Articles Posted in Damages

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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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Robin Mann underwent a screening mammogram at the McGuire Veterans Affairs Medical Center. A doctor there allegedly noted a previously seen mass in Mann’s left breast but did not order an ultrasound.

Approximately two years later, Mann underwent another screening mammogram that revealed no new masses. The following year, she noticed a mass in her left thigh, a small lump in her right buttock and a palpable lump in her left breast. A physician at McGuires Women’s Health Center allegedly diagnosed a benign fibrocystic condition and ordered another mammogram. After undergoing this test, Mann was advised to continue with routine screening mammograms.

The lump in Mann’s breast grew larger. She underwent a diagnostic mammogram, but this allegedly was not compared to the previous images. When an ultrasound did show an abnormal mass, Mann underwent a breast biopsy, which led to a diagnosis of high-grade invasive mammary carcinoma.
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A federal trial judge has upheld a $6.2 million award by the presiding trial judge for a man permanently disabled because of medical negligence at a veteran’s hospital even though the man died three days after the judgment.

Wesley Jordan’s daughter and state administrator, Katherine J. Henry, sued the United States under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) under an agency theory for medical negligence for injuries Jordan sustained from cardiac bypass surgery that went wrong.

Jordan was then 61 years old when he was admitted to Edward Hines Jr. Veterans Administration Hospital in Cook County, Ill., complaining of difficulty breathing and moving.
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Lenville Hall Sr. underwent a laparoscopic right hemicolectomy at Southside Regional Medical Center. For the next eight days, urine accumulated in Hall’s abdomen, which required surgery to repair a severed right ureter.

The surgery was unsuccessful. Hall experienced multiple complications, which included infections and loss of kidney function. He now requires lifetime dialysis.

He sued the surgeon who did the first surgery, alleging that he negligently cut Hall’s ureter and chose not to timely recognize this during the post-operative period.
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Ms. Doe underwent a laparoscopic hysterectomy that was performed by Dr. Roe, an obstetrician; she was discharged the same day.

She contacted the doctor’s office over the next few days, complaining that she felt ill and was experiencing pain. Four days after the surgery, Doe went to a hospital emergency room where a CT scan showed an accumulation of fluid in her pelvis. Surgery located a hole in Doe’s sigmoid colon, which necessitated a colostomy.

Doe also was later diagnosed as having an injured right ureter. Doe required a colostomy bag for ten months. She also required surgery to treat several incisional hernias.
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William Dukes was under the care of Prompt Ambulance Central Inc. when he suffered a fatal injury. He was survived by his minor son.

The Dukes family and estate sued Prompt Ambulance and Kindred Nursing Centers Limited Partnership, alleging that they chose not to provide adequate care and treatment when transporting him by ambulance.

Before trial, the parties settled for $187,000. The Dukes family then petitioned the court for additional damages to be paid from the Patient’s Compensation Fund of Indiana. The court then did authorize $440,000 in payment to the Dukes estate from that fund.
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In March 2014, plaintiff Dawn Verci filed a negligence lawsuit against defendants Michael High and International Union of Operating Engineers, Local No. 649. She claimed that as a result of the defendants’ negligence, she was injured and underwent medical treatment that cost more than $1 million.

The majority of her medical charges were from Dr. Richard Kube of the Prairie Spine and Pain Institute and the Prairie Surgicenter. The reasonable value of these medical services provided by Dr. Kube was a major issue of contention.

In January 2019, the trial court entered an order (1) prohibiting defendants from cross-examining Kube for his associated medical entities regarding their own cash advertised pricing at trial and (2) allowing defendants’ billing expert, Rebecca Reier, to testify at trial regarding her opinions on the reasonable value of Kube’s medical services.
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As Clare Linzell’s parents became concerned about her repetitive behaviors and attention span, they asked a neurologist, Dr. Yassar Awaad, to examine their 4-year-old daughter. Dr. Awaad is a pediatric neurologist.

Dr. Awaad conducted several EEGs, diagnosed epilepsy, and prescribed anti-seizure and anti-depressant medications.

The epilepsy treatment continued for years until another doctor diagnosed Clare as having an autism spectrum disorder, not epilepsy.
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Often we hear about large awards paid to patients who were injured in hospitals or other health care facilities. An unusually large award was announced in the case of a brain-damaged woman. It is something of a landmark award because of the amount of money involved. The city announced it planned to appeal the award.

A Bronx jury awarded about $120 million to a woman who has been incapacitated since she was treated at three New York hospitals in 2004.

The award, by a State Supreme Court jury, was made in a lawsuit filed on behalf of Jacqueline Martin by her mother. Martin suffered brain damage after a series of hospital visits in February 2004.
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Johnny Terrell Sledge, 24, suffered a gunshot wound to his back. He was taken to the DCH Regional Medical Center emergency room where an emergency room physician recognized the need for surgery.

On-call trauma surgeon Dr. Bradley Bilton was paged repeatedly but responded that he was in surgery and that someone else should be called to assist Sledge. The hospital staff could not locate another surgeon; Dr. Bolton was paged again.

Instead of coming to the emergency room after completing the surgical procedure that he was involved in, Dr. Bilton started a second elective surgery instead of coming to the aid of Sledge.
Unfortunately, Sledge died while waiting for an emergency laparotomy. He is survived by his family.
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