Lawyers at DBMS successfully litigate a wide variety of civil cases and argue appeals in some of the most challenging jurisdictions in the country.
DBMS Obtains Defense Verdict in Cook County
Hospital
Outcome:Defense Verdict
Tony Pinto and Ashley Dus successfully defended a Chicagoland area hospital in a medical negligence trial in which the plaintiff asked the jury to award $17.5 million in damages to a 47-year-old woman who suffered a left below-the-knee amputation.
Plaintiff alleged that, on March 14, 2019, a nurse practitioner working within the defendant hospital’s emergency department deviated from the standard of care by failing to perform a complete neurovascular examination of the patient’s left lower extremity, which would have led to the diagnosis of arterial occlusions in the patient’s left lower extremity and initiation of treatment to eradicate the occlusions. The defense argued that the nurse practitioner performed a complete neurovascular examination of the patient’s left lower extremity and appropriately suspected a deep vein thrombosis and ordered a venous ultrasound. Ultimately, the patient was discharged home following a negative venous ultrasound. Five days later, on March 19, 2019, the patient presented to a different Chicagoland area hospital with left leg pain, but motor function and sensation intact. Left lower extremity arterial occlusions were diagnosed by CT angiogram that day. Thereafter, the treatment plan included the following: (1) catheter-directed thrombolysis; (2) thrombectomies; and (3) repeat thrombectomies. Unfortunately, the patient’s left leg could not be salvaged. The patient underwent a left below-the-knee amputation on May 15, 2019.
The plaintiff argued that the five-day delay in the diagnosis of the arterial occlusions deprived the patient of limb-salvaging treatment. The defense argued that the patient’s limb was viable when she presented to the hospital on March 19, 2019. Further, the defense established that the patient unfortunately suffered from a recognized complication of thrombolytic therapy which led to the loss of blood flow to her foot days after her presentation to the hospital on March 19, 2019.
Following a two-week trial, the jury returned a verdict for the defense.