On February 25, 2017, actor Bill Paxton passed away at the age of 61. The Aliens and Twister actor suffered a fatal stroke less than two weeks after undergoing two surgeries: the first to correct an aortic aneurysm and the second to fix a damaged coronary artery. One year after his passing, Paxton’s family started filing lawsuits against an anesthesiologist medical group, and almost half a decade later, one of those lawsuits has finally been settled.
As shared in a court filing reported by NBC News, Bill Paxton’s family came to a legal arrangement with the General Anesthesia Specialists Partnership. The attorneys for the latter party filed paperwork with the Los Angeles Superior Court to seek approval for the settlement, which will see Paxton’s family getting $1 million.
Bill Paxton’s widow, Louise Paxton, and their children, James and Lydia Paxton, were the plaintiffs in this lawsuit, which was initially filed against the Los Angeles hospital Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. The suit alleged that the performing surgeon used a “high risk and unconventional surgical approach” that was “unnecessary” and the man lacked the experience to perform, as well as downplayed the procedure’s risks. The family later directed their sights on the General Anesthesia Specialists Partnership, though a trial date against that surgeon and other plaintiffs from Cedars-Sinai is reportedly set for September.
As far as the Paxton family’s legal entanglement with the General Anesthesia Specialists Partnership goes, according to court records, the group denied any responsibility for Bill Paxton’s death. It specifically said its personnel “complied with the standard of care insofar as their involvement in the care and treatment of” the actor, and that nothing they did “caused or contributed to his death.” One of the defendants named in this particular lawsuit was an anesthesiologist named Dr. Moody Makar, but part of the settlement has led to him being dismissed from the suit without payment. Attorney Robert Reback, who represents the General Anesthesia Specialists Partnership, called the settlement a “business decision.”
Bill Paxton kicked off his professional acting career in 1975, but it was around the mid-1980s when he started catching attention thanks to roles in movies like The Terminator, Weird Science and Aliens, the latter of which saw him playing Private William Hudson opposite Sigourney Weaver’s Ellen Ripley. In the 1990s, Paxton appeared in heavy-hitters like Tombstone, Apollo 13, Twister and Titanic, and final film credits included Edge of Tomorrow, Million Dollar Arm and The Circle, the latter being a posthumous release.
The actor also collected a fair amount of TV credits over his life. Small screen-wise, he was arguably best known for playing Bill Henrickson in the HBO series Big Love, but Marvel Cinematic Universe fans will remember him recurring in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 1 as John Garrett. James Paxton was later recruited to play a younger version of his father’s character in S.H.I.E.L.D.’s final season. Prior to his death, Bill Paxton had shot all 13 episodes of Training Day Season 1, which co-starred Justin Cornwell. However, several months after Paxton died, CBS cancelled the series.
Should you find yourself in the mood to revisit Bill Paxton’s career, take a look at our picks for his six best characters. Those of you with your eyes to the future can keep visiting CinemaBlend for continuing coverage on all sorts of upcoming movies.