CAMDEN – A federal jury Oct. 20 found Atlantic City Dr. Zaki Khebzou acted appropriately when, at AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center, he pronounced a Pennsylvania woman dead over the phone following an incident in Sea Isle City, according to the Courier Post.
According to previous Herald reports, a passing fisherman spotted Tracy Hottenstein’s body face up in the shallows off a local municipal boat ramp Feb. 15, 2009, hours after she’d spent a night out at a local tavern with friends.
Hottenstein’s parents sought to prove in court she may have been alive when first responders pronounced her dead without examining her, but jurors said they had not proved negligence by Khebzou.
Jay Blumberg, a Woodbury attorney representing Khebzou and the medical center, called the verdict “extremely gratifying.”
“In short, the responsibility for this tragic death did not lie at the feet of the health care providers,” he told the Courier Post.
