A New York State Supreme Court judge has dismissed a lawsuit against one of the ring doctors for the Magomed Abdusalamov bout five years ago that left the boxer with permanent brain damage.
In granting Dr. Gerard Varlotta’s motion for summary judgment, Judge Debra Silber said last month that the evidence shows he “did not deviate from accepted medical practice and that any alleged deviation was not the proximate cause of Abdusalamov’s injuries.”
Paul Edelstein, the lawyer for Abdusalamov and his family, who received a record-setting $22 million personal injury settlement from the state last year, told ESPN’s Outside the Lines they plan to appeal Silber’s decision. Unlike Varlotta, ring doctors Anthony Curreri and Osric King — who are also being sued by the Abdusalamovs — did not seek summary judgment, and according to court documents, they plan to join the ex-boxer’s effort to reinstate Varlotta as their co-defendant.
Abdusalamov was bloodied in the 10-round loss by decision to Mike Perez Nov. 2, 2013 at the Theater at Madison Square Garden.
In the dressing room after the fight, Varlotta and Curreri examined Abdusalamov, sutured a gash above his eye and cleared him to leave, while recommending that within a week of returning to his Florida home he see a doctor for removal of the stitches and for X-rays of a suspected facial fracture. Abdusalamov’s brother, trainer and interpreter each told OTL the heavyweight said during his postfight exam that his head hurt.
Varlotta and the other doctors working for the state athletic commission did not send Abdusalamov to the hospital following the fight, although they had ambulances at their disposal.
Before Abdusalamov left the dressing room, a fight inspector saw blood in his urine sample and suggested that his handlers take him to the hospital by taxi.
Surveillance video showed an unsteady Abdusalamov vomiting on the curb outside the Garden as he waited for a taxi. After a CT scan revealed bleeding from his brain, he underwent emergency surgery, suffered multiple strokes and was in a coma for weeks. Now 37, the native of the Russian Republic of Dagestan and married father of three girls remains paralyzed on his right side and severely limited in his ability to communicate.
The state inspector general concluded a 32-month investigation in 2016 that took the athletic commission to task for inadequate postfight emergency plans and failing to properly communicate with Abdusalamov and his team, who were never informed about the on-site ambulances.
A pretrial conference is scheduled for Oct. 11 in the Abdusalamovs’ suit against King and Curreri.