Actor Bill Paxton’s family settles wrongful death lawsuit with LA hospital, surgeon

LOS ANGELES — The family of late actor Bill Paxton agreed Friday to settle a wrongful death lawsuit against a Los Angeles-area hospital and the surgeon who performed his heart surgery shortly before his February 2017 death, according to a court filing.

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Per the court filing, obtained by The Associated Press, the suit was filed against Cedars-Sinai Medical Center more than four years ago by Paxton’s wife, Louise Newbury, and their two children, James and Lydia.

Terms of the settlement were not disclosed and require a judge’s approval, Deadline reported.

Friday’s settlement came one month before the lawsuit was slated for trial, Rolling Stone reported.

According to his death certificate, Paxton died on Feb. 25, 2017, from a stroke suffered 11 days after surgery to replace a heart valve and repair aorta damage, Deadline reported.

Paxton’s family previously reached a partial settlement of their wrongful-death lawsuit, with an anesthesiologist medical group agreeing to pay $1 million, the entertainment news site reported.

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

The lawsuit against Cedars-Sinai Medical Center alleged that Paxton’s surgeon, Dr. Ali Khoynezhad, used an unnecessary “high risk and unconventional surgical approach.” It also alleged that the medical facility knew Khoynezhad was known to “engage in maverick surgeries and show suboptimal judgment,” Rolling Stone reported.

Meanwhile, the defendants argued that the Paxton family was made fully aware of the surgery’s risks and had agreed to the procedure, according to the magazine.

Paxton, who was 61 when he died, was best known for roles in such films as “Apollo 13,” “Twister,” “Titanic,” “Weird Science” and “A Simple Plan,” as well as for the HBO series “Big Love.” At the time of his death, Paxton was filming a “Training Day” series for CBS, Rolling Stone reported.

- The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Bill Paxton through the years LOS ANGELES - SEPTEMBER 18: Actor Bill Paxton and actor Harry Dean Stanton arrive at the Los Angeles premiere of Paramount Vantage's "Into the Wild" held at the Director's Guild of America on September 18, 2007 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/ Getty Imgages) (Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images)

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