Hysterectomy Error Leads to $700,000 Jury Verdict

Nerisa Williams was 43 years old when she underwent a hysterectomy that was completed by her gynecologist, Dr. Kenneth Baker. During the surgery, Dr. Baker unknowingly transected or cut Williams’s ureter. The ureter is made up of two tubes of smooth muscle fibers that propel urine from the kidneys to the urinary bladder in an adult. The ureters are paired and described as muscular ducts with narrow openings that carry urine from the kidneys to the bladder.

Because of the transection of the ureter, Williams developed permanent urinary incontinence.

She sued Dr. Baker, alleging that his negligent conduct in the surgery led to the need for a second surgery, which caused even more medical complications.

The defense for Dr. Baker maintained that Williams’s incontinence resulted from her multiple sclerosis, not the second surgery. Williams disputed this assertion, arguing that she had been in remission of her MS at the time of the hysterectomy. The lawsuit did not make a claim for lost income.

The jury signed a verdict in favor of Nerisa Williams in the amount of $700,000. The attorneys successfully representing Williams were David B. Jordan and James W. Boyd.

At trial, counsel for Williams presented experts in neurology, obstetrics, life care planning and economics. The defendant Dr. Baker presented an expert in gynecology.

Williams v. Baker, No. 2014 CP 2900696 (S.C. Ct. of Com. Pleas, Lancaster County).

Kreisman Law Offices has been successfully handling medical malpractice lawsuits, misdiagnosis of breast cancer cases, nursing negligence lawsuits, birth trauma injury cases, traumatic brain injury cases and hospital negligence cases for individuals and families who have been harmed, injured or died as a result of the carelessness or negligence of a medical provider for more than 40 years in and around Chicago, Cook County and its surrounding areas, including Naperville, Hinsdale, Wheaton, St. Charles, Aurora, Romeoville, Bolingbrook, Westchester, Palatine, Palos Heights, Prospect Heights, Park Forest, Schaumburg, Forest Park, Crestwood, Chicago (Rogers Park, West Rogers Park, South Shore, Jackson Park, Washington Heights, Lake Calumet, Hegewisch), Vernon Hills, Buffalo Grove, Glenview, Northfield and Northbrook, Ill.