Justia Lawyer Rating for Robert D. Kreisman

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A Missouri Appellate Court held that a patient suing a healthcare provider for improperly accessing confidential information was not required to file an affidavit of merit. In Illinois, an affidavit of merit under Illinois Code of Civil Procedures,735 ILCS 5/2-622, is required in filing a medical malpractice lawsuit as is the case in Missouri.

In the related case, J.J., a minor, received inpatient treatment at Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center. A facility employee, who was not involved in J.J.’s treatment, allegedly accessed his medical records and revealed to her daughter, a former girlfriend of J.J., that he was receiving inpatient treatment.

J.J. was a student. Other students at J.J.’s school learned of this information, leading to harassment and bullying.
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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.
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Ms. Doe, age 36, experienced chronic pelvic pain. She consulted with Dr. Roe, a gynecologist, who allegedly diagnosed Stage II endometriosis. Dr. Roe performed a laparoscopic hysterectomy and oophorectomy. Five days after that surgery, Ms. Doe went to Dr. Roe’s office complaining of nausea, vomiting, fever and decreased voiding. Dr. Roe, it was alleged, did not order imaging.

That same night, Ms. Doe went to a hospital’s ER where she was diagnosed as having fluid in her abdomen, hydronephrosis and acute kidney failure. Ms. Doe underwent urgent surgery to treat her injured ureters and bladder. She suffered complications following the surgery, including a fistula, kidney infections, recurrent UTIs and lost bladder sensation.

Ms. Doe sued Dr. Roe, alleging that the doctor had transected one of her ureters and obstructed the other during the hysterectomy. Ms. Doe also alleged that her bladder had been injured during the surgery.
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The Illinois Appellate Court for the 4th District affirmed in part, reversed in part and remanded a decision from the Winnebago County Court.

Thomas Rossi, M.D., performed gastric bypass surgery on Cynthia Overstreet. Following that surgery, Overstreet complained of vomiting and nausea. She was hospitalized with neurological symptoms and later went into a coma and never recovered. She suffered from Wernick’s encephalopathy, a swelling of the brain caused by thiamine deficiency.

Overstreet died seven years later. The executor of her estate, First Midwest Bank, filed suit against Dr. Rossi for negligence. After a jury trial, Dr. Rossi was found liable and awarded damages for lost wages, medical bills, loss of normal life, grief, sorrow and mental suffering.
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The family of a man who died of a heart attack while hospitalized after an appendectomy was held not to have a viable medical malpractice case against the attending physician.

In July 2017, Timothy Dobine, 43, died while under the care of medical staff at West Suburban Medical Center in Oak Park, Ill. Dobine’s family sued in state and federal court.

The family sued the U.S. government under the Federal Torts Claim Act alleging that the attending physician, Dr. Morgan Madison, who worked for a federally qualified healthcare center, provided negligent medical care and was the proximate cause of Dobine’s untimely death.
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Michael Davis consulted a nurse practitioner at CHI St. Alexius Health Williston when he experienced flu-like symptoms. A blood test showed an elevated white blood cell count. Eight months later, he returned to the nurse practitioner, complaining of frothy urine. Blood testing showed again an elevated white cell count and protein or blood in his urine.

The nurse practitioner referred Davis to a urologist. The urologist was alleged to have found no urological explanation for the abnormal test results.

About six months later, the follow-up appointment with the nurse practitioner and testing showed that the level of blood and protein in Davis’s urine had tripled. A urologist again allegedly determined there was no urological explanation for those results.
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The wife of William Lee, a 41-year-old father of young children, found him unconscious in the middle of the night. He was rushed to Westchester Medical Center where he underwent a head CT scan and had a neck CTA. A CTA or “coronary computed tomography angiography” involves the use of CT scans and an injected dye to develop computer-aided, 3-dimensional images of an artery.

Two second-year residents interpreted the tests as normal. Over an hour later, one of the residents contacted an attending physician, who was unable to view the test results due to a software problem. An experienced radiologist later diagnosed a basilar stroke. Lee underwent a thrombectomy, a procedure involving the removal of a blood clot.

Nevertheless, Lee suffered significant brain damage, resulting in severe short-term memory loss and impaired judgment. He now receives 24-hour treatment from a residential brain injury center located hours away from his family.
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Dr. Fangxiang Chen was an agent of Mercy Clinic East Communities.

Dr. Chen allegedly recommended that the plaintiff, Natalie Avilez, 39, undergo a minimally invasive right-sided microdiscectomy at T7-8. A microdiscectomy procedure is a type of minimally invasive discectomy commonly used to treat a herniated disc. When a herniated disc compresses a spinal nerve, symptoms can include pain (which may extend down one or both arms and legs, as is the case in sciatica), muscle weakness and difficulty with repetitive motions.

After the surgery, Avilez learned from Dr. Chen that he had operated on the wrong side of her spine and on the wrong level. The next day, Dr. Chen returned Avilez to surgery during which he performed a T6-7 laminectomy before intraoperative imaging showed he was still at the wrong level. Resulting from these incorrect surgeries, Avilez experienced additional pain and increased anxiety.
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Ms. Doe, who had a history of breast cancer, underwent regular breast MRIs. After a tumor was identified on an MRI, her treating radiologist reviewed previous scans and allegedly confirmed that they had been misread as normal for several years. By the time the correct diagnosis was issued, Ms. Doe’s breast cancer had spread to her lymph nodes.

Ms. Doe required chemotherapy and radiation and now has a reduced life expectancy. Furthermore, she incurred $341,000 in medical expenses and $19,000 in lost income.

Ms. Doe sued undisclosed defendants for choosing not to timely diagnose and treat her breast cancer. Had Ms. Doe received an earlier diagnosis, it was claimed that she could have been treated successfully with surgery.
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Doe was a toddler when taken to MetroSouth Medical Center suffering from a three-day history of fever, headache and eye symptoms. Doe had an elevated heart rate and blood pressure at the hospital. The child was allegedly discharged with a diagnosis of fever and ringworm with instructions to follow up with a pediatrician.

The child’s fussiness increased and he developed a swollen right eye, a cough and a cold. Two days later, a physician assistant (PA) allegedly diagnosed periorbital cellulitis and prescribed antibiotics. Periorbital cellulitis is an infection of the eyelid or skin around the eye. It is an acute infection of the tissues surrounding the eye, which may progress to orbital cellulitis with protrusion of the eyeball.

Doe was found unresponsive that day. He was rushed to a hospital and diagnosed as having sepsis, subdural abscess, empyema (pus collection) and sinusitis. Doe then underwent emergency neurosurgery and other treatment. He now suffers from permanent brain damage.
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