$425,000 Jury Verdict for the Wrongful Death Caused by Misread CT Scan

Gretchen Altemus, 68, struck her head in a fall. She went to the Indiana Regional Center emergency room where she underwent a CT scan. The radiologist working for Aris Teleradiology interpreted the test as being normal.

She was admitted to the hospital. Just three hours later, she became non-responsive. A second CT scan was done showing intracranial bleeding. Although she was transferred to another hospital, she died the next day of brain damage resulting from the intracranial bleeding. She is survived by her two adult children.

Altemus’s daughter, on behalf of her family and estate, sued Aris Teleradiology and the hospital claiming that they chose not to timely diagnose and treat the intracranial bleeding. Had the radiologist identified the small area of bleeding in the brain, the family alleged that she could have received lifesaving treatment and survived.

Additionally, the family charged that the hospital chose not to send the CT scan images from a test she previously underwent as part of a stroke work-up, which would have provided the radiologist with the needed comparison study.

The jury’s verdict of $425,000 found that Aris was 85% responsible and the hospital was 15% at fault.

The attorneys representing Gretchen Altemus’s family were Paul A. Lagnese and David M. Paul.

At trial, the Altemus family presented experts in economics, radiology and surgery. The defendants presented experts in neuroradiology, radiology and neurosurgery.

Jorgenson v. Indiana Regional Medical Center, No. 11809 CV 2010 (Pa. Ct. Common Pleas, Indiana County).

Kreisman Law Offices has been handling medical malpractice cases, wrongful death cases, misdiagnosed brain injury cases and nursing home abuse 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 Arlington Heights, Orland Park, Melrose Park, Elmwood Park, Elmhurst, Bensenville, Elk Grove Village, Countryside, Country Club Hills, Chicago (Humboldt Park, Horner Park, Greek Town, Gold Coast, Englewood, East Garfield Park, Printer’s Row), St. Charles, Western Springs, Round Lake and Palatine, Ill.