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DBMS Obtains Defense Verdict in Cook County

On April 3, 2024, Sherri M. Arrigo, Timothy L. Hogan and Connor J. Whitting obtained a defense verdict in favor of three internal medicine physicians in a medical negligence case in Cook County.

Plaintiff alleged that the defendants, an attending physician and two resident physicians at a University hospital, negligently failed to timely diagnose and treat the decedent’s urinary tract infection, which therefore spread to her blood, causing her death from E. coli sepsis.  The patient, a 64-year old woman with a history of membranous glomerulonephritis, had a urine culture that was positive for E.coli on July 27, 2016.  She was subsequently treated with a course of antibiotics after developing symptoms of possible urinary tract infection.  Follow up urine cultures resulted with gram negative and gram positive bacteria presumed to be contaminated with normal bacterial flora, but no predominant organism was identified.  On August 27, 2016, the patient’s condition suddenly deteriorated and she died on August 28, 2016, survived by two adult children.  Blood cultures (resulting after her death) were positive for E. coli.  It was undisputed the patient died from E.coli sepsis.   Plaintiff argued that the E.coli found in her urine on July 27 was the same E. coli found in her blood at the time of death.  Plaintiff argued that the defendants negligently failed to timely diagnose and treat persistent urinary tract infection, failed to consult an infectious disease specialist, failed to order appropriate blood and urine cultures, and failed to timely order antibiotics, allowing the infection to spread to her blood and proximately causing her death.   The defense argued that the standard of care does not require treating asymptomatic urinary tract infection, the patient did not have an infection following the initial course of antibiotics until August 27, at which time it was timely diagnosed and treated with antibiotics, there was no indication for an infectious disease consult, and the defendants acted within the standard of care and did not contribute to cause the death in question.  The defense further argued that the E. coli in the blood at the time of death was different and unrelated to the E. coli in the urine a month earlier; rather, the E.coli in the blood was due to bacterial translocation from the gastrointestinal tract.

In Closing Arguments, plaintiff asked the jury to award $6 million in damages.  After deliberating approximately 90 minutes, inclusive of lunch, the jury returned a verdict for the defense.