Articles Posted in Wrongful Death

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The family of a woman who died during childbirth has settled an Illinois wrongful death case for $14 million. The medical malpractice case resulted not only in the mother’s death, but also involved a child born with brain damage at Chicago’s Advocate Trinity Hospital. The settlement was reached in Sidonia Lawson, etc. v. Advocate Health Hospitals Corp., Cannon Vernon, MD, Jamiere Y. Smith, MD, et al., No. 09 L 12090.

In 2007, the 32 year-old decedent, Sabrina Lawson, went to Advocate Trinity Hospital with labor contractions. While there, the staff induced her with medications to try and speed along her delivery. However, while receiving the labor medications, Lawson’s baby began to show signs of fetal distress.

In such instances, the medical standard of care requires an emergency cesarean section; however, there was a delay of almost seven hours. By the time the baby was born, he had suffered from brain damage as a result of lack of oxygen and blood flow to his brain.

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An Illinois jury found in favor of the defendant doctor in the Illinois medical malpractice lawsuit of The Estate of Eileen Olson, deceased v. Dr. Joseph F. Pensabene, Rockford Cardiology Associates, Ltd., 06 L-73. The medical malpractice case revolved around allegations against the defendant cardiologist of committing surgical errors and negligence which led to the wrongful death of the 68 year-old woman.

In 2004, Ms. Olson was admitted to St. Anthony Hospital under the care of her cardiologist, Dr. Pensabene, for the removal of a blood clot that was blocking the circulation in her left arm. The decedent had pre-existing conditions of asthma, diabetes, and hypertension. Dr. Pensabene performed an angiogram, which is a type of x-ray that uses both dye and fluroscopy to record a patient’s blood flow through their arteries and veins.

When performing Ms. Olson’s angiogram, Dr. Pensabene used a SmartNeedle catheter with an ultrasonic tip. There was no problem with the catheter entering the decedent’s body via her femoral artery and passing through her groin. It was when the catheter entered the areas of the left brachial and radial arteries that Dr. Pensabene identified the large blood clot.

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A Chicago nursing home malpractice case recently received an Illinois jury verdict of a little over $2 million in Estate of William Sloan, deceased v. South Shore Nursing & Rehabilitation Center LLC, et al. 09 L 14819. Sloan was brought under the Illinois Nursing Home Care Act and the Illinois Wrongful Death Act, with issues of nursing home negligence lying at the heart of the case.

The allegations of Illinois nursing home malpractice in Sloan centered not on below standard medical care of the nursing home resident, but rather on issues of improper supervision of the nursing home resident. Sloan’s ultimate death was the result of severe burns sustained after Sloan attempted to light a cigarette, but instead set himself on fire. His estate claimed that the fact that he even had the cigarette was a direct result of the nursing home staff’s failure to adequately supervise Sloan.

Eighty-four year old William Sloan was a nursing home resident of Chicago’s South Shore Nursing Home. One evening in 2004, when the nursing home assistants were assisting other residents to bed, Sloan was left alone in his bedroom. Unbeknownst to the nursing home staff, Sloan had obtained a cigarette and matches from an unknown source. As he attempted to light his cigarette, Sloan dropped a lit match on his lap and set fire to himself.

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A jury has awarded $1.5 million to the family of an infant who died at Central DuPage Hospital in April 2005. The Illinois medical malpractice verdict was reached after a trial in DuPage County, Illinois regarding the death of Isaac Diaz, who was five days old when he was taken to the emergency department at Central DuPage Hospital in Diaz, etc. v. Central DuPage Hospital, et al., No. 06 L 448.

The child had seen his pediatrician earlier that afternoon, but started vomiting later in the day. There was also blood found in his diaper. The Illinois wrongful death lawsuit brought by the parents alleged that the Central DuPage Hospital staff chose not to diagnose the infant’s twisted bowel. It was alleged and argued at the medical malpractice trial that the hospital and its staff took too long to act on the child’s signs and symptoms of a twisted bowel.

Waiting more than four hours to act, the family submitted evidence that the hospital and its staff began applying intravenous fluids, antibiotics and was then transferred to a unit with a pediatric surgeon, but it was too late. The hospital nurse also then called Children’s Memorial Hospital in Chicago where the boy was transferred. Isaac died the next day.

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A Cook County jury found in favor of the estate of a 52 year-old Illinois woman who died of sepsis and multi-organ failure during her admission to Good Shepherd Hospital in Barrington, Illinois. The estate claimed that Illinois medical negligence occurred when the hospital failed to recognize and respond to the decedent’s early signs and symptoms of sepsis, which led to her ultimate demise. The jury awarded $500,000 against the hospital in Estate of Hackl v. Advocate Health & Hospitals Corp., et al., 08 L 7880, an Illinois medical malpractice case that highlights the disastrous effects that can occur when there is a communication breakdown in a hospital setting.

The decedent presented to the emergency room at Good Shepherd Hospital, a hospital in Chicago’s northwest suburbs that is affiliated with Advocate Health Care. At the time she was complaining of vomiting and generalized weakness. An emergency room physician noted that she had low levels of potassium and administered potassium and general fluids. In addition, her fingers and toes were blue during the initial examination. While the decedent did improve after receiving the fluids, she was still not ready to be discharged.

A complete blood count (CBC) was also ordered while the patient was in the ER, which revealed elevated band levels and low platelet counts. These abnormal lab results can indicate an infection; however, these results were not noted in the admitting physician’s hospital notes. The attending physician, Dr. Small, had treated the plaintiff for many years and was familiar with her medical history, including the placement of a cardiac pacemaker, cardiomyopathy, renal failure, eczema, and a lumbar fusion that required her to take narcotic medications for pain.

