Randall C. Monroe and Christopher A. Leach Received a Not Guilty Verdict in a Medical Malpractice Case Alleging Wrongful Death
Randall C. Monroe and Christopher A. Leach tried a medical malpractice case from January 3 through January 11, 2023, and received a not guilty verdict from the jury on behalf of the internist/hospitalist they represented. The plaintiff brought a wrongful death action on behalf of his brother, a 60 year old patient with a history of an intracerebral hemorrhage resulting in dysphagia requiring a feeding tube, and a seizure disorder, who was admitted to the hospital under the care of the defendant when his feeding tube became dislodged. The defendant deferred restarting the anti-seizure medications the patient was receiving through his feeding tube prior to admission until the gastroenterologist he consulted replaced the tube. The procedure to replace the tube was not performed on the first day of admission as the defendant anticipated, and before it could be replaced on the afternoon of the second day of admission, the patient suffered a seizure. The plaintiff’s experts claimed that the patient’s medications should have been started immediately upon admission by IV, and that the patient continued to have seizures throughout the admission due to the delay in restarting the medications. They also claimed a fall that occurred on the third day of the admission was the result of a seizure, and caused a right subdural hemorrhage, left epidural hemorrhage, and parietal contusion of the brain. The patient was subsequently discharged to a nursing home, and expired three months later from a left subdural hemorrhage, which the plaintiff’s experts claimed was a progression of the hemorrhages the patient developed after the fall while under the defendant’s care. The patient left a surviving mother and seven siblings, who all made claims under the Illinois Wrongful Death Act for loss of society, companionship, grief and sorrow resulting from the death. Prior to the trial, the plaintiff had demanded the defendant physician’s insurance policy limit of $1 million, and during the trial asked the jury to award $3 million in damages.