So unless it's negligence, I don't see a reason for a medical team being denied compensation for their work.

Just like any contract work, if the contractor puts in hours and materials for the job, they get paid. As an IT consultant, I bill by the hour. Even if I show up and work on someone's computer to try to recover a lost file or fix a printer and after three hours I can't succeed, I still bill them for three hours. Why? Because I was on-site working for three hours. Unless we had a contract that stated otherwise, that's how the agreement is assumed to be.

In the end, the hospital has to pay their staff for that time. They have to pay for that equipment. They have to pay for cleaning the OR after the operation's done. They have to pay for replacement gloves, masks, needles, and so on. Even if they don't get any money from the patient or their estate, the hospital has put in the money for that operation.

Now, if you can prove that the doctor was negligent, then you have a case to sue. But unless that's the case, those doctors did the work, they are owed the money. It's obviously up in the air as to whether or not the patient can provide it, given their state, but it is a debt that goes to them.