Congratulations to Johnson & Bell, Trial Lawyers shareholder Stacey Cischke and associate Connor Bender, who represented a Chicagoland area hospital in a Cook County Circuit Court jury verdict on April 16th. The hospital was named as a defendant solely on apparent agency allegations.
A 58-year-old woman was referred by her cardiologist for an elective procedure performed by the alleged agent cardiologist. Following the procedure, she began experiencing concerning symptoms in the recovery room and was brought back for a second procedure to diagnose the cause of her worsening condition. During the second procedure they found a new complication. The alleged agent doctor attempted to stabilize the patient before a cardiac surgeon performed surgery to repair the new complication. Ultimately the patient did not recover and remained unconscious for two weeks before passing away.
The plaintiff argued that (1) the alleged agent doctor negligently recommended the patient for the initial procedure, (2) that he negligently performed the first procedure such that he caused the further complications, and (3) he failed to involve the cardiac surgeon in a timely way that would have increased the patient’s chances of survival.
Stacey and Connor crafted a defense to show that (1) the physician performing the procedure was not the hospital client’s apparent agent, (2) the patient was an appropriate candidate for the procedure, and (3) the complications that developed are a known risk of the original procedure, and the apparent agent diagnosed the issues in a timely manner, attempted to stabilize the patient, and involved cardiac surgery to address the complication.
At closing the plaintiff asked for $24 million. The jury returned a verdict in favor of the defense. