Michael Jacobs, 32, suffered a compression fracture in his back at L1. For that condition he was seen by neurosurgeon Dr. Mudit Sharma, who prescribed pain medicine and a back brace. Jacobs’s condition then improved and he returned to full-time work. At a follow-up appointment, Dr. Sharma told Jacobs that…
Ms. Doe, 33, was injured in a car accident. She underwent leg surgery after the car crash. Her uninjured left leg was kept in the hemilithotomy position for more than six hours. While the injured leg was being repaired, which is held straight in traction, the uninjured leg is positioned…
Ms. Doe, 17, experienced back and abdominal pain in her 34th week of the pregnancy. She was admitted to a local hospital where her condition deteriorated over the next several days. Ms. Doe was then diagnosed as having sepsis and placed on a ventilator. After giving birth to her daughter,…
Robert Cruz filed a lawsuit alleging medical negligence against Dr. Robert R. Schenk and Hand Surgery Ltd., his medical practice, claiming that Dr. Schenk had chosen not to follow the standard of care. In his lawsuit, Cruz said Dr. Schenk used excessive injections and failed to adequately explore or treat…
On March 10, 2007, Ramona Sue Yates was a patient in the emergency room at Memorial Hospital in Carbondale, Ill. She complained of severe back and abdominal pain. The defendant, emergency room physician, Dr. Daniel Doolittle, who was employed by the defendant Legatus Emergency Services, chose not to correctly diagnose…
A Cook County jury was deadlocked after four days of deliberation in a case in which the plaintiff claimed she underwent an unnecessary coronary bypass surgery. Maryann Giannetti was 52 years old when she underwent a stress test at St. Joseph Hospital in Chicago. She claimed she was suffering “vague”…
Charles Blevins, 63, underwent outpatient arthroscopic knee surgery. Four days after the surgery, Blevins went to a hospital emergency room complaining of fever and a hot and swollen knee. He was diagnosed as having pseudomonas infection and required hospitalization for one month; during that time he received IV antibiotics. The…
Cynthia and Kenneth Williams’s first child was born with sickle cell anemia. After the birth of their first child, the Williamses found out that they both had the sickle cell trait in which a normal gene is paired with the allele that causes sickle-shaped hemoglobin. Individuals who carry this sickle…
Guadalupe Ramirez had a history of congestive heart failure. She was also an insulin-dependent diabetic, had mitral valve regurgitation, atrial fibrillation, rheumatic heart disease, high blood pressure and a prosthetic heart valve. Ramirez, 72, underwent a cardiac catheterization procedure on Nov. 21, 2003. Eight days after the procedure, Ramirez presented…
Orthopedic surgeon Kris Alden, M.D., performed the right knee replacement surgery on the plaintiff, Lawrence Lapiana, on May 26, 2011. Lapiana had a history of severe osteoarthritis in both knees. The surgery was completed at Elmhurst Memorial Hospital. During the knee replacement, the artery behind the knee was cut with…