Chicago Personal Injury Lawyer Blog

The Illinois Appellate Court recently ruled on a spoliation claim in a product liability lawsuit arising out of a 2004 car accident. The trial court had ruled that the insurer for the defendant vehicle salvage company did not have to contribute to any settlement that might arise out the salvage company's inappropriate destruction of the relevant vehicle. However, the appellate court reversed this ruling and found that the salvage company's insurance policy did in fact cover any claims arising out of spoliation of evidence. As a result of the appellate court's decision, the defendant's insurance company will now have to pay any reasonable damages arising out of the spoliation claim. Universal Underwriters Insurance Company v. LKQ Smart Parts, Inc., et al., No. 1-10-1723 (December 16, 2011).

The product liability lawsuit was based on a 2004 SUV rollover accident. Michael Widawski's Nissan Pathfinder SUV rolled over, ejecting Monika Gramacki, its only passenger, from the vehicle as it rolled over. Gramacki died and her family brought a product liability lawsuit against Nissan for an alleged defect in the Pathfinder's rear door.

The main piece of evidence in a product defect claim is the alleged damaged product, which in this case would Widawski's Nissan Pathfinder. It is not enough for a party to simply allege that a product is defective; it must also be examined by experts to determine the source of the defect and whether that defect caused harm to the party. However, in the present case, no experts were able to examine Widawski's vehicle because it was destroyed before they could do so.

Following the rollover accident, Widawski's insurer, Farmers Insurance, handled the preservation of the Pathfinder. Farmers hired LKQ Smart Parts, Inc., a vehicle salvage and storage firm, to store the damaged Nissan and keep it in its current condition. However, LKQ failed to follow these instructions and somehow ended up destroying the Nissan Pathfinder shortly after it arrived. And with its destruction went Gramacki's family's hope of a fair and successful product defect claim against Nissan.

In order to rectify this dilemma, Gramacki's father filed two lawsuits: the first was a product liability lawsuit against Nissan for the allegedly faulty door latch, the second was a spoliation of evidence claim against Farmers for the destroyed Pathfinder. In its claim against Farmers, Gramacki alleged that the "destruction of the subject Nissan Pathfinder deprived Plaintiff of the key piece of evidence necessary to prove an otherwise valid product liability/negligence lawsuit" against Nissan. Farmers then filed a third party lawsuit against LKQ for its role in destroying the Pathfinder.

Continue reading "Insurance Company Owed Duty to Defend Claim for Negligent Spoliation of Evidence Because the Vehicle Loss Was Tangible Property - Universal v. LKQ" »

In law, jurisdiction refers to the right of a court to enter judgment on a particular case. Because different courts must follow different laws, decisions of jurisdiction are extremely important in a case's potential outcome. Take for instance the product liability lawsuit of John Russell v. SNFA, No. 1-09-3012 (2011), in which the trial court dismissed the lawsuit because it felt the court did not have proper jurisdiction over the defendant. Fortunately for the plaintiff, the Illinois Appellate Court felt differently and reversed the lower court's decision, thereby allowing the case to proceed.

The issue in Russell arose out of a 2003 helicopter crash in Illinois. At the time of the crash, the decedent, Michael Russell, was working as a helicopter pilot for Air Angels, a medical airlift service. Russell was the only person in the helicopter at the time and consequently the only victim of the helicopter crash.

Russell's surviving family members filed an Illinois product defect lawsuit against SNFA Group, which manufactured a custom ball bearing that was installed in the helicopter at the time of the crash. The lawsuit alleged that the helicopter crash was caused when one of its tail-rotor drive shaft bearings failed, which in turn caused the drive shaft to fracture, causing the tail rotor to be inoperable. Since SNFA manufactured the drive shaft bearing whose failure allegedly caused the helicopter to spin out of control, the family contended that its negligence was responsible for Russell's death.

Continue reading "Illinois Appeals Court Ruled in Helicopter Crash Case: It Has Jurisdiction Against French Maker of Ball Bearings - Russell v. SNFA" »

The Illinois Appellate Court reviewed the personal injury lawsuit of Anderson v. Anderson, 2011 Ill.App. (1st) 10034 (Sept. 30, 2011), to determine whether or not the trial judge had correctly ordered a new trial. After reviewing the case facts and the jury's decision, the appellate court disagreed with the trial judge and reversed his order for a new trial. As a result, the not guilty verdict entered against the two defendants in Anderson stands.

Anderson arose out of a two-vehicle collision between a mini-van driven by defendant Sean Anderson and a vehicle driven by defendant Frank Fratto. The personal injury claim was filed by the six passengers in Anderson's van at the time of the car accident and was brought against both of the drivers involved in the intersection accident. The personal injury claim alleged that both Anderson and Fratto were at fault for the auto crash and therefore were both responsible for the plaintiffs' injuries.

However, the Illinois jury found in favor of both defendants and failed to find either at fault for the intersection accident. Rather than letting this verdict stand, the trial judge ruled that the verdict was invalid and granted a new trial. When defending his ruling, the judge stated that "the jury’s finding that neither was negligent given the facts of this case is unreasonable and against the manifest weight of the evidence. The jury had the discretion of apportioning the fault between the two parties, but a wash of liability is not an option when the injured is not an active participant in the cause of the incident.”

Continue reading "Alternative Liability Rule Applied in Two-Vehicle Collision - Anderson v. Anderson" »

An Illinois Supreme Court ruling in a product liability lawsuit confirms that manufacturers are not required to guard against every risk to the consumer. The verdict in Dora Mae Jablonski v. Ford Motor Company, No. 110096, reversed a $43 million judgment in a 5-0 vote.

Jablonski was filed as a result of a rear-end car accident involving Dora Mae and John Jablonski. The couple was traveling in their 1993 Lincoln Town Car when they were struck by a Chevrolet Lumina that was traveling at 60 mph. The impact of the collision was such that it propelled a pipe wrench laying in the truck of the Jablonski's vehicle through the trunk walls and into the nearby fuel tank. The punctured fuel tank caused the car to catch fire, leaving John Jablonski dead and Dora Mae severely burned.

Dora Mae and her son brought a product liability lawsuit against Ford Motor Company, alleging that it had negligently designed a defective and dangerous fuel tank system in its Lincoln Town Car. According to the plaintiffs' theory of liability, the design of the Town Car's rear fuel tank system left it susceptible to puncture or being damaged during a rear-end collision.

Continue reading "Illinois Supreme Court Rules No Negligent Auto Design, Reversing $43 Million Verdict in Jablonski v. Ford Motor" »

In auto accident lawsuits, it is somewhat common for the defendant driver to admit liability, but still dispute the extent of the plaintiff's injuries. However, somewhat less typical is for the defendant driver to dispute the degree to which surviving family members suffer in the event that the plaintiff driver died in the car accident. Yet this is what happened in the McHenry County lawsuit of Estate of Patrick Harder, deceased v. Morgan Nooraee, 08 L 54.

The motorcycle accident at issue in Harder took place on Route 14 in Crystal Lake, Illinois. At the time of the accident, the 44 year-old Patrick Harder was driving his motorcycle along Route 14 when Morgan Nooraee turned his vehicle in front of Harder. The two vehicles collided and Harder was killed on impact.

A wrongful death lawsuit was then filed against Nooraee on behalf of Harder's closest surviving kin, i.e., his eight year-old son. And while Nooraee unequivocally admitted liability for the motorcycle accident and Harder's death, he argued over the extent which Harder's death affected his surviving child. Harder did not live with his son, nor was Harder the primary financial caregiver for his child. Therefore, the defense argued that Harder's son should not be allowed to benefit from his death.

Continue reading "Surviving Kin Receives $614,000 for Mental Suffering Following Father's Death in Motorcycle Accident - Estate of Harder v. Nooraee" »

The Illinois Supreme Court overturned an Appellate Court ruling regarding parents' liability for underage drinking on their premises in Bell v. Hutsell, No. 110724 (May 19, 2011). The Appellate Court had found that the underage hosts' parents were responsible for the death of one of the underage partygoers who drove into a tree after leaving the party intoxicated. However, the Illinois Supreme Court ruled that the case facts supported a case of true nonfeasance on the part of the parents and as such failed to establish a duty to protect the third party decedent. As a result of the Illinois Supreme Court decision, Bell was dismissed with prejudice.

The original wrongful death complaint alleged that the defendants' son, Jonathan Hutsell, had hosted a party at their home. The 18 year-old decedent, Daniel Bell, attended this party where underage drinking took place; Bell died after he left the Hutsells's party intoxicated and drove into a tree. The Illinois complaint contended that the Hutsells had voluntarily assumed a duty to protect the partygoers, including the decedent; the complaint alleged that this duty was established by the Hutsells' instructions to their son that underage drinking would not be tolerated at the party and that they would be personally monitoring the party to ensure no minors consumed alcohol in their home. The plaintiff's contention regarding this "assumed duty" on the part of the Hutsells that is at issue in this wrongful death case.

However, the complaint further suggested that not only did the Hutsells fail to adequately perform their duty to the decedent, but were also aware that minors were consuming alcohol in their home. Therefore, the plaintiffs contended that the Hutsells had negligently performed their self-imposed duty to prevent underage consumption of alcohol at their son's party. While the defense argued that the plaintiffs had failed to provide adequate proof that the Hutsells had voluntarily undertaken a duty towards the decedent, the Appellate Court decision found that the defense had not provided enough evidence to support this claim and remanded the wrongful death lawsuit to the trial court.

