Jeopardy! contestant’s parents sue for medical malpractice over Braydon Smith death

The family of Brayden Smith, dubbed the last great champion of late Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek, has filed a lawsuit for medical malpractice over the 24-year-old’s unexpected death.

Scott and Debbie Smith filed a lawsuit alleging their son’s death was "preordained by the misconduct of doctors and nurses", according to court documents obtained by The Independent.

The filing names Fidelity Home Health Services, Dignity Health; St Rose Dominican Hospital, Siena campus; two St Rose nursing staff, and two physicians.

The five-time Jeopardy! champion won $115,798 during his run on the gameshow, which ended the month before Mr Trebek’s death from pancreatic cancer in November 2020.

Mr Smith, who suffered from ulcerative colitis, died in February 2021 almost three weeks after surgery to remove his colon, according to court documents filed in the District Court of Clarke County, Nevada.

The complaint, prepared by Las Vegas attorney Robert Murdock, claims Mr Smith was not given anticoagulants following the surgery and died of pulmonary emboli, or blood clots in the lungs.

Dignity Health did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but a hospital spokesman declined to comment to The Las Vegas Review-Journal, which was the first to report the lawsuit.

Mr Smith was hospitalised in December 2020 and January 2021, when he underwent an operation – abdominal colectomy with an end ileostomy – to remove his colon.

Following surgery, the lawsuit alleges Dr Godwin Ofikwu ordered "anticoagulation" drugs to prevent blood clots from forming, but that he did not make an order for a specific anticoagulant like heparin.

Dr Irfana Razzaq, the “treating doctor”, allegedly did not ensure anticoagulants were given to Smith, the lawsuit states.

“In a surgery such as this, the standard of care requires both mechanical and chemical anticoagulation," Keith Beiermeister, a colon and rectal surgeon retained by the family as an expert, said in the lawsuit.

“The medical literature is clear that patients undergoing colorectal surgery as compared to general surgery have a significant increase in the risk of emboli,” Mr Beiermeister added.

Another expert quoted in the lawsuit, registered nurse Tara Bohannon, said Mr Smith was sent home without proper instruction or enough supplies on managing his recovery before collapsing at his home on 29 January. He died a week later.

"Nursing staff at St Rose fell below the standard of care," she said in the lawsuit.

"While it is certainly up to the doctor to order medications, this does not mean that an RN [Registered Nurse] should not suggest a medication to the doctor if it has not been ordered or administered when it normally has been in the past," Ms Bohannon added.

While Mr Smith’s parents have not publicly commented on the cause of their son’s death beyond the lawsuit, they established a memorial fund for scholarships to Nevada students who share the Jeopardy! champion’s "passion for learning".

Mr Smith, a 2020 graduate of the University of Nevada and intern at the Cato Institute researching criminal justice reform, was preparing to compete in Jeopardy’s Tournament of Champions when he died in 2021.

"In preparing for the competition, Brayden memorised every world capital, read or reread Shakespeare’s plays, and brushed up on popular culture," his parent’s wrote.