$15 Million Settlement in Failure to Send Child to Emergency Department for Treatment

Doe, age 3, was diagnosed as having a viral infection and experienced 4 to 5 days of fever and increased fussiness. Doe’s mother took the child to Lawndale Christian Health Center, a federally funded clinic; this required the plaintiff to file under the appropriate federal statute, the Federal Tort Claims Act. At the clinic, a physician assistant noted slight swelling in Doe’s upper right eyelid and his inability to open the eye fully. Doe also had a slightly abnormal pulse rate and blood pressure.

The physician assistant diagnosed periorbital cellulitis and a history of fever consistent with a viral infection. The physician assistant prescribed an antibiotic and told Doe’s mother to go to a hospital emergency room if Doe’s eye became swollen shut or did not improve in 1 to 2 days.

Two days later, Doe’s mother found her child unresponsive. Doe was rushed to a hospital where he was diagnosed as having septic shock, subdural abscess, and sinusitis, among other problems necessitating emergency neurosurgery. Doe, who suffered a stroke, had suffered a brain injury that resulted in cognitive delays.

Doe, through his parents, sued the United States alleging it chose not to provide reasonable and appropriate medical care. The lawsuit claimed that the clinic’s failure to timely diagnose and treat a subdural infection and abscess resulted in a stroke and that the physician assistant should have consulted with a pediatrician. In that respect, it was alleged that Doe should have been sent to the emergency room for a CT scan.

Before trial, the parties settled for $15 million.

The attorneys successfully handling this lawsuit for Doe and his family were Matthew L. Williams and Heidi L. Wickstrom, both of Chicago, Ill.

Doe v. United States, No. 1:20-CV-02872 (N.D. Ill. May 10, 2014).

Kreisman Law Offices has been handling birth injury lawsuits, birth trauma lawsuits, brain injury cases, obstetrician negligence lawsuits, and nursing negligence cases for individuals, families and loved ones who have been harmed, injured or died as a result of the carelessness or negligence of a medical provider for more than 48 years in and around Chicago, Cook County and its surrounding areas, including Wauconda, Lake Forest, Itasca, Elgin, Waukegan, Elmhurst, Elmwood Park, Downers Grove, Naperville, Aurora, Grayslake, Highland Park, Chicago (Cragin, Avondale, Albany Park, Oriole Park, Ashburn, Englewood, Hyde Park, Burnside, Pullman, East Side, South Chicago, Bronzeville, Little Village, Lakeview, Logan Square), Melrose Park, Lombard, and Roselle, Ill.

Robert D. Kreisman has been an active member of the Illinois and Missouri bars since 1976.