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A recent Illinois emergency room malpractice lawsuit involving the death of a two year-old Chicago boy was recently before a Chicago jury, which awarded the surviving family members $3.66 million. The defendants involved doctors and staff at Trinity Hospital, a Chicago hospital affiliated with Advocate Health Care. The Illinois medical malpractice case was Pettway v. Advocate Trinity Hospital.

Although two year-old Justin Pettway had no history of seizures, one night his parents found him suffering from a grand mal seizure in his bed. His EMT mother and paramedic father rushed Justin to Chicago’s Advocate Trinity Hospital because it was the closest hospital.

The seizures that Justin was having lasted a total of 22 minutes, only stopping after the emergency room physicians ordered seizure-stopping medications. A medical decision was reached to transfer Justin to the University of Chicago Medical Center for further treatment. But before he could be transferred, a CT scan was ordered to rule out a brain bleed. It was during the transport from the emergency room errors occurred.

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A Kankakee County, Illinois jury returned a $1.5 million medical malpractice jury verdict in favor of the family of a 20 year old woman who died of multi-organ failure connected to undiagnosed chicken pox. Michelle Koenig, who had a history of being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, had been put on intravenous steroids and then prednisone, which generally suppressed her immune system. Estate of Koenig v. St. Mary’s Hospital, et al.,No. 07 L 18, focused on the emergency room’s negligence.

Koenig had chicken pox as a child, but the virus reactivated due to her suppressed immune system. She showed the chicken pox with a rash that her parents and friends commented, looked like chicken pox.

Koenig came to the emergency department at Provena St. Mary’s Hospital in Kankakee on February 19, 2006. The emergency room doctor, Timothy Moran did not diagnose the chicken pox even though it showed on her body and her liver enzymes were at levels above normal. She died within 30 hours of that visit.

At the trial, attorneys for Koenig argued that the emergency room negligence was a result of Dr. Moran’s choice not to rule out chicken pox as a potential ailment. Furthermore, Dr. Moran did not recognize that the elevated liver enzymes were an indication that the virus had invaded her liver.

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A 93 year-old nursing home resident, suffering from Alzheimer’s disease and who was wheelchair bound, was sitting near the front door of the nursing home when a visitor wheeled him to the outside of the home and left him there unattended. No one noticed. Later, the 93 year-old gentleman rolled down a hill in his wheelchair and fell into a ditch near the side of the road. He wasn’t discovered until hours later. The Illinois nursing home negligence case resulting from this occurrence is Binning v. East Bank Center, Ill. Winnebago Co. Cir. No. 09 L 216 (June 2010)
Russell Binning, suffered fatal injuries as a result of his fall as a result of the nursing home’s negligence. He was survived by his wife and two adult sons.

The Binning family brought an Illinois nursing home malpractice lawsuit against the nursing home under the Illinois Nursing Home Care Act where it was alleged that the nursing home facility had chosen not to

(1) properly monitor and supervise the nursing home resident; (2) had chosen not to properly control activity near the nursing home’s front entrance; and (3) chose not to warn others not to assist residents without permission.

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A Chicago area nursing home has settled an Illinois nursing home negligence case brought by the family of an 87 year old Illinois woman who developed bone infection after her skin broke down. She died six months later. Alberta Jones had been a resident at the Mercy Health Care Rehabilitation Center in Homewood, Illinois. Moffett v. Mercy Health Care Rehabilitation Center, 06 L 11430 Circuit Court of Cook County, 2010)
Ms. Jones was in the nursing home because she had a stroke. She was a known fall risk which required her to be assisted for her daily living. That would mean a Mercy Health Care employee would help Ms. Jones to the bathroom, to her wheel chair, to her meals and to her physical therapy sessions.

During her stay at Mercy, Ms. Jones fractured her femur when she fell unattended. During the bone’s healing process, she was fitted with a brace. Because of the tight fit, her skin began to break down when the device rubbed against her leg. Over a period of time, Ms. Jones developed osteomyelitis, or a bone infection. Her health declined and then she died, leaving an adult daughter surviving her.

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A Cook County jury recently awarded $2.75 million in an Illinois wrongful death case involving the death of an Illinois male from an undiagnosed pulmonary embolism. Instead of diagnosing the man’s pulmonary embolism, the Illinois emergency room staff misdiagnosed the decedent with a seizure disorder. Rhodes v. Malik, et al., No. 06 L 5467.

While misdiagnosing a patient can often be the result of medical negligence, misdiagnosed cases do not always lead to medical malpractice lawsuits. Whether or not a lawsuit is brought hinges on the degree of damages, or the final outcome. In Rhodes, the decedent’s estate alleged that the misdiagnosed patient died as a result of the incorrect diagnosis. However, if a delay in diagnosis had only led to some discomfort or minor inconvenience on the part of the decedent then there would not likely have been grounds for a medical malpractice claim.

In Rhodes, the decedent’s estate was critical of the emergency department’s errors at Weiss Memorial Hospital, specifically its misdiagnosis of a seizure disorder. The decedent had presented to Weiss’s emergency room after collapsing on a train platform. The initial doctor suspected that his collapse was due to seizures and ordered a wide range of tests to confirm this diagnosis. However, before the results came back, the initial doctor’s shift was up, at which time the decedent’s care was transferred to an additional emergency medicine physician.

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