Our Record of Success

DBMS Successfully Defends Chicago Area Hospital

DBMS attorneys Stetson Atwood and Ashley Dus successfully defended a hospital in a medical negligence trial in which the plaintiff asked the jury to award $11.5 million in damages. This case was a re-trial after Stetson and Ashley obtained a defense verdict in April 2019, but that verdict was vacated and reversed on appeal.

Plaintiff alleges that on October 1, 2015, defendant hospital, through the conduct of the cardiologist, deviated from the standard of care by failing to diagnose the patient with acute coronary syndrome and by failing to perform a cardiac angiogram, resulting in the patient’s fatal cardiac arrest the next day. The defense argued that the cardiologist acted appropriately by choosing to perform a nuclear stress test in light of marginally elevated cardiac enzymes, normal EKGs, and the patient’s clinical symptoms. The stress test was normal and did not reveal a blockage in the patient’s coronary arteries. The defense further argued that the standard of care did not require the cardiologist to perform an angiogram in light of the patient’s stable condition. Finally, the defense argued that the plaintiff could not prove what caused the patient’s death as there was no autopsy performed on the patient.

Following a week-long trial, the plaintiff asked for $11,500,000 in damages. The jury returned a verdict for the defense.