Illinois Appellate Court Reverses Medical Malpractice Case of Nursing Liability

On Sept. 22, 2016, Stephanie Delknap was seen by Dr. David Crawford for treatment of gastroesophageal reflux with hiatal hernia. Dr. Crawford “attempted” a partial fundoplication procedure. In the following 24 hours, Delknap experienced gagging and retching, could not tolerate food, and had “very poor input and output.” She was nonetheless discharged the following day. Within a few days, she suffered an acute recurrence of her hiatal herniation, became septic and then unfortunately died.

Jeremy Delknap and Shane Delknap, the plaintiffs, as independent co-administrators of the estate of Stephanie Delknap, filed suit against Dr. Crawford, the Peoria Surgical Group Ltd., Cynthia Martin (Delknap’s nurse), and the Methodist Medical Center of Illinois.

The plaintiffs alleged that Martin cared for Delknap and observed that she was in constant pain with intermittent crying, anxiety and signs of tachycardia and hypoxia but chose not to fully report these conditions to the doctors.

Martin and Methodist Medical Center moved for summary judgment, arguing that any alleged causal chain involving Martin’s negligence was severed when Delknap was directly evaluated by Dr. Crawford and other doctors prior to her discharge. The trial court granted Martin and Methodist’s motion for summary judgment. The plaintiffs appealed.

On appeal, plaintiffs asserted that material questions of fact remain about whether Dr. Crawford was aware of the trend of Delknap’s condition when he decided she could be discharged. In this case, none of the physicians who examined Delknap and had determined she could be discharged were aware that she had repeatedly stated her pain level as 10/10, even when under three doses of morphine. In addition, they were unaware that she ingested only 25 percent of her breakfast and no lunch that day.

In the law cited by Martin and Methodist, a nurse was found not liable for the discharge of a patient leading to death because the treating physicians had been clearly made aware of pain and conditions of the patient. That may be true in that case, but the appellate court found that in this case, the plaintiff argued the physicians were not aware, and that Martin was medically negligent in choosing not to inform the doctors. The appellate court agreed.

Martin and Methodist then argued that the appellate court should affirm the trial court’s granted summary judgment on other grounds, namely that the evidence raised by the plaintiffs is insufficient to sustain the claims that Martin’s behavior was the approximate cause of Delknap’s injury and death.

The appellate court disagreed, emphasizing first that there was no evidence that Dr. Crawford would have discharged Delknap had he known of her pain level, refusal to eat and dry heaving. As such, the appellate court found the trial court erred in granting summary judgment and reversed the decision and sent the case back for further proceedings.

Jeremy Delknap, et al. v. Methodist Medical Center of Illinois, et al., 2024 IL App (4th) 230679 (May 30, 2024).

Kreisman Law Offices has been handling medical negligence lawsuits, nursing negligence cases, birth injury lawsuits, obstetrician negligence cases, anesthesiology negligence lawsuits and wrongful death cases for individuals, families and loved ones who have been harmed, injured or died as a result of the carelessness or negligence of a medical provider for more than 48 years in and around Chicago, Cook County and its surrounding areas, including Prospect Heights, Kenilworth, Huntley, Highland Park, Highwood, Halfday, Indian Creek, Long Grove, Inverness, Palos Heights, Northlake, Broadview, Forest Park, Park Forest, Oak Park, River Forest, Stickney, Chicago (Humboldt Park, McKinley Park, Irving Park, Avondale, East Rogers Park, New East Side, Streeterville, South Loop, Austin, Belmont Cragin, Jefferson Park, Andersonville, Ravenswood), Franklin Park, Addison, Arlington Heights and Riverwoods, Ill.

Robert D. Kreisman has been an active member of the Illinois and Missouri bars since 1976.