Chicago, Ill. (May 2024) - Chicago Partners Scott Bentivenga and Joseph Mitchell secured a defense verdict for a general surgeon in a hotly contested four-and-a-half-week-long medical malpractice wrongful death trial in Cook County, Illinois.
The plaintiff alleged that the general surgeon had caused the decedent's death by failing to timely order radiological studies to diagnose appendicitis, failing to timely order prophylactic IV antibiotics and IV fluids to prevent infection and sepsis in the event of rupture, and failing to timely investigate and treat the cause of ongoing infection after the ruptured appendix had been removed.
The defense argued that the general surgeon was not involved in the allegations of negligence prior to the appendectomy, contrary to the evidence in the electronic medical record offered by the plaintiff, based on the hospital's audit trail and call logs. From a post-operative standpoint, the defense argued that the decedent continued to decompensate and could not overcome infection and sepsis despite proper infection management after the appendectomy due to the decedent's comorbidities.
At the close of trial, the plaintiff asked the jury to award $15 million. The jury deliberated for less than twohours before coming back with a verdict in favor of the general surgeon.
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