Illinois Wrongful Death Case Brought by Family of Man Who Died of a Brain Injury When Brain Bleed Not Recognized
Bleeding seems like a simple enough problem to correct. We've all had a cut or scrape that has resulted in some sort of bleed and we all know the proper way to stop the bleeding: apply pressure and elevate the area. However, when bleeding is internal it is a completely different matter and can result in severe medical complications or death.
This concept is illustrated by a recent Illinois wrongful death settlement where a hospital's failure to recognize a brain bleed in a timely manner resulted in this man's death. The decedent had presented to Advocate Lutheran General Hospital and was admitted to the hospital's surgical intensive care unit for neurological observation after he sustained a brain injury as a result of hitting his head in a fall. Upon his admission a CT scan showed a small hemorrhage in his brain, which is basically another way of saying he there was a small bleed in his brain.
The plaintiff’s family alleged that the healthcare providers were medically negligent in their failure to recognize the importance of subsequent signs that indicated that this brain bleed had progressed. Further, they alleged that the doctors should have known and acted on those signs in time to prevent permanent damage and death by ordering an operation that would have relieved the increased pressure in the decedent's brain.
What was particularly interesting about the case was that the delivery was actually a 
In December, 2002, the now six year-old boy's mother arrived at Elmhurst Memorial Hospital to induce labor. However, the labor did not run smoothly, and after over four hours had elapsed the medical providers opted to perform a cesarean section. When the baby boy was delivered it was found that he had 
The mother in this 
The symptoms of brain injury were discovered when scientists began monitoring the effects of dams along salmon runs to detect the amount of force it put on the migrating fish. Scientists used everything from dummy fish containing accelerometers to even embedding sensors in live fish. These methods allowed scientists to detect brain injury in salmon. 
The baby's mother brought a 
