PHILADELPHIA (AP) - A Philadelphia jury awarded $20.5 million Friday to the parents of an 18-year-old woman who died after liposuction surgery.

Daniel and Colleen Fledderman sobbed as the jury returned its verdict against plastic surgeon Richard Glunk and nurse anesthetist Edward DeStefano, The Legal Intelligencer reported.

The verdict came seven years to the day after Amy Fledderman of Newton Square had the elective fat-removal surgery in Glunk's office in King of Prussia. She died two days later.

Montgomery County prosecutors declined to file criminal charges after an investigation into the May 2001 death.

The liposuction was done on the teen's chin, abdomen and flanks.

The family's civil suit charged that a blood vessel in Amy Fledderman's neck was severed during surgery, and that Glunk realized too late that she was in trouble.

Glunk's office was not licensed by the state Department of Health, and his liposuction privileges at Main Line Health Hospitals had been restricted, the plaintiffs said.

The jury found him 75 percent liable for her death, and DeStefano 25 percent liable. The award includes $15 million in punitive damages.

Glunk said in court filings that Fledderman had a difficult time emerging from anesthesia. DeStefano said she died after developing a rare fat embolism.

Neither Glunk's lawyer, Dean Murtagh, nor the lawyer representing DeStefano, I. Steven Levy, returned messages seeking comment.