Continue reading "Social Host Liability Decision in Underage Drinking Case Overturned By Illinois Supreme Court - Bell v. Hutsell" »

Construction negligence lawsuits can be somewhat confusing insofar as there are typically several entities involved: the general contractor, the project manager, subcontractor, etc. Oftentimes when plaintiffs file a lawsuit following a construction site injury, there is a lot of finger pointing by the defense, so it is crucial that the plaintiff's attorneys have a clear understanding of who each party is and what their role was on the construction job.

In the construction negligence case of The Estate of John Maggi, etc. v. RAS Development, Inc., No. 1-09-1955, the defendant tried to get the $3.2 million verdict overturned by claiming that the plaintiff had sued the wrong entity. In Maggi, the plaintiff's attorney filed a lawsuit against the construction site's general contractor. In its initial complaint the plaintiff identified the general contractor as RAS Wolfram.

The Chicago construction negligence complaint alleged that as the general contractor, that RAS Wolfram was negligent for its failure to provide a safe workplace and inadequately supervising the work of its subcontractors. The decedent, John Maggi, died after falling three stories through an unprotected window. The fall was prompted after the bundle of bricks Maggi was carrying broke apart, causing him to lose his balance and fall through the open window.

Continue reading "$3.2 Million Verdict in Chicago Construction Death Trial Affirmed by Illinois Appellate Court in Maggi v. RAS Development, Inc." »

In 2007 a propane truck ran a red light and struck another car. The car's passenger, Anthony Villa, Jr., suffered fatal wounds and died two days later. An Illinois wrongful death lawsuit was brought by his wife, which recently settled for $7 million. Cheryl Villa v. Heritage Operating LP, et al., No. 08 L 11922.

The Illinois intersection accident occurred in Matteson, Illinois at the intersection of Harlem Avenue and Lincoln Highway. At the time of the car accident, Villa's vehicle was attempting to make a left turn onto Lincoln Highway when it was struck by a propane truck owned by Heritage Operating LP. While the truck driver was not injured, Villa was rushed to the hospital with severe wounds. He died as a result of these injuries just two days later.

The wrongful death lawsuit was brought by Villa's wife and their five children, two of which were minors at the time of their father's death. The Illinois complaint alleged that the truck driver and his employer were responsible for the truck accident that resulted in Villa's death. The defendants admitted liability for the intersection accident, confirming that it was caused by the truck driver running the red light.

Continue reading "Fatal Truck Accident Results in $7 Million Settlement for Surviving Family Members - Villa v. Heritage Operating Truck Company" »

It's summertime in Chicago and for many that means hot days, no school, and summer camp. Summer camps are a way for children to socialize with their peers, occupy their days, and give mom and dad an occasional break. But what happens when the people we entrust our children to do not protect our children? The Illinois wrongful death lawsuit of Estate of Barnabe Lucas, deceased minor v. Christian Youth Center Ministries, et al., 06 L 29, is a parent's worst nightmare.

In 2004, nine year-old Barnabe Lucas was enrolled in a Will County day camp. Like many summer camps, the Christian Youth Center Ministries day camp included several day trips with its campers, including a weekly trip to a nearby wading pond. The pond was owned and operated by Leisure Lake Membership Resort, who did not provide lifeguards, a fact which it alerted bathers to with a clearly posted sign.

Within 30 minutes of arriving at the pond, a fellow day camper discovered Lucas unconscious in 3.5 to 4 feet of water. The camp director immediately pulled Lucas out of the wading pond and began administering CPR; shortly thereafter Lucas was transported to nearby Provena St. Joseph Hospital. He remained unresponsive on a respirator for four days and was then transferred to University of Illinois Medical Center in Chicago for further care. However, just two days after his transfer Lucas died.

Continue reading "Special Needs Child Drowns at Day Camp - $1 Million Jury Verdict in The Estate of Barnabe Lucas, deceased minor v. Christian Youth Center Ministries, et al. " »

Certain jobs carry a degree of risk. For example, while an office worker would not typically be in danger of falling from a scaffold, this is a reality for many construction workers. As a result, these higher risk jobs often have various safety standards and procedures in place to try and minimize the risk for workers. Yet these safety rules are not always followed, which opens manufacturers and construction companies up to liability for workers' injuries.

The Cook County wrongful death lawsuit of Jensen v. Earle M. Jorgensen Co., et al., No. 09 L 2754, involved the death of a worker killed during an industrial accident. The Illinois lawsuit alleged that various entities were involved in maintaining an unsafe environment which resulted in the circumstances that led to Jensen's death.

Twenty-eight year-old Brian Jensen was working as a service technician for Katso, Inc.; in the capacity of his employment, Jensen performed maintenance on Katso products housed at various facilities. At the time of his death, Jensen and some co-workers were performing maintenance and repair work on an automatic storage and retrieval system manufactured by his employer's parent company, Katso Machinenbau GMBH & Co. The machine itself was located at Earle M. Jorgensen, Co., an industrial plant located in Schaumburg, Illinois.

Continue reading "Cook County Industrial Plant Accident Leads to Worker's Death - $1 Million Settlement Reached in Jensen v. Earle M. Jorgensen Co." »

On June 24, 2011, a Union Pacific train traveling from Chicago to California was involved in a railroad crossing accident in rural Nevada. A semitrailer truck ran the crossing and struck the moving train, injuring several passengers and killing the truck driver and a crew member. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is currently conducting an investigation of what caused the crash and how it might have been prevented.

One of the avenues the NTSB is pursuing is whether or not the truck driver's judgment was impaired by drugs or alcohol at the time of the train crossing accident. However, because the driver died as a result of the crash, the NTSB must examine autopsy records in order to make this determination. In addition, the NTSB is reviewing the truck driver's driving history in order to gain insight into what might have happened.

The NTSB is also investigating the extent that the railroad itself contributed to the train accident. The NTSB will make sure that its safety standards were followed and that both the crossing lights and gates were operating correctly at the time of the train accident. However, report released by the Nevada Highway Patrol, who is also investigating the crash, stated that the warning lights and railroad gates were working at the time of the train accident.

Continue reading "Amtrak Train Crash Under Investigation by NTSB" »

Jeep Grand Cherokees might face a recall due to a product defect that causes the increased risk for fuel fires following rear-end collisions. The auto recall would affect 1993 to 2004 Grand Cherokee models; however, Chrysler denies the need for a Jeep recall and the National HIghway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has not yet instituted one. Yet there are at least different three crash tests showing that Grand Cherokees are more likely to catch on fire following rear end collisions that similar SUVs manufactured during the same time period.

The various crash tests were conducted by Karco Engineering and The Federal Outdoor Impact Laboratory; Karco has previously performed crash testing for the NHTSA. One test conducted on 1995, 1996, and 1999 Grand Cherokees resulted in significant gasoline leaks following rear-impact crashes. These gasoline leaks not only put the Jeep passengers at risk, but could also pose a fire threat to the occupants of the striking vehicle.

Likewise, another investigation of Grand Cherokeesfrom 1993-2004 was conducted because of over 254 deaths resulting from "172 fatal fire crashes" involving those Grand Cherokees models. The majority of these investigations are focusing on the Grand Cherokee because of similar results showing that the Grand Cherokee's fuel system is much more likely to pose a fire threat than those used in similar vehicles. For example, comparable Ford Explorer models were much less likely to catch fire following a rear-end collision; in crash tests, Ford Explorers' fuel system typically remained intact following these collisions.

Continue reading " Jeep Grand Cherokees Recall? Crash Tests Show Fire Risk Following Rear-End Collisions" »

The Illinois wrongful death lawsuit of Estate of Richard Schrik, deceased v. Oyindamola Omole, RN, No. 07 L 10740, involved claims that the decedent died as a result of nursing negligence. The nursing home resident fell while under the supervision of a nursing staff member and was the victim of a poor neurological exam by the same nurse.

Richard Schrik had been living at the Howe Development Center, a nursing residence run and operated by the State of Illinois for residents with developmental disabilities. Schrik had severe mental retardation and had been diagnosed with the mental abilities of a three or four year-old. He had been living in state institutions since 1977.

In 2002, Schrik was noted to be running around the residence facility, throwing garbage cans and acting out in general. While running around, Schrik fell and hit his head. His fall resulted in a severe fracture and the hyperextension of his neck, which resulted in a spinal cord injury.

At the time of Schrik's fall, Oyindamola Omole, a registered nurse (RN), was the nurse in charge. While the wrongful death complaint did not hold Nurse Omole responsible for Schrik's fall, it did include claims of nursing negligence regarding the exam she conducted immediately following the decedent's fall.

Continue reading "Disabled Resident's Fall Leads to $400,000 for Surviving Family - Estate of Schrik v. Omole" »

The Illinois Appellate Court clarified definitions of "next of kin" according to the Illinois Wrongful Death Act in its ruling on Judith Baez, etc. v. Garrett Rosenberg, et al., No. 1-10-0090. The appeal in Baez dealt with the allocation of funds from the settlement resulting from a fatal car crash.

In 2008, Rafael Marquez was killed in a Chicago car crash. He was unmarried and survived by his parents. However, within five months of his death, his girlfriend, Jesenia Laureano, gave birth to a baby girl; DNA tests proved that Marquez was the father.

Both Laureano and Marquez's parents brought wrongful death claims against the defendant driver, which were consolidated into one claim in a Cook County court. A $100,000 settlement was reached with the driver's insurance company, which was the amount of the policy's limits.

