Illinois Appellate Court Affirms General Verdict for Defendant in Wrongful Death, Survival Action Case

The Illinois Appellate Court has affirmed the general verdict in a second jury trial. The first jury trial resulted in a hung jury.

The plaintiff’s decedent had been admitted at a young age to multiple nursing homes and hospitals with an incurable, fatal neurodegenerative disease. The estate for the plaintiff filed a negligence lawsuit against one of the decedent’s treating physicians, maintaining actual claims under the Illinois Wrongful Death Act and the Survival Act.

The plaintiff’s estate alleged that the decedent was abused and neglected at her last nursing home, which defendant chose not to report.

A general verdict was entered in favor of the defendant in the second jury trial. The appellate court found the trial court did not err in denying the plaintiff’s request for a new trial as it related to the survival claim.

The appellate court commented that the jury could have reasonably found that the decedent’s injuries were solely caused by her neurodegenerative disease.

Plaintiff did not request a special interrogatory on the issue raised as a basis for a new trial. In addition, plaintiff did not meet her burden of showing that there was conclusive evidence that the decedent’s injuries or pain and suffering were caused by defendant’s treatment that would have warranted a third trial.

Mims v. Paintsil, 2021 IL App (1^st) 191285 (March 23, 2021).

Kreisman Law Offices has been handling Illinois wrongful death lawsuits, nursing home negligence cases, nursing home abuse lawsuits and Illinois Survival Act lawsuits 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 45 years in and around Chicago, Cook County and its surrounding areas, including Lemont, Lansing, Orland Park, Oak Brook, Bolingbrook, Waukegan, Zion, Mount Prospect, Chicago (Lincoln Square, Lincoln Park, Roscoe Village, Beverly, Hegewisch, East Side, South Shore, Little Italy, Little Village, North Lawndale, Rogers Park, Ravenswood, Irving Park, Bucktown, Ukrainian Village, Old Town), Wilmette, Winnetka, Glencoe, South Holland and Calumet City, Ill.

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