Articles Posted in Wrongful Death

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Danute Paulaviciene, 57, came to the office of the defendant internist, Dr. Edmund Vizinas, on Dec. 27, 2008 complaining of fever, shortness of breath and poor sleep. She had recently visited the caves in Missouri. On examination, she was noted to have a fever of 100.5 degrees, pulse of 110, respirations of 16 and 94 percent oxygen saturation level.

Dr. Vizinas ordered a chest x-ray, complete blood count and metabolic profile. The patient returned to Dr. Vizinas two days later and told him she was feeling better and had no shortness of breath on exertion. Her temperature was normal. Dr. Vizinas told her that her chest x-ray revealed extensive bilateral infiltrates, her complete blood count was essentially normal with a normal white count and a slight rise in neutrophils and her metabolic profile showed slightly decreased albumin, elevated sedimentation rate, slightly decreased total cholesterol and slightly elevated liver function.

Dr. Vizinas started her on Avelox, an antibiotic given for community acquired pneumonia. On Dec. 31, Paulaviciene’s daughter-in-law checked on her at 4 a.m. and found that she had a fever, but by 6 a.m., it had come down. At 8 a.m. she was coughing but not gasping or having difficulty breathing. However, by 9 a.m., she was extremely short of breath, gasping and unable to speak. She was rushed to Edward Hospital in Naperville, Ill., with severe shortness of breath and 82 percent oxygen saturation levels while on oxygen. She was sent to the ICU at the hospital and placed on a ventilator. Her condition never improved, and she died 11 days later survived by her adult son and a daughter who lives in Lithuania.

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On May 27, 2005, Dennis Swallow  came to the office of the defendant internist, Dr. Bryan Moline, for preoperative clearance for an upcoming orthopedic hip surgery. Swallow was 51 years old at the time and had a history of a neurological event in 1996. He was taking 325 mg of aspirin daily as a stroke preventative measure since that time. Swallow also had a history of severe migraine headaches for which he was receiving treatment from the Diamond Headache Clinic. 

Dr. Moline told Swallow to stop taking aspirin before the planned surgery and cleared him for the surgery, which was done by Dr. Mitchell Sheinkop at Rush Oak Park Hospital on June 15, 2005.

After the hip surgery, Swallow suffered a severe embolic stroke the following day, June 16, 2005, which caused severe disability with inability to talk or care for himself.  He died on Sept. 11, 2009.

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A Cook County jury returned a verdict of $314,000 related to the death of John Alexander. Mr. Alexander was diagnosed with bladder cancer in 2002. A CT scan in 2006 showed evidence of a recurrence of the bladder cancer. The CT was ordered by the defendant internist, Philip Kiley, M.D.

Dr. Kiley had requested that his staff forward the CT report by fax to the patient’s treating urologist. In addition, Dr. Kiley claimed that he advised Mr. Alexander to return to the neurologist for further treatment. However, the fax was never sent, and the Alexander family claimed there was never any instruction to follow up with the urologist in 2006. 

Dr. Jerrold Seckler, the urologist, did not learn of the cancer recurrence until a year later. Even with the recurrence of the cancer, Dr. Seckler chose not inform Mr. Alexander and did not initiate any treatment.

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Anthony Imparato Sr. arrived at the University of Chicago’s emergency room on March 27, 2005.  It was the one-year anniversary of his wife’s death. He complained of insomnia for five days, depression and financial ruin because of his gambling debt.

Mr. Imparato was 51 and a Chicago firefighter. He was seen in the emergency department by the defendant physician, Dr. Becker, and a psychiatry resident, Dr. Dakwar. Another emergency medicine resident, Derek Timmermann, also saw Mr. Imparato.

The attending psychiatrist, Dr. Phan, consulted with Dr. Dakwar over the telephone. The doctors quoted Mr. Imparato as stating that death had crossed his mind, that he had hit rock bottom and that he had thoughts of suicide. However, the chart showed many times that Mr. Imparato denied suicidal ideations, an intent or plan.