The $100,000 was distributed among both Marquez's parents and his daughter as follows:

-$27,426 went to Marquez's parents for the loss of their son;
-$27,427 went to Marquez's daughter for the loss of her father;
-$13,041 went to Marquez's parents for reimbursement for funeral expenses;
-$22,222 went to the parents' attorneys' fees; and
-$9,120 went to the baby's attorneys' fees.

Continue reading "Illinois Court Clarifies Definition of "Next of Kin" Under Wrongful Death Act - Baez, etc. v. Rosenberg, etc." »

A second jury verdict has been entered in a wrongful death lawsuit arising out of a Chicago construction site injury that occurred in 2006. The decedent, Charles Ingolia, had been assisting with renovations being made at a Chicago Brown Line El station located at 3360 N. Clark St. The 57 year-old was severely burned in an electrical explosion at the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA)'s substation and died of his injuries three days later. He was survived by his wife and four adult children.

A Chicago jury decided that negligence on behalf of Target Electric, Inc., the company overseeing the electrical components of the renovations, had contributed to Mr. Ingolia's death and entered a jury verdict of $4.1 million in The Estate of Charles Ingolia v. Target Electric, Inc., 06 L 13106. A previous verdict of $6.3 million had been entered in a wrongful death case filed by Mr. Ingolia's family against the CTA; Estate of Charles R. Ingolia v. CTA, et al., 06 L 013106.

Immediately prior to the electrical explosion, Mr. Ingolia had been cleaning a new switchgear cabinet as part of the modifications to the CTA's Brown Line rectifier system. According to the Illinois wrongful death complaint, Ingolia believed that the cabinet's power was off, which influenced his decision to raise his protective shield. When he did so, he essentially exposed himself to 12,600 volts of live electricity, which in turn caused the electrical explosion.

Continue reading "CTA Explosion Leads to $4.1 Million Verdict for Death of Chicago Electrician - Ingolia v. Target Electric, Inc." »

It is one of the first things you learn in driver's ed and is repeated over and over again to new drivers: always keep your eyes on the road. However, this advice is useful not only for new drivers, but for experienced drivers, too. Take for instance the case of Benton Chapman, a 44 year-old truck driver who took his eyes off the road to adjust his radio and caused a multiple car accident on an Illinois expressway, Estate of Lafi Nofal, M.D., deceased, et al. v. Benton Chapman, Cardinal Transport, et al., 06 L 2263.

Immediately prior to the Illinois car crash, Chapman was driving a tractor-trailer truck along Illinois Interstate 55. Traffic was flowing at a reasonable speed and Mr. Chapman looked away from the road for a minute to adjust his XM Satellite radio. However, when he looked back to the roadway, Chapman discovered that the flow of traffic had slowed significantly and that he was driving way too fast.

Unfortunately, Chapman didn't even have enough time to brake before crashing into the car immediately in front of him. Dorothy Walsh, that car's driver, was killed as a result of the rear-end collision. However, Chapman's truck did not stop there, but continued in its path, striking another vehicle driven by Magdi Hussein, a bobtail trailer, and three other vehicles. The severity of the Cook County highway accident caused the Stevenson Expressway to be closed for five hours.

Continue reading "Cook County Multi-Vehicle Rear-End Accident Results in $8.4 Million Jury Verdict - Nofal v. Cardinal Transport, Inc." »

Crib bumper pads have been the topic of debate for several years. While some claim that they are perfectly safe and harmless, others claim that crib bumper pads put infants at risk for suffocating in their cribs. A recent report that the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has not taken adequate steps to investigate crib bumper pads calls into question the product's safety.

Over the years, the CPSC has investigated allegations of babies' dying as a result of suffocating in their crib bumpers. However, it now seems that at least 17 of those cases were not fully investigated by the CPSC. While the agency did look into the infant deaths, it determined that in at least 12 of the 17 cases it was difficult to clearly implicate the crib bumper pads in the infants' deaths. The CPSC instead suggested that the deaths were caused not by the defective bumper pad design, but instead were the result of infants suffocating from pillows or blankets that were also in the cribs.

The American Academy of Pediatrics has taken a much firmer stance than the CPSC, going so far as to urge parents not to use crib bumper pads because of the risk of suffocation. These claims have been supported in autopsy reports conducted by medical examiners and coroners, who have affirmed that bumper pads were involved in the infant suffocations. In light of all this evidence, the CPSC must now decide whether it is safe for parents to continue using this crib product.

Continue reading "Infant Deaths Caused by Crib Bumpers - Safety Agency Needs Stricter Investigation Standards" »

A $2.5 million settlement was reached in the Illinois wrongful death case of Estate of Shelty J. Jones v. Stimson Lumber Co., et al., No. 06 L 1611. The claim against was filed on behalf of a Home Depot employee who was injured at work in 2004 and then died five years later from a prescription drug overdose. The medication, Fentanyl, had been prescribed for pain associated with the worker's 2004 injuries.

In May 2004, Jones was working at a Home Depot warehouse as a forklift operator. As he was attempting to load a thousand pounds of stacked lumber into a train boxcar, the lumber fell onto Jones. As a result, Jones suffered a severe pelvic injury, which required five surgeries.

During the course of Jones's treatment and recovery he was prescribed Fentanyl to relieve his back pain. Fentanyl is an opiate analgesic that is typically prescribed to treat severe pain, but can sometimes be prescribed to treat chronic pain. Fentanyl is similar to morphine, but is more powerful.

Continue reading "Home Depot Worker Injury Leads to $2.5 Million Settlement; Jones v. Stimson Lumber Co." »

An Illinois judge approved a $5 million settlement in a trucking accident lawsuit brought by the estate of an Illinois civil attorney who was killed in a two-vehicle accident near Streator, Illinois. The settlement in Estate of Richard J. Berry v. OSF Healthcare System Corp., et al., No. 10 L 14, represents one of the largest personal injury settlements in LaSalle County, Illinois.

The decedent, Richard Berry, was a partner in his own firm and had been practicing law in Illinois since the mid-1970s. Mr. Berry was widely respected in the legal community and was known to be a very capable trial lawyer. The Illinois wrongful death lawsuit was brought by his wife and three adult children, all of which will receive a portion of the Illinois settlement.

The Illinois wrongful death lawsuit was brought against OSF Healthcare System Corp., a Peoria-based company; its subsidiary, OSF Saint Francis, Inc.; and David DeFrance, the other driver involved in the two-vehicle accident which led to Berry's death. All parties involved contributed to the $5 million settlement to Mr. Berry's surviving family members.

Continue reading "$5 Million Settlement Approved in Illinois Truck Crash - Berry v. OSF Healthcare System" »

The United States Supreme Court has ruled that a family is allowed to pursue its lawsuit in California against Mazda Motors of American, Inc. in the case of The Estate of Thanh Williamson v. Mazda, 08-1314. The product liability lawsuit deals with claims that the auto company's 1993 Mazda MPV minivan were unsafe because the middle seat of the vehicle's second row was only equipped with lap seat belts.

The wrongful death lawsuit was filed after Thanh Williamson, a Utah mother, died in a 2002 auto crash. Mrs. Williamson was seatbelted into the back middle seat of the family's Mazda minivan at the time of the car crash. According to eyewitnesses of the car accident, the impact of the car crash caused Mrs. Williamsons’s body to jackknife around the lap seat belt, which resulted in her fatal internal injuries.

Again, central to the estate's product liability claim was that the seatbelt the late Mrs. Williamson was using was not equipped with a harness or shoulder belt. However, this option is not required by federal regulations. While federal law does require that a vehicle's front and rear outer seats come equipped with both lap and shoulder belts, car manufacturers may decide whether or not to also provide this option in their middle or aisle seats.

Continue reading "Mazda Seat Belt Case to go to Trial After Woman Dies - Williamson v. Mazda " »

A Cook County, Illinois jury returned a $6.3 million verdict in an Illinois wrongful death case where a 57 year –old electrician died after he was electrocuted and burned in an electrical explosion while working at the Chicago Transit Authority Brown Line substation in 2006.

Charles Ingolia was working under the defendant Target Electric which was serving as the subcontractor overseeing the electrical phase of the project involving the addition of a new rectifier system to power the CTA Brown Line trains and the renovation of the substation near 3360 N. Clark St., Chicago, Illinois. Mr. Ingolia survived two days after the explosion and then passed away.

At the trial in Estate of Charles R. Ingolia v. CTA, et al., 06 L 013106, the family’s lawyers argued that the subcontractor overseeing the electrical phase of the project were responsible for Mr. Ingolia’s injuries and wrongful death. It was also contended that Mr. Ingolia was inadequately instructed on how to clean the new electrical system because it was “going to” be energized. The estate alleged that Target Electric sent the electrician into a 12,600 volt switchgear cabinet without informing him that a portion of the electrical equipment had been energized.

Continue reading "Cook County Construction Accident Verdict Awards $6.3 Million Against Subcontractor for Death of Electrician in Estate of Ingolia v. CTA, et al." »

In the Illinois auto accident lawsuit of Corinne Thompson v. Christie Gordon, et al., No. 110066 (IL Sup. Ct.), the Illinois Supreme Court held that an engineer does not have to be professionally licensed in Illinois in order to qualify as an "expert" witness in an Illinois civil lawsuit. The Supreme Court's decision affirmed the decision made by the appellate court; however, it reversed the circuit court's ruling that the civil engineer hired by the plaintiff needed to be licensed in the state of Illinois in order to testify as an expert witness in the pending civil suit.

