Cook County Jury Returns $66 Million Judgment in Plastic Surgery Death

In November 2019, Idalia Corcoles, a 39-year-old mother of four, went to the 63rd Medical and Surgical Center on Chicago's Southwest Side for liposuction and a tummy tuck. Dr. Ayoub Sayeg, a plastic surgeon, performed the operation. During the procedure, Corcoles suffered a perforated abdominal wall and a lacerated spleen, and she began bleeding internally. She died the following day.

The case her family later brought turned on the hours after the surgery ended. According to the lawsuit, Sayeg never returned to check on Corcoles once the operation was over. He left her in the care of a nurse and moved on to operate on another patient. Her internal bleeding went unrecognized and untreated for hours, and no one intervened in time to save her life.

Corcoles left behind her husband, Alejandro Cervantes, and four children. Cervantes filed a wrongful death suit in 2021, represented by Clifford Law Offices partners Bradley Cosgrove and Craig Squillace. The case went to trial in Cook County Circuit Court in Chicago and lasted about a week.

At trial, the firm presented evidence that Sayeg operated without first obtaining medical clearance for Corcoles, skipped a complete preoperative physical examination, and then failed to monitor her as she declined. The bleeding traced back to injuries from the procedure itself, including the perforated abdominal wall and the laceration to her spleen. "They essentially abandoned her in the recovery room," Cosgrove told the jury. He described a patient who was "allowed to bleed to death" over a span of hours.

The jury deliberated briefly before finding Sayeg and his surgical business liable for Corcoles' death. In December 2024, it awarded her family $56 million in damages. With post-judgment interest added, the court entered a judgment of $66.262 million. Cosgrove called it the largest medical malpractice wrongful death verdict in Illinois history, and Clifford Law described the result as the highest ever recorded against a plastic surgeon in the state.

At the time of the verdict, Sayeg remained licensed and practicing in Illinois, and the case drew scrutiny from state regulators. To appeal the judgment, he would have to post a bond of nearly $100 million while the case is reviewed.