$7.65 Million Kansas Product Liability Verdict in KU Med Heater-Cooler Death

A Wyandotte County jury delivered a $7.65 million Kansas product liability verdict on April 28, 2026, in favor of the family of Stephen Nolte, a 71-year-old Navy veteran and retired electrician who died from a Mycobacterium chimaera infection contracted during open-heart surgery at The University of Kansas Hospital. The jury allocated 88% of fault to The University of Kansas Hospital Authority, which had settled confidentially with the Nolte family shortly before trial, and 12% to medical device manufacturer LivaNova USA Inc., which contested liability through a 12-day trial. Plaintiff attorney Lynn R. Johnson of Shamberg, Johnson & Bergman tried the wrongful-death and product liability claims against LivaNova, securing a verdict that placed responsibility on both the hospital and the manufacturer of the contaminated heater-cooler device.

Case at a Glance

• Verdict: $7,650,000
• Case Type: Product Liability / Wrongful Death
• Court: Wyandotte County District Court, Kansas
• Verdict Date: April 28, 2026
• Plaintiffs: Christine Nolte and Christopher Nolte (widow and son of Stephen Nolte)
• Defendants: The University of Kansas Hospital Authority (settled confidentially before trial); LivaNova USA Inc.
• Plaintiff Attorney: Lynn R. Johnson, Shamberg, Johnson & Bergman
• Apportionment: 88% to The University of Kansas Hospital Authority; 12% to LivaNova

What Happened to Stephen Nolte?

Stephen Nolte, a Raytown resident, underwent an aortic valve replacement at The University of Kansas Hospital on March 6, 2019. The surgery itself was successful. Within months, however, Nolte developed disseminated Mycobacterium chimaera, a slow-growing bacterial infection traced to the heater-cooler device used to regulate his body temperature during the procedure. He battled the systemic infection for sixteen months before dying on July 8, 2020.

His widow, Christine Nolte, and son, Christopher Nolte, filed suit in 2021 against The University of Kansas Hospital Authority and LivaNova USA Inc. The Nolte case is one of more than two dozen filed in Wyandotte County District Court arising from the same outbreak. Court filings indicate that 25 patients contracted M. chimaera at KU Med after open-heart procedures involving heater-cooler devices, with 11 of those patients dying.

How Did the Plaintiff Build the Case?

At trial, plaintiff counsel argued that two failures combined to kill Stephen Nolte: a hospital that stopped following the device manufacturer's cleaning protocol, and a device design that allowed contaminated vapor to escape into the operating room.

Testimony established that on October 16, 2018, KU Med's chief perfusionist, Jamie Newberry, directed staff to stop disinfecting the heater-cooler units with bleach and to stop adding hydrogen peroxide to the water tanks. Both steps were described in LivaNova's instructions for use. Staff were directed to drain the tanks daily instead. By the time of Nolte's March 2019 surgery, the unit involved had not been disinfected in five months.

Johnson argued to the jury that the patients who contracted M. chimaera "had one and only one thing in common." A LivaNova heater-cooler device was in the operating room for every one of them. He also presented testimony that the machines had been contaminated with the bacteria at LivaNova's manufacturing plant in Germany, and pointed to a design feature in which contaminated water in the unit's upper chamber could be aerosolized by exhaust fans and dispersed into the operating room.

Why Did the Kansas Product Liability Verdict Split 88/12?

After 12 days of trial and three and a half hours of deliberation, the Wyandotte County jury returned its allocation: 88% of fault to The University of Kansas Hospital Authority and 12% to LivaNova. The hospital had already settled with the Noltes confidentially, dismissed by Judge Courtney Mikesic on April 13, 2026, with no admission of liability. LivaNova's share of the $7.65 million in damages amounts to $918,000.

The total damages broke down as follows: $3 million for noneconomic loss on the personal injury claim. On the wrongful-death claim, the jury awarded $650,000 in past economic loss, $550,000 in future economic loss, $2.7 million in past noneconomic loss, and $750,000 in future noneconomic loss.

The 12% manufacturer apportionment is the headline of this Kansas product liability verdict for plaintiff attorneys watching from outside the state. Even when the immediate cause of harm was a downstream user deliberately deviating from documented safety procedures, the jury still found the manufacturer accountable for design and quality-control choices that made deviation more dangerous.

The Broader M. chimaera Litigation

The Nolte verdict is one of a small number of trial outcomes to emerge from a Wyandotte County litigation cluster involving more than two dozen patients and families. Roughly 17 of the cases against The University of Kansas Hospital Authority have resolved through confidential settlements. Several remain set for trial.

The LivaNova/Sorin 3T heater-cooler device at the center of this litigation has been the subject of broader product liability litigation nationwide, including a $225 million resolution announced in 2019 covering many but not all heater-cooler claims. The Wyandotte County cases were not part of that earlier resolution and continue to move through Kansas state court.

What This Kansas Product Liability Verdict Means for Plaintiff Attorneys

For Kansas plaintiff lawyers, the Nolte verdict reinforces several practice points. Hospital infection cases involving documented protocol deviation present unusually clean liability narratives, particularly when manufacturer instructions have been disregarded by named hospital staff. Pairing a medical malpractice claim against the hospital with a product liability claim against the device manufacturer preserves recovery against the manufacturer even after a confidential hospital settlement. The 12% apportionment still produced a near-million-dollar judgment.

The verdict also serves as a reference point for Kansas verdicts in hospital-acquired infection cases and adds another data point to the broader heater-cooler litigation now in its second decade.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Q: How much was the Nolte verdict against KU Med and LivaNova?

A Wyandotte County, Kansas, jury awarded $7.65 million in damages on April 28, 2026, in the Nolte family's lawsuit over a fatal Mycobacterium chimaera infection. The jury attributed 88% of fault to The University of Kansas Hospital Authority, which had settled with the family confidentially before trial, and 12% to LivaNova USA Inc., the manufacturer of the heater-cooler device used during Nolte's open-heart surgery. LivaNova's share of the damages amounts to $918,000.

Q: What is M. chimaera and how is it linked to heater-cooler devices?

Mycobacterium chimaera is a slow-growing nontuberculous mycobacterium that has been linked to a global outbreak of infections in open-heart surgery patients. Investigations identified contaminated heater-cooler devices, used to regulate patient body temperature during cardiopulmonary bypass, as the vehicle. The devices contain water tanks that can harbor the bacteria, and exhaust fans can aerosolize contaminated vapor into the sterile field of the operating room.

Q: What was LivaNova's defense at trial?

LivaNova denied liability and argued that the sole cause of the KU Med infection cluster was the hospital's October 2018 decision to stop disinfecting the heater-cooler devices according to the manufacturer's instructions. Defense counsel David Gross argued that when the cleaning instructions were followed, no infections occurred, and described the perfusionist's decision to halt disinfection as "a bacterial experiment." The jury still allocated 12% of fault to LivaNova.