In Illinois, qualifications for various types of trial witnesses are established under Illinois Supreme Court Rule 213. A civil engineer, such as the one in Thompson, who is hired to testify as to the standard of care within his or her professional field, would be handled under Rule 213(f)(3). This section deals with "controlled expert witnesses," i.e., the party's retained expert, and requires the party to provide the expert's qualifications to provide opinions on the specialized subject matter.

In Thompson, it was these qualifications that were up for debate. While the plaintiff held that its civil engineer was qualified to testify based on his experience and education, the defendants held that without being professionally licensed in Illinois he could not provide opinions as to the standard of care required of the defendants' engineers and contractors. The defendants brought a motion to strike the civil engineer's testimony as to the design defects of a highway intersection, which was granted by the circuit court. Plaintiffs appealed this decision; without the civil engineer's expert testimony it would be almost impossible for the plaintiff to prove her claims against the defendants.

Continue reading "Illinois Engineering Expert Qualifications Clarified by Illinois Supreme Court in Thompson v. Gordon, et al." »

A Cook County verdict was handed down on an Illinois personal injury and wrongful death claim involving a father and son who were both injured in the same Illinois construction site accident. The Illinois wrongful death claim was filed on behalf of the father, Herman Calloway, Sr., who was killed instantly at the construction site, ; Estate of Herman Calloway, Sr. v. Bovis Lend Lease, Inc., No. 05 L 8589, while the straight personal injury claim was filed on behalf of the son, Herman Calloway, Jr., who suffered permanent disabling injuries as a result of the construction site injury, Herman Calloway, Jr. v. Bovis Lend Lease, Inc., No. 06 L 2005. The jury found in favor of both plaintiffs for a total of $8.5 million in damages for both claims.

The Illinois construction site accident occurred in 2005, when both Calloway, Sr. and Calloway, Jr. were attempting to locate an electrical line at a construction site at Warrenville South High School. At the time, the Calloways were working in a trench that had been dug in order to allow them to locate the electrical line. Typically, when construction workers dig a trench they use a trench box to support it. A trench box is a metal box that construction workers use to prevent workers from trench cave-ins. Without the trench box there is no support to the walls of the trench and nothing to prevent the trench from caving in.

However, the area where the Calloways were working contained pre-existing manholes, the location of which prevented the construction workers from using the trench boxes. The construction workers did make an attempt to use the trench box, but had to remove it after discovering that the box would not fit. Instead of stopping the job while they worked to find an alternate solution, the job superintendant informed the crew that they still needed to locate the electrical line in that area.

Continue reading "Cook County Construction Site Accident Leads to $8.5 Million Verdict for Two Injured Construction Workers - Calloway Jr. and Calloway Sr. v. Bovis Lend Lease, Inc." »

The Illinois Court of Claims awarded $8 million to the surviving family of two sisters who died after an Illinois state trooper crashed his patrol car into the teens' car in November 2007. Former-State Trooper Mitchell was found guilty of reckless driving and to have breached his duty of exercising reasonable care while on the job, a breach which the court held was the cause of the two teens' deaths. Kimberly Dorsey, as Executer of the Estates of Jessica Uhl and Kimberly Uhl v. State of Illinois, 08-CC-2945.

At the time of the Illinois auto crash, Trooper Matt Mitchell was talking on his cell phone to his girlfriend and emailing another trooper for directions, all while driving 126 mph on his way to another accident. At the time of the Illinois car crash, 18 year-old Jessica Uhl and 13 year-old Kimberly Uhl were driving in the opposite direction along Interstate 64 near Illinois Route 158. Mitchell lost control of his vehicle, which then jumped the median and crashed into the Uhl's car. Both girls perished in the fiery crash.

Mitchell testified that another vehicle had cut him off before he lost control, which was the real cause of the Illinois car crash. However, there were no other witnesses to collaborate his testimony and the Illinois Court of Claims was reluctant to believe his testimony after Mitchell affirmed that he had lied under oath just three days earlier during the criminal trial that resulted from the Illinois highway accident.

Continue reading "Illinois Highway Accident Involving Cell Phone Use Results in $8 Million to Two Teens' Surviving Family Members - Illinois State Trooper Held Responsible in Uhl v. State of Illinois" »

An Illinois personal injury lawsuit recently received a jury verdict of $4 million; the case involved an Illinois highway accident that left both the defendant truck driver and a little girl dead. The verdict was against a truck driver, Wayne Garfoot, and his trucking company, Garfoot Trucking, Inc. in The Estate of Santos v. Garfoot Trucking, Inc..

In January, 2005, Richard Santos was driving on Interstate 90 with his two-year old daughter, Amanda, in the passenger seat. The Santos' vehicle was approaching an Illinois toll plaza when it was rear-ended by the defendant, Wayne Garfoot, who was driving a tractor-trailer truck. The truck drove over the car, crushing and killing two-year old Amanda. Garfoot also died as a result of the Illinois truck accident.

Amanda's estate alleged that the defendant truck driver was driving too fast for conditions and did not maintain a safe speed as he was approaching the Illinois toll plaza. Because the defendant truck driver had died in the Illinois truck accident, an Illinois state trooper was called to testify as an accident reconstruction expert at the trial.

Continue reading "Tractor-Trailer Truck Accident Leads to Death of Two-Year Old Girl - $4 Million Verdict in Estate of Santos v. Garfoot Trucking, Inc." »

A recent Illinois wrongful death lawsuit was awarded $1 million by an Illinois jury that found the defendant, William Barham, guilty of the negligence that led to his friend's death in Estate of Isom v. Barham, 00 L 63. The case arose out of an Illinois car crash involving the defendant and the decedent, Jerry Isom. Barham was allegedly driving when the car ran off of the road and collided with a tree, killing Isom on impact.

Barham and Isom were the only two people in the vehicle and subsequently the only two injured as a result of the Illinois car accident. Both men were employed at the Shawnee Correctional Center, and were in fact driving an Illinois Department of Corrections vehicle at the time of the Illinois car crash. There was evidence that Barham had been drinking prior to the car accident.

The Illinois wrongful death lawsuit was brought by the estate of the decedent, Jerry Isom; he was survived by a wife and four children. The estate claimed that as the driver of the vehicle that Barham should be held responsible for Isom's death. However, Barham claimed that he was not the driver, but that Isom had in fact been driving at the time of the Illinois car crash.

Continue reading "Illinois Wrongful Death Case After Single-Vehicle Car Crash Gets $1 Million Jury Award – Estate of Isom v. Barham" »

A 32 year-old woman who was killed on Halloween in 2008 when a tractor-trailer rear-ended her stopped truck on Route 47 in Huntley, Illinois. The Illinois wrongful death case was settled for $6.5 million, which included severe injuries for the woman’s husband and young son. Carroll, et al. v. Geils Farms, LLC, et al., No. 09 L 39 consolidated with No. 10 L 1222.

The wrongful death lawsuit that was filed in Kane County, Illinois, by the family of the woman, claimed that the driver of the tractor-trailer was under the influence of drugs at the time of the truck accident. The truck also was alleged to have been unsafe because it was over-loaded; it weighed more than 80,000 lbs. In addition, the vehicle’s brakes were out of adjustment and some of the brake pads were contaminated by oil and grease.

The owner of the truck was a farm known as Geils Farms. In addition to the 32 year-old woman, her husband and son were both badly injured.

The driver of the truck who was alleged to be under the influence of marijuana. He is now serving a 45 month sentence in Illinois state prison.

Continue reading "Illinois Wrongful Death Truck Crash Results in $6.5 Million Settlement - Carroll, et al. v. Geils Farms, LLC, et al." »

Two railroads have been sued following the death of 26 year-old Katie Lunn. Ms. Lunn, was killed when an Amtrak train travelling 70 mph struck her SUV which was stopped on the tracks in heavy traffic. The Illinois train accident took place on Stuenkel Road and Governors Highway in south suburban Monee, Illinois.

The Federal Railroad Administration had determined that before the Illinois train crash, flashing lights, bells and crossing gates had been inadvertently turned off while repairs were being made.

An Illinois train accident lawsuit was filed in the Circuit Court of Cook County claiming negligence on the part of Illinois Central Railroad and Wisconsin Central, Ltd. The two railroads are owned by the Canadian National Railway Company.

Although the federal investigation had cleared Amtrak of any responsibility for causing the incident, Amtrak could still be on the hook to pay for the wrongful death of Ms. Lunn. That may be because Amtrak had an operating agreement with Illinois Central that required it to indemnify and hold harmless Illinois Central against any negligence or fault on the part of Illinois Central or its employees. This is a typical type of indemnification clause found in many cooperating contracts.

Continue reading "Illinois Family Sues for Wrongful Death of Daughter Killed by Amtrak Train" »

A 17 year-old boy was killed when the four-story city parking garage’s interior metal staircase collapsed. Chris Gaston was found the next morning dead from severe head injuries. Chris Gaston’s father, on behalf of his estate, brought an Illinois personal injury lawsuit against the City of Danville claiming that it had been aware that the staircase was in hazardous condition because of lack of repair, but chose not to correct the defect. Gaston v. City of Danville, 912 N.E.2d 771 (Ill.App. 2009).

