When physicians or nurses in a medical malpractice case blame others for their troubles, juries often believe mistakes were made and that at least one of the defendants should pay the plaintiff. Often all the defendants end up paying. That's what happened after a general surgeon performed a left colon resection to treat diverticulitis in a 47-year-old man who died weeks later from sepsis caused by peritonitis (see "A Chronology: From Colon Resection to Sepsis and Death"). The anesthesiologist and the surgeon contributed equally to the $750,000 settlement.