$7.5 Million Medical Malpractice Award for Severely Disabled Client
Second-Highest Medical Malpractice Award in Kane County History.
Attorneys Craig Brown and Peter Flowers recently obtained a $7.5 million settlement for their severely disabled client in a case that was pending in Kane County for less than 2 years.
On January 13, 2010, John complained to a nurse at his doctor’s office that he was experiencing headaches. He was concerned because he had no history of headaches. Four days later, John suffered seizure-like symptoms, which included contractions, difficulty breathing, and a loss of bladder control. John was monitored closely by his nurses and doctor for the next several days.
On January 21, 2010, John still had a severe headache causing dizziness, nausea, and fatigue. During a routine examination, John’s nurse noticed John’s right pupil was nonreactive. When John’s doctor examined him the next day, John’s pupil was normal, and he was feeling better, although he still had a severe headache. His doctor diagnosed him with a urinary tract infection based on some abnormal lab results and prescribed Tylenol with codeine for his headaches.
On January 24, 2010, John was found unresponsive but breathing with urine incontinence and priapism. His pupils were pinpoint and non-reactive to light. By the time John arrived at a nearby emergency room, he told the ER staff he was feeling better but still had a severe headache that started eight days before. An Emergency CT scan of his brain proved John had a small amount of bleeding from a blood vessel in his brain. The emergency room staff immediately decided to transfer him to a different hospital where doctors could perform highly advanced surgery to stop his bleeding.
John suffered a ruptured cerebral aneurysm on the way to the second hospital. Emergency surgery was performed, and his surgeons were able to stop the bleeding. Tragically, the massive amount of bleeding in his brain from his ruptured aneurysm caused severe, irreversible brain damage. Today, John is 50 years old and is totally disabled. He lives in a nursing home because he is no longer able to use his arms and legs in any meaningful way.
Attorneys Brown and Flowers filed a medical malpractice lawsuit against John’s doctors and nurses because the medical standard of care required them to understand and appreciate that John was experiencing abnormal neurological symptoms from January 17, 2010, until his aneurysm ruptured on January 24, 2010. Thus, they were required to obtain a CT scan on January 17. If the defendants ordered the CT scan earlier, they would have discovered his small brain bleed in time to successfully repair it before he suffered irreversible brain damage.
John’s mother, Theresa, and his sister Julie were appointed guardians of his estate and retained Mr. Brown and Mr. Flowers in March 2010. From the beginning, both attorneys knew John would never work again, and he would never receive high-quality medical care because he would be forced to become a public aid recipient.
They then developed an aggressive litigation plan designed to move his case to trial as quickly as possible, and over the next 13 months, Brown and Flowers devoted the full resources of the firm to John’s case. On November 18, 2011, shortly before John’s case was scheduled to start trial, a $7.5 million dollar settlement agreement was reached. The settlement amount was the second-highest medical malpractice award in the history of Kane County.
Brown and Flowers are now helping John and his guardians build a handicap accessible home with a voice-activated Hoyer lift that will transport him from room to room. Trust attorney Ted Meyers is also helping establish various trusts where John’s settlement proceeds will be used to obtain the best medical care and improve the quality and dignity of his life to the fullest extent possible.
“I cannot explain how much Craig and Peter’s representation has meant to our family during the worst crisis of our lives,” said Julie, John’s sister and guardian. “In addition to their skill, devotion, and integrity, our attorneys genuinely cared about this case and became our dear friends. Craig was always there when we needed his emotional support. His kindness and compassion helped us endure the painful process necessary to vindicate the lack of care and wrongdoing that was put upon my brother. My trust in his wisdom will always be one of the best decisions of my life.”