It was the opinion of the expert for the Gaston family that the Illinois personal injury occurred when Chris was coming down from the third floor landing midway between the second and third floor is when the wells between the stair stringers to the midway landing broke, causing the stairs to drop downward and hang. This sent Gaston to the landing below. When the welded connection at the third floor landing broke, the entire stair branch slid down the railing striking Gaston on the back of the head.

The evidence in the Illinois personal injury case showed that for more than four years before this incident, a different stair stringer had separated from one of the landings. After a structural engineer inspected the staircase and recommended certain repair options, including repairing and replacing the second floor landing only, no action was taken. A professional engineer than opined that an accumulation of packed rust was weakening the metal and causing broken wells in a number of areas.

Continue reading "Verdict for Teen Dies of Head Injuries in Stairway Collapse Upheld By Illinois Appeallate Court - Gaston v. City of Danville" »

A Cook County jury has determined that the company engaging a torch-cutter is responsible for worker's wrongful death. The jury verdict was $734,400. Fernando Corral, age 51, was working as a torch-cutter at Mervis Industries, Inc. cutting a portion of a single-deck rail car when a piece of steel fell on him causing his wrongful death. He was survived by his wife and four children.

The family of Mr. Corral brought an Illinois wrongful death lawsuit alleging that the defendant company, Mervis, chose not to make the area where Mr. Corral was working safe, that it should have recognized the hazards involved in torch-cutting work and guarded against those hazards.

The Illinois wrongful death case had a complicated past. A motion for summary judgment was first granted by a trial judge indicating that Mervis did not owe a duty to Corral because he was working for an independent contractor at the time of this incident.

Continue reading "Illinois Wrongful Death Jury Verdict of $734,400 Awarded for Worker Killed During Torch Cutting of Rail Car" »

An Illinois family was decimated by the wrongful death of a 27 year old woman, April Simmons, who was eight months pregnant when the vehicle driven by John Homatas ran head-on into her SUV near South Elgin, Illinois. The Illinois wrongful death lawsuit claimed that the West Chicago strip club, Diamonds Gentlemen's Club, owned and operated by On Stage Productions, Inc., was negligent when its employees assisted an apparently drunk patron, John Homatas, and his friend into Homatas's car, Simmons v. Homatas, 236 Ill.2d 459, 925 N.E.2d 1089 (Ill. 2010), and thus was liable for the Illinois car and SUV accident.

The Illinois wrongful death case revolved around the fact that the drunk driver and another man had gotten drunk at the club and were ejected by bouncers. Homatas was seen in the club's men's room vomiting. The employees then escorted Homatas and John Chiarello out of the club. The Illinois car crash with woman's vehicle occurred only fifteen minutes after Homatas left Diamonds. Chiarello was also killed.

The strip club does not serve liquor, but patrons were allowed to bring their own. Because of that fact, Diamonds argued it was not responsible for Homatas' bad acts. In fact the Illinois wrongful death case had been argued in the circuit court on Diamonds' motion to dismiss. The motion was denied and an appeal was taken. The review went all the way to the Illinois Supreme Court, which ruled that the club did make itself accountable for Homatas. The facts were that the bouncers had instructed the valet service to bring around Homatas' car to the front and left it running for him.

Continue reading "Strip Club Settles Drunken-Driving Lawsuit For $1 Million- Simmons v. Homatas" »

An Illinois wrongful death case recently settled in Will County for $5 million. The case was brought by the estate of a 57 year-old married mother of two adult children after she was killed in an Illinois auto accident. Estate of Heinz v. Messel, et al., No. 07 L 0090.

The highway crash took place on I-55, a highway connecting Chicago to St. Louis. The decedent driver was traveling northbound on the highway in the area of the Plainfield Township when a car driving southbound crossed the grassy median separating the different directions of traffic and crashed into the woman's vehicle. The head-on crash caused the decedent's car to flip over and land in a ditch off to the side of the highway.

An investigation of the accident revealed that the at fault driver was intoxicated at the time of the Illinois car crash. Whenever an Illinois car accident involves a DUI, the Illinois state's attorney can bring his/her own criminal charges against the offending driver. Under Illinois law, a person may be deemed intoxicated if their blood alcohol content (BAC) is measured at .08 or higher. Presumably some sort of action was taken in response to the fatal car accident; however, the criminal action would have been completely separate from the civil action involving the wrongful death claims.

Continue reading "Fatal Illinois Highway Accident Case Settles for $5 Million - Estate of Heinz v. Messel, et al." »

An Illinois nursing home abuse lawsuit was recently the subject of a review by the Illinois Appellate Court; Peterson v. Residential Alternatives of Illinois, Inc., No. 3-09-0743. The court reviewed whether the Illinois nursing home had the right to demand the decedent's estate arbitrate its two-count complaint claiming a wrongful death count and a survival action count under the Illinois Nursing Home Care Act.

The trial court upheld the defendant's right to arbitrate and denied plaintiff's request for a jury trial. This arbitration clause issue was recently ruled on by the Illinois Supreme Court in Carter v. SSC Odin Operating Co., LLC, No. 106511 (4/15/10), where the Court upheld the nursing home's right to arbitrate in Illinois nursing home abuse cases.

The main issue in both Peterson and Carter revolves around the signed arbitration agreement. However, while in Carter the arbitration language was included in the nursing home care contract, in Peterson the arbitration agreement was a separate document. It seems that this seemingly small difference has in fact resulted in a very different legal outcome in Peterson.

The Appellate Court held that even though the two documents were signed on the same date that there was no evidence that they should be taken as one unified document. The language used in the arbitration agreement was very vague and never specifically referred to the nursing home care contract, nor did the nursing home care contract ever refer to the arbitration agreement. Specifically, the arbitration agreement stated, "Notwithstanding the parties intent to submit any controversy or claim arising out of or relating to this agreement or any other document signed or initialed in connection with this agreement to arbitration."

While the court noted that prior case law has supported the connection between two separate documents signed at the same time, the law requires that "an enforceable contract must be premised on language that is definite and certain as to all essential terms." Academy Chicago Publishers v. Cheever, 144 Ill. 2d1224, 30 (1991). The court found that the language included in the arbitration agreement did not satisfy this requirement.

Continue reading "Illinois Nursing Home Arbitration Clause Subject of Recent Illinois Appellate Court Decision" »

The Illinois Appellate Court has affirmed in part and reversed in part a ruling by a Lake County, Illinois circuit court judge regarding parents' liability when minors consume alcohol at their home. The decision in Bell v. Hutsell, No. 2-09-0577, involves a case where two 18 year-old males who had been drinking at the defendants' home were killed after their car crashed into a tree.

The Illinois wrongful death lawsuit was filed by the mother of the driver of the vehicle and alleged that the defendants were negligent when they failed to prevent their underage guests from consuming alcohol on their property and that the defendants were in violation of the Illinois Liquor Control Act because they failed to control access to alcohol on their premises. Both decedents had attended a party at the defendants' residence hosted by their son where alcohol was being consumed.

According to the case facts, the defendants had informed their son that they would not allow any alcoholic beverages at his party and that they would be home and checking up on the teenagers to ensure there was no drinking. The defendants removed all the alcohol from the basement where the party was held and instead stocked it with soda. However, the facts further show that the defendant parents were in fact at the party when people were drinking. Witnesses further confirmed that the decedent driver was drinking at the party and was impaired when he left it.

Continue reading "Minors Drinking Alcohol Decision: Social Host Liability Against Parents Reviewed By Illinois Appellate Court" »

The Illinois Supreme Court is in the process of reviewing an Illinois wrongful death case involving a construction worker who fell to his death from a scaffold. The case of Ready v. United/Goedecke Services, Inc., No. 108910 had already been reviewed by the Illinois Supreme Court and remanded to the Appellate Court. However, Ready returned to the Illinois Supreme Court for review after the Illinois Appellate Court disregarded the higher court's mandate.

In Ready, the Illinois wrongful death claim was brought by the construction worker's widow against the owner of the plant where decedent was working, the general contractor for the construction job, and a scaffolding subcontractor. Prior to the 2003 Cook County trial both the plant owner and the general contractor settled with the decedent's widow regarding the Illinois construction site injury.

However, the scaffolding contractor elected to go to trial where a $14 million verdict was entered in favor of decedent's estate. The jury did find that the plaintiff-decedent contributed to his own fall, valuing his contributory-negligence for the construction site injury at 35%. Therefore, since the plaintiff-decedent was 35% responsible, the $14 million verdict was reduced by 35%, or $4.2 million. The verdict was further reduced by the value of the settlements already secured by plaintiff so that in the end the verdict was reduced by almost $8 million.

Continue reading "Scaffolding Death of Construction Worker Case Reviewed By Illinois Supreme Court For Sole Proximate Cause" »

In the recently-filed Illinois product liability case of Padilla v. Hunter Douglas Window Coverings, Inc., No. 09-cv-1222 (Jan 19, 2010), the Northern District of Illinois Court reviewed the Plaintiff's Complaint to determine whether the plaintiff's complaint set out sufficient claims of liability against the three defendants. While the court ultimately decided that there were sufficient claims for potential negligence and liability on behalf of the defendants, if it had ruled that the plaintiff had not established a sufficient claim then the Illinois product liability claim would have been dismissed.

The review of the complaint in this lawsuit was prompted by the defense filing a Motion to Dismiss pursuant to the Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). Under the Federal Rule 12(b)(6), the Court examines the Complaint to ensure it satisfies the following requirements:

• provides a clear and concise claim showing that the plaintiffs are entitled to receive relief from the defendants and that the defendants had fair notice of the underlying problem;

• a set of facts that are sufficient to support its arguments of liability on behalf of the defendant(s).

