Justia Lawyer Rating for Robert D. Kreisman

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Michael Sebestl, 37, experienced the sudden onset of severe chest pain. This occurred at home around 6 a.m. on June 1, 2008. He told his wife he thought he was having a heart attack, so she called 911 and he was taken by ambulance to Riverside Medical Center in Kankakee, Ill. On the way to the hospital, he told the paramedics that he had a history of GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease) and that his current symptoms were similar to those but worse than he had ever experienced.

At Riverside Hospital, Sebestl continued to complain of chest pain and a burning sensation on the back of his throat, which was worse when lying on his back. He was examined by the defendant emergency room physician Dr. Manczko, who was near the end of his 12-hour shift. Dr. Manczko interpreted the EKG as normal, ordered a chest x-ray and made a provisional diagnosis of GERD.

Then the care was turned over to another defendant ER physician, Dr. Donna Bell. After the x-ray came back negative, Dr. Bell decided to conduct a more thorough evaluation and ordered further testing, which included a second EKG and blood work for serial cardiac enzymes, Lipase and D-Dimer levels. After all the tests came back normal and the patient’s pain was reduced with narcotic pain medications to a level of 3 out of 10, Dr. Bell diagnosed GERD and discharged Sebestl from the hospital around noon that day.
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In this medical negligence case, the Illinois Appellate Court took an interlocutory appeal on an issue of first impression regarding the application of the Petrillo doctrine on a unique set of facts. The plaintiff, Jacqueline McChristian, who was injured by a podiatrist, Dale Brink, DPM, claimed that the trial court violated the Petrillo doctrine when it permitted ex parte communications between McChristian’s treating podiatrist and the defense counsel of Performance Foot and Ankle Center LLC, which was a defendant in the case in which the treating podiatrist is a member.

The court was asked to answer a question of first impression that was whether defense counsel, who represents the defendant Dr. Dale Brink and the defendant Performance Foot and Ankle LLC, is prohibited from conducting ex parte communications with McChristian’s treating podiatrist, Dr. Timothy Krygsheld, who is also a member, and in the control group of the defendant.

The plaintiff argued that under the Petrillo doctrine, ex parte communications are barred between plaintiff’s treating podiatrist and defense counsel, in order to preserve the patient’s trust and confidence in her podiatrist, as well as to honor the podiatrist’s duty as a fiduciary to refrain from helping the patient’s legal adversary.
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When Chelsea Weekley was about five months old, she suffered a skull fracture. The fracture expanded over time and a cyst was formed on her skull. At age 17, Chelsea was hit on the head and suffered a loss of consciousness, blurred vision and dizziness.

After CT and MRI scans confirmed the extent of the skull fracture and cyst, Chelsea underwent a canaloplasty surgery to repair the fracture and the area where the cyst had formed. The surgery was done at Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital in St. Louis by the defendant Dr. Ann Flannery, a neurosurgeon, and by Dr. Raghuram Sampath, a neurosurgical resident.

Chelsea was discharged a day after the surgery and was found dead in her bed just three days later. An autopsy was completed, which found that Chelsea had died from a seizure brought about by the surgical damage.
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In a recent Journal of the American Medical Association Surgery (JAMA Surgery) article, the safety concerns of the use of the transvaginal mesh in pelvic organ prolapse (POP) repair has been noted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).The recent article by two physicians was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association Surgery edition published online on Nov. 30, 2016.

The article highlights studies that reveal the incidences and timing of complications related to the use of the transvaginal mesh organ prolapse repair, the amount of vaginal mesh used with mesh erosions and repeated surgery after pelvic organ prolapse repair and urinary incontinence surgery. The study is discussed expertly in the JAMA article by the authors, physicians Bhumy A. Davé, M.D., a female pelvic medicine & reconstructive surgeon associated with Northwestern Medicine, and Anne-Marie Boller, M.A., M.D., FACRS, a colon and rectal surgeon also with the Northwestern Medical Group in Chicago.

The article points out that the recent transvaginal mesh study focused on the clinically important mesh complications (those that require an intervention as opposed to asymptomatic erosions) and it references a statewide database, which minimizes under reporting that occurs when patients change doctors secondary to complications.
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Robert Firkins was 67 and suffered from chronic renal disease and cardiac issues. Before having orthopedic surgery, he underwent an angiogram done by an interventional cardiologist, the defendant, Dr. Scott Harris. Dr. Harris, who had been instructed by Firkins’ treating nephrologist to use a minimum amount of contrast dye, used 160 milliliters of dye during the angiogram, which lasted 94 minutes.

After the procedure, Firkins developed atheroemboli, resulting in ischemia in his right lower leg, significantly increased creatinine levels and worsening kidney disease that now has necessitated dialysis three times each week. In addition, Firkins required a below-the-knee amputation a month after the angiogram.

