Family files $17M lawsuit after young girl’s heart valve allegedly implanted upside down
The parents of a 13-year-old heart patient have filed a lawsuit against Oregon Health and Science University (OSHU) and cardiac surgeon Ashok Muralidaran, MD, after their daughter’s new mitral valve was implanted upside down.
According to the complaint, filed May 29 in the Circuit Court of the State of Oregon for the County of Multnomah. the young girl underwent open-heart surgery on Aug. 14, 2025. Once the initial procedure was done, the care team was unable to restart the girl’s heart and had to turn to extracorporeal membrane oxygenation to keep her alive. She was then transferred to an ICU, where she underwent additional tests and even more surgeries.
Days later, the team at OSHU allegedly told the girl’s parents she needed to be moved to a more advanced facility or she would likely die. She was then transported to Seattle Children’s Hospital, where they quickly identified the issue. Over time, the Seattle clinicians were able to correct the issue and the patient slowly recovered.
The family is now suing OSHU and Muralidaran for $17 million. Their legal team is demanding a jury trial.
OSHU is not commenting on this case.
The Oregonian was among the first outlets to cover this case. Click the link below for their full story:
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.