The Illinois product liability lawsuit was filed after the plaintiff's toddler died after becoming entangled in a metal cord at his home's mini blinds. The complaint was direct towards product's manufacturer, Hunter Douglas Window Covering, and two industry trade groups involved in reviewing the safety of the mini blinds in question. Defendant WCMA is a window covering industry trade group responsible for the development and implementation of manufacturing standards. Defendant WCSC is a coalition of window covering manufacturers set up to correct the strangulation hazard posed by window coverings, such as those involved in Padilla.

Continue reading "Illinois Product Liability Claim Underscores the Importance of Filing a Well-Drafted Complaint" »

Picking the right daycare center is an important decision for Illinois residents. Entrusting your child in the care of others requires not only careful research on the part of the parents, but also requires a high degree of trust. A recent Illinois wrongful death settlement is an example of a parent's worst nightmare when it comes to daycare.

The recent Illinois settlement was reached between the family of a child and the daycare center where the toddler had been placed at. The settlement was reached after it was determined that the daycare had violated an Illinois law that stated that two daycare workers were required to be in the center's toddler room at all times.

The Illinois wrongful death claim against the daycare comes after the death of the 16-month old toddler after a daycare worker threw the child to the ground. The daycare worker was alleged frustrated because other toddlers in the room were fussing.

Continue reading "Illinois Wrongful Death Lawsuit Against Lake County Daycare Center Settled" »

While crossing a Chicago west side intersection with her sister, an 18-year-old woman was struck by a bus. The woman’s estate filed suit against the bus driver and the private bus company for the wrongful death of the decedent.

In any wrongful death case certain criteria must be met. Negligence must be established on behalf of the defendant and the death must be determined to be the result of the defendant’s actions. Furthermore, if the decedent left behind dependents and the dependents suffered monetary damages as a result of the death, then a wrongful death case may be filed.

In Illinois, and in many other states, a pedestrian in the crosswalk always has the right of way. This means that drivers must always stop for pedestrians in crosswalks, even if the light is red and the pedestrian is walking against the light. Therefore, it is important that the driver of any vehicle exercise due care while crossing an intersection and be cautious and mindful of any pedestrians attempting to cross the street.

Continue reading "Fatal Chicago Bus Accident Reaches Settlement in Wrongful Death Case" »

Illinois construction companies have an obligation to provide a safe work environment for their employees and do what they can to avoid Illinois construction site accidents. Because of this duty on the part of construction companies, Illinois construction workers can generally assume that the equipment and materials at a construction site are safe and hazard-free.

However, sometimes this is not the reality, in which case an Illinois construction site injury can result from the failure of a construction company to provide a safe and healthy work environment. Consider the case of Diaz v. Archer Daniels Midland Company, 07 L 142 (Ill., Macon County), in which a 26 year-old construction worker was fatally injured as a result of an Illinois construction site accident.

At the time of his Illinois construction site injury, Francisco Garcia was working for a contractor who had been hired to perform work at the Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) Bioproducts plant. Garcia was busy insulating pipes 15 feet in the air while harnessed to a scissors lift. While Garcia was working, a nearby waste compression system over-pressurized, spraying him with scalding steam, toxic chemicals and boiling water.

Continue reading "Illinois Chemical Accident at Construction Site Leads to Worker's Death: Illinois Jury Finds For Worker's Estate" »

Oftentimes cancer medical negligence cases in Illinois hinge on a failure to diagnose cancer in a timely manner. However, a recent Chicago wrongful death settlement deals with a different type of medical negligence surrounding a cancer patient's treatment. In this case a woman with endometrial cancer died as a result of a perforated bowel, which her estate claimed was the result of her receiving 50 percent more radiation than was necessary.

Decedent Patricia Quirk was diagnosed with stage three endometrial cancer and received all of her radiation treatments at Chicago's Little Company of Mary Hospital. While the first third of her radiation treatments were appropriate, it was the last two-thirds of her radiation treatment that resulted in the Chicago hospital's medical negligence. In essence, the decedent was 'over-radiated', receiving two times as much radiation at each treatment than was necessary and safe.

Even radiation given in appropriate amounts comes with some negative side effects, including nausea, fatigue/malaise, and hair loss. Yet when given in overwhelmingly large amounts, radiation can have disastrous effects on one's body, as the decedent's case unfortunately illustrates. The large doses of radiation eventually caused decedent's bowel to perforate, or tear, which resulted in a blood infection and her eventual death.

Continue reading "Excess Radiation Treatment Results in Chicago Medical Settlement in Cancer Patient's Death" »

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.

Continue reading "Illinois Wrongful Death Case Brought by Family of Man Who Died of a Brain Injury When Brain Bleed Not Recognized" »

A recent Cook County trucking accident settlement raises some interesting question about driver responsibility. The Cook County wrongful death lawsuit was brought by the family of a 47 year-old Illinois auto worker who was killed in a collision with a truck.

The surviving truck driver was not fluent in English and admittedly could not read English. The truck driver therefore was unable to read highway signs warning drivers that an accident had occurred up ahead and advising them to slow down. The truck driver did not slow down and crashed into the rear end of the decedent's pick-up truck, which was then propelled forwarded and pinned against the median wall. The decedent was trapped in the vehicle as it ignited in flames.

The decedent's estate claimed that the truck driver was an employee of Ford Air, Inc. and that the company knew or should have know that the driver could not speak or read English. Federal law requires truck drivers to have enough knowledge of English to be able to converse with a police officer. The idea is that in the event of an accident those with commercial driving licenses should be able to provide details about the chain of events. The truck driver in this case clearly did not meet this federal standard, which the estate claimed contributed to the Cook County trucking accident.

Continue reading "Cook County Trucking Accident Results in Wrongful Death Claim" »

A recently settled Illinois wrongful death case presented a unique theory of liability that targeted the owner of a restaurant more so than the driver who caused the Illinois car accident.

The decedent was tragically killed when an 85 year-old man mistakenly accelerated instead of braking, crashing his Chrysler Sebring into a Subway sandwich shop at a busy Chicago intersection. The decedent was killed when the driver's vehicle slammed into the store and pinned the patron between the car and the restaurant counter.

The decedent's estate relied on the Illinois Supreme Court case of Marshall v. Burger King Corp., 222 Ill.2d 422 (2006), in which the Illinois Supreme Court overturned a “no-duty” ruling of the trial court and determined that business owners had the duty to protect patrons from out-of-control vehicles crashing through their walls. Targeting the owner of the premises, in this case Subway, set the current case apart from many other theories of liability. The estate alleged that Subway's negligence in preventing the Illinois car accident was foreseeable because of the poorly designed parking lot and the lack of protective barriers between the lot and the front of the restaurant.

Continue reading "Illinois Car Crash Death Case Settled: Chain Restaurant Held Liable" »

A recent Illinois settlement in a Cook County medical malpractice claim sought to compensate the family of a 53 year-old man who died during a heart transplant surgery. The issue in the Illinois wrongful death case was whether the man would have even required the surgery if his internist had correctly interpreted test results from several years preceding his death.

The decedent had undergone regular annual exams with his internist, which each year included an electrocardiogram (EKG) that was performed by the internist. EKGs are typically used to analyze a patient's heart rhythm and identify any abnormalities. The internist interpreted all of the decedent's EKGs from 1998 to 2002 to be normal.

However, in November 2002, the man suffered a massive heart attack, which resulted in extensive heart damage. At that point a triple bypass surgery was performed and a pacemaker was placed. However, from this point forward the man was unable to continue his previously-active lifestyle due to his congestive heart failure. Nor was he able to return to his job as a baggage handler because it was too demanding considering his present condition.

Continue reading "Cook County Medical Malpractice Settlement Reached For Misread Of Abnormal EKGs" »

An Illinois resident suffered respiratory failure after being prescribed a narcotic pain reliever following a minor motorcycle accident. The pain reliever also happened to be a respiratory suppressor, which, when coupled with his pre-existing history of sleep apnea, led to his untimely death as a result of the Illinois physician's medical negligence.

Sleep apnea is a chronic disease that involves pauses in breathing while sleeping. The pauses can range anywhere from a few seconds to several minutes and can occur anywhere from five to fifty times in an hour. The decedent's sleep apnea put him at increased risk for respiratory complications.

During the decedent's hospital stay at Edward Hospital in Naperville, the defendant doctor allegedly prescribed the patient a dose of the narcotic pain reliever that exceeded the therapeutic levels in light of his pre-existing sleep apnea. This Illinois medication error directly affected his ability to breathe and led to his wrongful death on the fifth day of his hospitalization as a result of the medical malpractice.

Continue reading "Illinois Wrongful Death Case Settled: Physician To Pay $1.2 Million To Surviving Family Members Of A Man With A History of Sleep Apnea" »

The family of a 39 year-old woman brought an Illinois wrongful death lawsuit against MacNeal Hospital and other medical professionals. The decedent had allegedly died as a result of medical negligence related to her gastric bypass surgery. A settlement of $3 million was reached between the decedent's surviving sister and the hospital, nurses and resident physicians.

In the complaint, the decedent's estate claimed that the medical providers had failed to recognize a leak at the surgical site in a timely manner, and that this failure constituted Illinois medical malpractice. Following the gastric bypass surgery, decedent developed a leak in the area that the small intestine had been sewn up. Before the leak was identified the Illinois resident developed sepsis.

