuit.
Michael has more than 19 years of experience as a professional writer and editor. He has written at length about cardiology, radiology, artificial intelligence and other key healthcare topics.