Firkins and his wife sued Dr. Harris, claiming that he used an excessive amount of contrast dye and negligently performed the angiogram. The Firkins family claimed that the defendant doctor should have kept the dye under 100 milliliters and finish the procedure within 35 minutes. The lawsuit did not claim lost income.
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Ana Pereira, 29, was admitted to Monmouth Medical Center where she was diagnosed as having a kidney stone and renal colic. Her condition continued to deteriorate. Blood cultures were positive for bacterial growth by noon of the next day. Pereira underwent a successful procedure to drain her kidney after one failed attempt. However, she developed sepsis.

As a result of the sepsis, Pereira fell into a coma for 5 days and suffered a loss of peripheral circulation. Because of the lack of circulation, bilateral leg amputations and the removal of her left hand at the wrist were necessary.

Pereira sued four physicians who treated her at the medical center alleging negligent treatment of the kidney stone. She also alleged that an on-call urologist chose not to timely report to the hospital when the facility notified his employer of her condition. Pereira claimed that the employer of the urologist had contracted to handle emergency calls from the hospital despite the one-hour driving distance between the practice and the hospital, which precluded a medically acceptable response time.
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Nakeyia McMichael, a 33-year-old nurse, was hospitalized for treatment for a cerebral edema. Just 18 months later she returned to the hospital’s emergency room complaining of head pain, nausea and vomiting.

Two hospital emergency department residents and the defendant, Dr. John Pakiela, an osteopath employed by General Emergency Medical Specialists, diagnosed her with a migraine headache and discharged her with medicine. The very next day, she became unresponsive and died. The cause was determined to be brain herniation resulting from the cerebral edema or brain swell. McMichael was survived by her husband and three minor children.

The McMichael family sued Dr. Pakiela and his employer alleging that he failed to refer her to a neurologist for further workup. The McMichael family claimed that in light of her medical history, Dr. Pakiela should have reviewed her medical records before discharging her and should have considered cerebral edema as a possible cause of her renewed symptoms. The doctor should have ruled out the most deadly and dangerous of illnesses or conditions.

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Andrea Tate was 57 when she underwent surgery to remove a noncancerous tumor at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. After the surgery, the staff at the hospital administered Heparin to prevent blood clots. Tate’s coagulation rate was measured using an activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT) test.

Over the next six days, four consecutive APTT tests revealed that Tate’s coagulation was moving from the low end of the normal range to the high end of normal. As a result, the hospital staff stopped doing the test.

Days later, Tate suffered a catastrophic brain bleed. Previously a financial services project manager earning $100,000 a year, she is now paralyzed in her right leg and on her left side. She is mostly confined to bed and requires 24-hour care provided by her husband, who has left his job to take care of his wife.
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Annabelle Glasgow, who was 71 years old, suffered from diabetes, hypertension and congestive heart failure. She was admitted to Temple University Hospital to undergo bilateral total knee replacements to be done by orthopedic surgeon Dr. Easwaran Balasubramanian. She developed pain at the incision site, swelling and drainage. In spite of these conditions, she was discharged from the hospital within 3 weeks after the bilateral total knee replacements.

After a follow-up appointment with Dr. Balasubramanian, she underwent an irrigation and debridement of her right knee. The cultures taken from that procedure revealed that she had a bacterial infection. She continued to have excessive drainage in the right knee and developed a pressure ulcer on her right heel.

The pressure sore required another hospitalization and several procedures, which included skin grafting, incision and drainage to address her wound.
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This case arises out of an appeal taken after the Circuit Court of Cook County judge entered judgment on the verdict in favor of Dr. John Pantano and Suburban Lung Associates, S.C. in a medical malpractice action. The lawsuit, brought by the special administrator of the Estate of Viola Morrisroe, claimed that her death occurred after a bronchoscopy during which biopsies were performed by Dr. Pantano. It was asserted that the trial judge was in error for (1) barring Morrisroe’s expert from utilizing two CT scans during his testimony to demonstrate that the size of a mass in her lung had not increased in size; and (2) sustaining defense counsel’s objections to certain statements in plaintiff’s counsel’s closing argument relating to informed consent claim.

In 1999, Morrisroe was diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and emphysema by pulmonologist Dr. Edward Diamond who was the president of Suburban Lung Associates, S.C. Her medical condition was monitored by Dr. Diamond and, in 2006, she began obtaining routine CT scans. In February 2009, a CT scan of her lungs indicated a new mass had formed in the upper right lobe. Dr. Diamond ordered further testing in the form of a PET scan. The PET scan indicated that, while unlikely, cancer could not be ruled out. Dr. Diamond discussed the results of the scans with her and recommended that another CT scan be performed in four months.

By 2009, Dr. Diamond’s examinations found that Morrisroe’s lung function had significantly decreased. While her lung function was at 40% in the beginning of the year, by the summer her lung function was only 26%, prompting Dr. Diamond to downgrade her COPD from “severe” to “very severe.”
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