The leak was not recognized until the decedent returned to the emergency room with signs and symptoms of sepsis. These symptoms could include rapid respiratory rate, elevated blood pressure, and elevated temperatures. She was taken to emergency exploratory surgery, where the leak was discovered and repaired. Yet by this time her situation had become grave. She died the next day from peritonitis and multi-system organ failure.

Continue reading "Gastric Bypass Surgery Complications Lead to Death of Illinois Woman: Family Receives Cook County Settlement" »

An Illinois wrongful death case was recently tried and found in favor of the decedent's widow, who was awarded $5 million by the Cook County jury. The verdict was against Metra and found the Chicago-based railroad liable for the Illinois train accident that caused the decedent's death.

On the day of the Illinois train accident, the decedent was standing on a train platform at a Berwyn, Illinois train station and waiting for a train to take him to work. He was waiting in the same place he waited every morning, on the northeast corner of the platform. However, on that day the commuter train that normally arrived on the south platform had been re-routed to the station's north platform due to the approach of an unscheduled freight train, which required the waiting commuters to move to a different track.

A ticketing agent informed those commuters waiting on the south platform of the change in tracks and suggested they cross the train tracks while the gates were down. An announcement was also made over the public address system, however, the north platform that the decedent was standing on was not equipped with speakers. Therefore, what the blind decedent heard was an unclear, muffled message to which he responded to by crossing the tracks.

Continue reading "Illinois Metra Train Accident Results in $5 Million Verdict to Widow of Legally Blind Man" »

In many Illinois medical malpractice cases time is of the essence and can make the difference between a positive or a negative outcome. A recent Chicago wrongful death case typifies this point. The case was brought against a suburban Chicago hospital for the death of a 22 year-old woman who developed sepsis and acute respiratory distress syndrome.

The Chicago lawsuit claimed that the hospital's nursing staff discharged the patient despite her continued symptoms of nausea, severe abdominal pain, and faintness following surgery to treat her endometriosis. The woman returned to the hospital within less than 24 hours after her discharge, this time with complaints of extreme pain. She was prescribed an antibiotic, but it was not actually administered to her until 8 hours after it was ordered. Furthermore, the cause of her severe pain was not discovered for over 18 hours after she returned to the emergency room, depleting even more crucial hours in this woman's care.

During exploratory surgery it was discovered that she had suffered a perforation in her small bowel, presumably during her recent surgery to treat her endometriosis. Even though surgeons were able to repair the perforated bowel, by this time it was too late. The patient's condition worsened and she was dead by the following day.

Continue reading "Illinois Wrongful Death Case Results from Chicago Hospital's Negligence" »

In 2007, an Illinois factory worker was driving a motorcycle when an SUV turned in front of him, killing him instantly in the collision that followed. The decedent's family brought an Illinois wrongful death lawsuit against the college student who was driving the SUV and received a settlement of $3 million.

Many drivers forget that automobiles and motorcycles function very differently and each have their own strengths and weaknesses. While a motorcycle is quick and easy to maneuver through traffic, it is also difficult to see. Whereas while it is hard to avoid seeing an SUV, it does have the disadvantage of being difficult to maneuver.

Prior to the settlement in this Illinois motorcycle accident case, the defense attorneys argued that the motorcyclist was at fault for not keeping a proper lookout of the SUV's activity. But the obvious retort to this is that the SUV did not keep a proper lookout when he entered the motorcyclist's lane. When driving it is important to remember to pay attention not only to your own vehicle, but to all of those vehicles around you.

Continue reading "Illinois Motorcycle Accident Results in Factory Worker's Death" »

An Illinois medical malpractice lawsuit was decided by Chicago Federal District Court Judge Robert M. Dow, Jr., who awarded $3.75 million to the child's surviving family. The case had been brought in federal court versus an Illinois state court because the defendant physician was employed by a government operated facility, which brought the case under federal jurisdiction.

The case involved a 13 year-old girl who had presented to her physician with sinusitis, which the physician failed to diagnose. Following the bench trial, Judge Dow concluded that had the sinusitis been diagnosed that it probably would not have developed into bacterial meningitis, which would have increased her chance of survival.

Prior to seeing her physician, the girl had been seen at a hospital emergency room. However, the defendant physician failed to review these records when treating the girl, which the judge found to be a breach of the required standard of care. Furthermore, the physician failed to question the decedent as to the degree of her headaches, which would have been a key piece of information in diagnosing the severity of her symptoms. No antibiotics were prescribed to the girl to aid her in fighting off her infections.

Continue reading "Chicago Wrongful Death Case Involving Failure to Diagnose Meningitis of Thirteen Year-Old Girl Awarded $3.75 Million By Federal Judge" »

A $2 million settlement was awarded to the family of a 58 year-old man who died when his lung cancer went undiagnosed. The Illinois wrongful death lawsuit was filed against the decedent's family practice physician and an emergency medicine physician who provided treatment at Alexian Brothers Medical Center. The Cook County settlement was reached before this failure to diagnose cancer case went to trial.

The decedent's estate claimed that the Alexian Brothers emergency room physician had misread a chest x-ray taken of the decedent. However, the same film was correctly interpreted by a radiologist the following day as showing a lesion on his lung. The hospital failed to notify the decedent regarding the discrepancy in the interpretation. The decedent's family physician became involved in the malpractice after receiving a faxed copy of the correctly interpreted radiology report, but still failed to notify the patient of the relevant findings.

As a result of the incorrect reading the man's lung cancer went undiagnosed for 13 months. Because of the lengthy delay when his lung cancer was eventually diagnosed it was in Stage IV, giving him an extremely poor prognosis. The decedent died about three years after the initial emergency room visit.

Continue reading "Illinois Wrongful Death In Undiagnosed Lung Cancer Case Settled by Family" »

New modifications to the Illinois Wrongful Death Act now allow victims of a wrongful death to recover damages related to grief, sorrow, and mental suffering. This new addition applies to any Illinois wrongful death case that occurred after June 1, 2007.

Prior to the passing of the recent amendment, wrongful death victims were only allowed to recover for pecuniary losses such as the loss of decedent's society. Under the loss of society claim the plaintiff may claim damages for the loss of the benefits from the decedent's love, affection, care, attention, companionship, comfort, guidance and protection.

And while the new amendment allows plaintiffs to claim additional losses associated with their loved one's wrongful death, there is now the requirment of proving and assessing the value of one's grief, sorrow, and mental suffering following the death of a loved one.

Continue reading "Illinois Wrongful Death Act Is Amended To Include Recovery For Grief, Sorrow And Mental Suffering" »

Last year our law firm reviewed a tragic Chicago medical malpractice case involving the death of a 28-year-old mother of three. While the facts seemed to point towards medical negligence as a contributing factor of the young woman's death the medical records did not reveal a clear cut cause of death.

I remember the first conversation I had with the decedent's husband, which took place shortly after her sudden death. During that conversation we discussed whether or not an autopsy should have been ordered. In my opinion whenever the cause of death seems unclear or suspicious it is wise to have an autopsy performed. However, in this case the woman's surviving family members opted not to get an autopsy done.

Sadly, in this young woman's case the real cause of death was never determined. While the medical records were reviewed by both a pathology expert and an infectious disease physician, neither were able to point to a definitive cause of death without an autopsy report. However, both physicians ruled out the causes of death listed on her death certificate, making the case even more of a mystery. Yet without any clear evidence there was nothing that could be done from a medical malpractice standpoint.

Would an autopsy have revealed the true cause of her death? Would it have shown something the doctors overlooked? Could the doctors have done something to prevent her untimely death?

Continue reading "Autopsy Answers And Painful Questions About Untimely Deaths In Medical Malpractice Cases" »

A recent Missouri Supreme Court case ruled that a nursing home cannot enforce a mandatory arbitration clause against a former resident’s children even if an arbitration agreement with the nursing home had been signed. The court found that “the plaintiff in a wrongful death action is not bound by an arbitration agreement signed” by a sister on the mother’s behalf in Lawrence v. Beverly Manor, 2009 WL 77897 (Mo. Jan 13, 2009).

In 2003, the resident, Dorothy Lawrence, began living at Beverly Manor Nursing Home in St. Joseph, Missouri. At the time Lawrence's daughter, Phyllis Skoglund, had power of attorney for her mother and signed the contract with the nursing home on behalf of the resident.
This contract included an arbitration clause that stated that "any and all claims, disputes and controversies [regarding the nursing home's care and treatment of Lawrence] shall be resolved exclusively by binding arbitration".

Shortly after her admittance to the nursing home, and the signing of the contract, Lawrence died. Her family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Beverly Manor Nursing Home alleging that she died as a result of the nursing home's negligence when she was dropped by the nursing home staff.

A trial court ruled that the wrongful death claim could go forward despite the contract including the arbitration language. This decision was affirmed by the Missouri appellate court, at which point Beverly Manor Nursing Home appealed to the Missouri Supreme Court.

Continue reading "Wrongful Death Action Allowed Against Nursing Home by Missouri Supreme Court, But Arbitration Clause Not Allowed" »

When 16 year-old Illinois resident Hancock began making a left-hand turn at an intersection she did not see a tractor-trailer coming towards her. When the truck struck her car it was going approximately 10 m.p.h. over the speed limit. Hancock and her 16 year-old passenger were fatally injured in this Illinois trucking accident.

