Our Record of Success

DBMS Obtains Defense Verdict in Cook County

Tim Hogan and Katie Trucco successfully defended a physician and medical group in a medical negligence trial. Plaintiff alleged that the defendant physician negligently prescribed Naproxen to treat plaintiff’s gout when the defendant knew or should have known that the plaintiff was allergic to nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). Plaintiff claimed that during his initial visit to defendant’s office, he documented an allergy to ibuprofen on new patient intake forms, and during a subsequent visit, told the defendant that he was allergic to ibuprofen. Defendant established that the medical group never provided new patients with medical history intake forms. Further, the medical records and audit logs from the medical group’s electronic medical record demonstrated that plaintiff did not report any allergies to defendant or any of defendant’s employees when asked. Plaintiff also brought an institutional negligence claim against the medical group and alleged that the group negligently failed to maintain policies and procedures for incorporating prior medical history, including allergy information, into patients’ medical records. Plaintiff claimed that the defendants failed to recognize a prior documented history of an NSAID allergy and failed to incorporate that allergy information into the chart, causing the defendant to prescribe Naproxen. Plaintiff alleged that as a result of taking the prescribed Naproxen, he developed respiratory distress and anaphylaxis, requiring intubation and hospitalization. Plaintiff’s expert further claimed that, absent the drug allergy, Naproxen was still contraindicated due to plaintiff’s chronic kidney disease and gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), and that Prednisone was the appropriate medication to treat the plaintiff’s gout.

Defendants’ expert testified that the standard of care did not require the defendant to review prior medical records for allergy information, which would be independently verified by the medical group’s office assistants and the defendant physician with the plaintiff at each visit. Further, Naproxen was appropriate to prescribe in lieu of Prednisone, given the plaintiff’s extensive history of taking Prednisone which caused him to become pre-diabetic.

After plaintiff requested $500,000 in damages, the jury returned a verdict for the defense.