Justia Lawyer Rating for Robert D. Kreisman

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Alexis Dameron was held in contempt for refusing to comply with the Circuit Court of Cook County’s discovery order. Under the order, she was required to disclose the report of Dr. David Preston to the defendants Mercy Hospital & Medical Center and several physicians who were defendants in this lawsuit.

Dameron initially disclosed Dr. Preston as an Illinois Supreme Court Rule 213(f)(3) controlled expert witness in her answers to defendants’ interrogatories. She subsequently moved to
redesignate Dr. Preston as a Rule 201(b)(3) consultant and thus shield Dr. Preston’s report, which would otherwise be discoverable under Rule 213(f)(3), along with any other documents from a comparison electromyogram (EMG) and/or nerve conduction study (EMG study) Dr. Preston performed on Dameron.

The plaintiff, Dameron, filed an interlocutory appeal pursuant to Illinois Supreme Court Rule 305(b)(5) and the appellate court reversed, holding that Dr. Preston could be redesignated as a Rule 201(b)(3) consultant and that Dameron could shield Dr. Preston’s report and EMG study from discovery. The Illinois Supreme Court allowed the defendants’ petition for leave to appeal.
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In this medical malpractice jury case, a Cook County Circuit Court judge rejected a request by the plaintiff, Jill Bailey. She had requested a non-pattern jury instruction on “loss-of-chance.” The judge’s decision resulted in a reversal of a defense verdict. Bailey alleged that Jill Milton-Hampton died because of a delay in diagnosing her suffering from sepsis or toxic shock syndrome when she twice went to the emergency room at Mercy Hospital in Chicago.

The judge relied on the case of Cetera v. DiFilippo, 404 Ill.App.3d 20 (2020) for the decision to refuse the instruction. The judge was justified in concluding that the long-form version of the pattern jury instruction on proximate causation, Illinois Pattern Jury Instruction (Civil) No. 15.01, adequately explains the loss-of-chance doctrine.

The Illinois Appellate Court for the First District reversed a judgment for the four emergency room physicians and their employer, Emergency Medicine Physicians of Chicago (EMP). They disagreed with Cetera stating that IPI 15.01 “does not distinctly inform the jury about loss-of-chance, i.e., that the jury may consider, as a proximate cause of a patient’s injury, that a defendant’s negligence lessened the effectiveness of the treatment or increased the risk of an unfavorable outcome to a plaintiff.
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Elizabeth Njinga suffered from back pain for a long period of time. She was referred to an orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Michael Alexiades. The doctor reviewed her x-rays and ordered an MRI.

Dr. Alexiades told Njinga that she had moderate degenerative changes in her hip and that her pain was coming from her hip and her back. The doctor recommended a hip replacement for pain relief.

After undergoing that surgery, Njinga experienced continued pain. Her relationship with her husband has been affected, and she is unable to travel extensively as she once did because of her condition.
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Ms. Doe, 65, suffered from obesity and high blood pressure and underwent a hysterectomy. She was placed on Lovenox for four days until she was discharged.

Several weeks after leaving the hospital, Ms. Doe collapsed and was rushed to a nearby hospital. She was diagnosed as having bilateral pulmonary emboli, clotting her femoral artery, as well as a patent foramen ovale, a hole in her heart. Although surgery was attempted to correct these problems, the procedure was discontinued because of Ms. Doe’s deteriorating condition.

Ms. Doe later suffered ischemia in her right leg, which necessitated an above-the-knee amputation. She alleged that her treating gynecologist negligently chose not to continue her on the Lovenox following her hospital discharge. Had the defendant done so, Ms. Doe claimed, she would not have developed blood clots and the pulmonary emboli.
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Crystal Guinard suffered from severe migraine headaches. She was in her thirties at the time. She received Phenergan and Toradol injections. Guinard received a Phenergan injection performed by nurse Marie Krausz, who was an employee of the urgent care clinic Patient First Maryland Medical Group. She then suffered a sciatic nerve injury in her right leg. Her injury, which has been determined to be permanent, resulted in complex regional pain syndrome, which necessitated implementation of a neurostimulator.

Phenergan is a drug often used to treat allergies and motion sickness. In addition, the drug can be used to control pain, nausea and vomiting.

Guinard filed a lawsuit against Krausz and the urgent care clinic alleging liability for Krausz’s improper handling of the injection. Guinard alleged that Krausz used incorrect anatomical markers when she handled the injection, which injured Guinard’s sciatic nerve.
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Mr. Doe, age 55, underwent surgery to repair a ruptured tendon in his right bicep. After the surgery, he complained to Dr. Roe, the surgeon, that he had numbness and tingling and could not feel his right hand.

Dr. Roe ordered an x-ray and allegedly told Mr. Doe that a nerve had been irritated during the surgery; he said this condition would improve in time.

However, several weeks later, Mr. Doe consulted a hand surgeon. Mr. Doe underwent exploratory surgery with the second surgeon, which revealed that the metal “button” used to anchor Mr. Doe’s tendon to the bone had entrapped the posterior interosseous nerve (PIN). Although the metal button was removed by the second surgeon, Mr. Doe suffered permanent nerve damage. This resulted in permanent pain and numbness as well as a lost function in his right hand. Mr. Doe was an accomplished piano player but is now unable to continue playing.
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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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The signed forms juries bring back with their findings when deliberations are completed are typically referred to as verdicts. Section 2-1303 of the Illinois Code of Civil Procedure calls for computing post-judgment interest on verdicts “from the time when made or rendered to the time of entering judgment upon the same.” Based on this law, the administrator of Keith Stanphill’s estate argued that post-judgment interest on a $1,495,151 verdict against Rockford Memorial Hospital and Lori Ortberg started running on June 2, 2016 when jurors rendered their verdict.

The trial judge had tossed aside the verdict based on the answer to a special interrogatory. It wasn’t until Oct. 31, 2017 that the Illinois Appellate Court reversed the trial court and remanded with instruction to enter judgment on the verdict.

The trial judge then concluded that the administrator was entitled to $155,544 in post- judgment interest running from Oct. 31, 2017 when the case was returned to the trial court for entry of that judgment.
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James Kowher underwent a stress test after experiencing an episode of chest pain while he was sleeping. Cardiologist Dr. Sobhan Kodali interpreted the test as negative.

About nine months later, Kowher experienced repeated chest pain episodes accompanied by shortness of breath, nausea and perspiration. Additionally, these episodes were increasing in frequency and severity and continued for up to ten minutes. Kowher’s primary care physician arranged an appointment with Dr. Kodali for two days later.

Dr. Kodali ordered an EKG and diagnosed Kowher as having panic attacks before discharging him. The primary care physician subsequently referred Kowher to a gastroenterologist, whose notes stated that Kowher’s chest pain were ongoing and worsening.
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This appeal to the Minnesota Supreme Court involves a medical malpractice lawsuit brought against the hospital system, Allina Health System. The suit is based on the alleged negligence of independent contractors involved in providing care for a patient in the emergency rooms of two different hospitals owned by the hospital system. At issue is whether a hospital can be held vicariously liable for the negligence of an independent contractor based on the doctrine of apparent authority.

The state court of appeals affirmed the dismissal of the medical malpractice case on the ground that a hospital can be vicariously liable for a physician’s negligence only if the physician is an employee of the hospital. The Minnesota Supreme Court reversed and remanded the case for further disposition.

The plaintiff, Alla Popovich, brought this medical malpractice case as wife and guardian ad litem for her husband, Aleksandr Popovich, alleging that her husband suffered a stroke after receiving negligent medical care in the emergency room of two separate hospitals owned and operated by Allina Health System.
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