Any time a car is involved in a truck accident the results can be disastrous, as they were here. No matter how safe and reliable your car is, when it's up against a tractor-trailer the odds are against you.

The teenagers' parents brought a claim against both the truck driver and his employer, alleging that he failed to obey the proper speed limit and had gone over his allotted hours of service that week according to federal law.

The defendants responded by filing an Illinois wrongful death claim with allegations that Hancock had not stopped at her stop sign, had not yielded to the right-of-way when making her turn, and did not have her headlights turned on. The defendants also denied that the truck driver was their agent.

Both sides had accident reconstruction experts to support their liability claims and demonstrate to the jury how the accident may have taken place. The purpose of these experts is to give the jury an understanding of who was at fault for the accident. After deliberation the jury decided that the defendant truck driver was 60% liable and that Hancock was 40% liable for the accident.

Continue reading "Truck Accident Leaves Illinois Teens Dead" »

Chicago U.S. District Court Judge granted summary judgment in favor of the City of Chicago, dismissing the case brought against two Chicago police officers who ran over two young Chicago children. When it hit the children the officers' unmarked car was driving at high speed with no lights or flashers.

The suit claimed that the City of Chicago and its two officers violated the children's right to substantive due process under the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The issue before the court was whether an Illinois auto accident caused by reckless driving forms the basis for constitutional liability under the substantive due process clause.

According to Judge Hibbler, the U.S. Supreme Court has held that recklessness in such a situation is not enough. The rule of thumb for establishing the threshold in a substantive due process challenge comes for the ruling in County of Sacramento v. Lewis, 523 U.S. 833 (1998): whether the behavior "is so egregious, so outrageous that it may fairly be said to shock the conscience."

Under Hill v. Shobe, 93 F.3d 418 (7th Cir. 1996), it was held that reckless driving alone was not enough cause to impose liability under the due process clause. Furthermore, Lewis ruled that a high speed chase without the intention of causing harm does not meet the level of shocking one's conscience.

Judge Hiller further reviewed the facts of the current case to determine whether the two police officers had intended to harm the two children. Evidence supported that the officer driving was indeed reckless when he struck the children. At the time the officers were speeding down the wrong side of the street with neither their lights or sirens on in an area near a school zone. According to the officers they were chasing a man with a gun. Yet Hiller felt that there was evidence to support the victims' family's claim that the officers were in fact avoiding traffic and there was no man with a gun. One of the boys struck by the police officers died, the other survived.

But while there was ample evidence to support the officers' reckless behavior, there was no evidence that they had intended to harm the two children. Therefore Hiller reluctantly ruled in favor of the City of Chicago's summary judgment and dismissed the case. However, Hiller did recommend to the family that they appeal to the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago for further review of the due process claim. That perhaps the Appeals Court would review whether the recklessness shown in the present case would be enough to shock the conscious and thereby violate the substantive due process clause.

Continue reading "Chicago Not Liable For Fatal Crash Involving Two Children Struck By Chicago Police In Unmarked Car" »

The parents of 8-month-old Joshua Flax filed suit against DaimlerChrysler after their son was killed in a car accident involving their 1998 Dodge Caravan. The wrongful death case centered on the allegedly defective design of the minivan's front seat backs. Jeremy Flax, et al. v. DaimlerChrysler Corp., et al.

Joshua Flax was in the back seat of the minivan when it was rear-ended. The impact caused the front seat to collapse and its passenger to strike Joshua in the head, fracturing his skull. No other passengers were seriously injured and all parties agreed that Joshua was only fatally injured because of the product liability of the collapsed seat.

In late 2004, a jury found DaimlerChrysler's seats to be defective and unreasonably dangerous, awarding a total of $105,500,000 to Joshua's parents. This amount was later reduced, but the verdict was upheld all the way through the Supreme Court.

Continue reading "Collapsed Seat In Dodge Caravan Found Unsafe and Cause for Infant's Death" »

The Illinois Supreme Court handed down a controversial decision interpreting the Illinois Wrongful Death Act. The Illinois wrongful death case, Williams v. Manchester, 2008 WL 879036 (Ill Sup Ct), involved a pregnant woman, the plaintiff, Michelle Williams, who was 10.5 weeks pregnant when she was seriously injured in a car crash in Chicago.

Because of her injuries, doctors advised that her own health was at risk if the uninjured unborn child was not aborted. The legal issue was whether or not Ms. Williams could bring an Illinois wrongful death suit against the wrongdoer for the death of her child. The court held that she may not because the crash did not injure the child. The reasoning went on to state that if the unborn child had survived, there would be no case to bring for lack of injuries (damages).

The Illinois wrongful death case filed in the circuit court ended on summary judgment in favor the defendant. A divided panel of the Illinois Appellate Court reversed the lower court decision giving rise to the appeal accepted by the Illinois Supreme Court.

Continue reading "Illinois Wrongful Death Act Interpreted by Illinois Supreme Court to Deny Recovery Of Unborn Child Aborted After Serious Injury To Mother" »

Loyola University Medical Center was held liable by a Cook County jury in 2006 for "institutional negligence" involving the unsuccessful heart transplantation attempt of Carl Longnecker, the plaintiff decedent. The hospital was held liable for not ensuring that a doctor understood his role on the heart transplant team. At the same time the jury found that the same doctor, also named as a defendant, was not guilty of Illinois medical negligence.

Longnecker had been waiting for a transplant for 14 months when he was notified that a heart had been found for him. Dr. Parvathaneni was responsible for obtaining that heart and getting it to Loyola, where the transplant would be performed. According to surgeons at Loyola, Parvathaneni played a crucial role in the process in that they relied on his inspection and evaluation when they accepted and used the heart. Dr. Parvathenani testified that he was unaware that he needed to perform a detailed assessment of the heart, but just was responsible for getting it to Loyola quickly. So when it became evident that the heart had significant disease and allegedly never functioned after its removal the question was who was responsible.

The transplant surgeons decided to go ahead with the surgery, stating that they needed to go ahead with the transplant of the diseased heart because Longnecker's own heart had already been removed. However, it should also be noted that the doctors could have used an artificial heart in this case. Longnecker never regained consciousness after the surgery and died several days later.

Continue reading "Hospital Liability in Cook County Jury Verdict Upheld Against Loyola University Medical Center In Heart Transplant Case" »

The $2.5 million Illinois wrongful death verdict handed down by a Cook County jury last week was not only the largest in Cook County for a person 90 years or older, but now stands as the largest in Illinois for anyone of that age group that has been injured or killed.

Ms. Grochis was struck by a car crossing the street at Grand Avenue and 73rd Street in Elmwood Park, IL. Because she survived after being dragged 25 feet by the defendant's car, she was awarded $1 million for pain and suffering. The jury also awarded an additional $1.5 million for the wrongful death of Ms. Grochis, who lived independently, still handling her own shopping and errands, and used public transportation to get around. She was survived by two children ages 56 and 52, along with several grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

This Cook County wrongful death verdict is reflective of a change in jury attitudes. There had been a tendency among jurors to perhaps discount or hold down the verdict to much lower levels because of the advanced years of the plaintiff. Typically when there has been either advanced years or a perceived life expectancy reduction the verdicts are on a significantly lower scale then the Grochis verdict.

Continue reading "Car Accident Pedestrian Death Leads to Cook County Jury Verdict of $2.5 Million- Largest Verdict For Death of 90+ Year Old" »

June 18, 2008- After a lengthy mediation session led by retired Cook County Circuit Court Judge Stuart Nudelman, the defendants, Victor Colin, M.D. and his professional practice, Elgin Family Physicians, agreed to settle the Illinois wrongful death case of decedent, Timothy.

Kreisman Law Offices handled the Illinois wrongful death claim which centered on the Illinois physicians' medical malpractice as a result of an incorrect diagnosis and treatment of Timothy's condition of fever, headache, and sleeplessness for at least two weeks. While these signs might not be overly alarming in your typical patient, Timothy's circumstances weren't those of your typical patient.

Born with a congenital heart valve defect of Tetralogy of Fallot, Timothy had undergone three open heart surgeries for valve repair, including a porcine (pig) valve replacement of his pulmonary valve in 1981. This history placed Timothy at high risk for bacterial endocarditis, which is a serious infection of the endocardium (the smooth interior lining of the heart) and the heart valves, typically caused by bacteria. It was this type of infection that eventually led to Timothy's death.

Continue reading "Illinois Wrongful Death Case Settled by Kreisman Law Offices" »

A $2.1 Million settlement was reached against the hospital and doctors in an Illinois medical negligence lawsuit involving the wrongful death of a woman from brain herniation after being discharged from a hospital. She was discharged with complaints of headaches despite a diagnosis of a brain tumor.

Mary, a 50 year-old female, was diagnosed at South Suburban Hospital with a right frontal lobe meningioma in early September, 2003, at which time she was discharged from the hospital with a referral to a University of Chicago neurosurgeon. However, before seeing the neurosurgeon she presented back to South Suburban Hospital two days later complaining of headaches and vomiting.

She is given some pain medication and sent home. Early the next morning she is found unresponsive by her husband. She was taken by ambulance back to South Suburban, but died later that day. An autopsy revealed that the cause of the Illinois woman's wrongful death was excessive fluid building up around her tumor causing her brain to shift to the left and down through the brain stem, putting extreme pressure on her brain, resulting in brain herniation.

Continue reading "Medical Negligence Settlement by Chicago Medical Malpractice Lawyer Robert Kreisman for Death of Patient" »