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On Feb. 13, 2008, Richard Potrawski was taken by ambulance to Little Company of Mary Hospital in Evergreen Park, Ill., after suffering a head injury during a slip and fall on ice.  Mr. Potrawski was brought to the emergency room at 12:30 pm.  He had a large contusion above his right eye and a medical history of congestive heart failure as well as atrial fibrillation for which he was taking Coumadin, a blood thinner.

Mr. Potrawski had the potential for a brain bleed, but the defendant ER physician, Dr. Melissa Uribes ordered a CT scan which was done at 2:30 pm.  A scan revealed a 1-cm left-sided subdural hematoma.

Little Company of Mary Hospital did not have a neurosurgeon on staff, so Dr. Uribes took steps to find a hospital with neurosurgical services that would admit Mr. Potrawski. 

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Virginia Gettys was admitted to St. Joseph’s Hospital in Highland, Ill., with abdominal pain, abdominal distension and a report of bloody stools. This followed a recent colonoscopy. Gettys was admitted to the hospital on Jan. 14, 2004. 

The defendant, Dr. Jose Diaz, a general surgeon, performed an exploratory laparotomy to see the cause of Gettys’ symptoms. Dr. Diaz found nothing wrong. 

Gettys, 43, was transferred to another hospital where she died just four days later. She was survived by her husband and children.

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A confidential settlement was reached with a hospital emergency room and doctors after a 58-year-old man underwent emergency surgery. The man went to the hospital emergency room after dislocating his hip prosthesis. During the emergency surgery, the attending anesthesiologist attempted unsuccessfully to place an endotracheal tube. 

The man, Doe, required an emergency tracheotomy.

Doe suffered oxygen loss resulting in a hypoxia brain injury because of the lack of oxygen. After being removed from life support, Doe was transferred to hospice where he later died. Doe was survived by his wife and two adult children.

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In November 2006, the defendant surgeon, Dr. Hodgett, performed a laparoscopic biopsy on a 72-year-old woman, Mary Backes.  The purpose was to diagnose a suspected lymphoma in her retroperitoneal area, which is behind the abdomen. The biopsy was done at Provena Nursing Medical Center in Aurora, Ill. 

Another defendant, Dr. Sayeed, was the patient’s primary care physician. Following the biopsy, Backes experienced blood pressure drops, low urine output and rapid respiration. 

Her family maintained in the lawsuit that Dr. Hodges and Dr. Sayeed chose not to recognize that Backes’s duodenum had been perforated during the biopsy procedure and failed to realize that her post-op symptoms were indicative of developing sepsis. It was also claimed that the doctors chose not to timely return Backes to surgery for exploration and repair of the perforation to attempt to save her life.

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Neal Nuss, age 73, was transported to St. James Hospital in Blue Island, Ill., on Sept. 5, 2006 following an auto accident. Nuss was admitted to the hospital and diagnosed with subdural hematoma; he was evaluated by a neurosurgeon. 

Over the next three days, doctors determined that the subdural hematoma was not big enough to operate on. Nuss was discharged from the hospital on Sept. 8, 2006. The doctors planned to monitor his condition as an outpatient. The monitoring was overseen by the defendant Dr. Cheryl Woodson, the patient’s primary care physician.Dr. Woodson instructed Nuss to return as an outpatient to undergo a CT scan at St. James Hospital for comparison. Nuss followed up as directed and saw Dr. Woodson on September 12 and underwent the CT scan on September 13. The scans were interpreted by radiologist, Dr. Green.

The doctors concluded that Nuss’s condition was stable and his next follow-up visit was planned with the neurosurgeon five days ahead.

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The Illinois Appellate Court reversed a trial judge’s ruling in a medical malpractice case because the judge ruled that the defendants had no right of reduction on the jury’s verdict.  

In this case, Charles Perkey, as administrator of the estate of Leanne Perkey (his wife), sued the doctors and hospital because of a delay in diagnosing Leanne’s pancreatic cancer in a timely manner. 

After a jury trial, the verdict, which included $310,000 for Leanne’s medical expenses, was not reduced when the trial judge refused the defendants’ motion to reduce the judgment under Section 2-1205 of the Illinois Code of Civil Procedure. 

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