Jury Awards $7.73 Million for the Death of a 51-Year-Old New Haven Physician Whose Post-Surgical Infection Went Untreated at Yale New Haven Hospital
After trial: The verdict was returned on June 10, 2026. Yale New Haven Health said it would evaluate all available appellate options; we could not confirm whether post-trial motions or an appeal have been filed. The verdict is entered here as it was returned, with no known reduction, and should be re-checked once the appellate period has run.
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Dr. Jacqueline Satchell, a 51-year-old primary care physician and Yale clinical assistant professor who had cared for New Haven patients for two decades, was admitted to Yale New Haven Hospital's Saint Raphael campus in October 2020 with a perforated bowel. Surgeons removed part of her infected intestine, but over the following days her estate said the signs of a worsening infection and organ dysfunction were overlooked, no specialist consultations or second operation were pursued, and by the time doctors acted she was too sick to save. She died on October 7, 2020. On June 10, 2026, after a multi-week trial, a New Haven jury awarded her estate $7,730,000 against Yale New Haven Hospital and Yale University. Yale said it was disappointed and would evaluate its appellate options.
What happened
Dr. Jacqueline Satchell was born in Jamaica, moved to New Haven, Connecticut as a teenager, graduated from Hillhouse High School and the University of Connecticut, and earned her medical degree at Temple University before returning to New Haven for her residency at Yale. She stayed for more than 20 years as a board-certified primary care physician, a clinical assistant professor at the Yale School of Medicine, a mentor to young doctors and the medical director of the Women Veterans Program at the VA hospital in West Haven. She was known in the city as a leader in women's health and an advocate for patients in underserved neighborhoods. She was 51 and the mother of two young daughters.
In early October 2020 she was admitted to the Saint Raphael campus of Yale New Haven Hospital with a perforated bowel. Surgeons operated and removed a section of infected intestine. What happened over the next several days was the subject of her family's lawsuit. Her condition deteriorated in the surgical intensive care unit. According to the estate, there were clear indications of a worsening infection, organ dysfunction and other life-threatening complications, and the doctors caring for her neither obtained the appropriate specialist consultations nor took her back to surgery. By the time additional measures were finally taken, she was too critically ill to recover. Dr. Satchell died on October 7, 2020, five days after the operation.
Her daughter, Erica E. Jones, as administratrix of the estate, sued Yale New Haven Hospital and Yale University in January 2023 in Connecticut Superior Court in New Haven. Kathleen Nastri of Koskoff Koskoff & Bieder was lead trial counsel, joined by Renée Mihail of the same firm and Elizabeth Bailey and Tudor Farcas of Grant & Eisenhofer. Yale's position, before and after trial, was that the care it provided was appropriate and consistent with the clinical circumstances.
The case was tried to a jury over several weeks in the spring of 2026. On Wednesday, June 10, 2026, the jury returned a verdict for the estate of $7,730,000 against both defendants, finding that Dr. Satchell's death was the result of the hospital's failures in her post-operative care. Nastri said Dr. Satchell had built a life centered on caring for her patients, mentoring young physicians and giving back to the community she loved, that she should have had many more years to continue that work, and that instead she had lost her life to a series of preventable failures. Mihail said the family had spent almost six years seeking accountability, and that the jury had agreed that but for the treatment she received at Yale, Dr. Satchell would still be with her daughters. Nastri added that whatever happens in a courtroom, two young daughters had still lost their mother.
A Yale New Haven Health spokesperson extended the system's deepest sympathies to the family, said it was disappointed with the verdict and continued to believe the care was appropriate, and said it respected the legal process and would be evaluating all available appellate options. A scholarship fund in Dr. Satchell's name now supports students from underserved communities, and the VA's women veterans program in West Haven was renamed in her memory.
Sources
This account is drawn from contemporaneous public reporting and the court record.
- 1.Connecticut Post / CT Insider, June 10, 2026: verdict of just over $7.7 million; October 2020 admission to the Saint Raphael campus with a perforated bowel and surgery; allegations of missed consultations and interventions; death on Oct. 7, 2020; estate administered by daughter Erica E. Jones; suit filed January 2023; Nastri and Renée Mihail of Koskoff Koskoff & Bieder with Elizabeth Bailey and Tudor Farcas of Grant & Eisenhofer; Yale's statement; Dr. Satchell's biography
- 2.New Haven Patch, June 10, 2026: exact verdict of $7,730,000 returned Wednesday against Yale New Haven Hospital and Yale University; Nastri as lead counsel; Mihail quote; Yale New Haven Health spokesperson statement about evaluating appellate options
- 3.Law360, June 10, 2026: $7.73 million state-court jury verdict against Yale New Haven Hospital and Yale University for the death of a physician and onetime Yale School of Medicine assistant professor who developed an infection after bowel surgery and died five days later
- 4.Trellis docket entry: Jones, Erica E., Administratrix of the Estate v. Yale New Haven Hospital et al., New Haven Superior Court, docket NNH-CV23-6129482, scheduling order April 2023
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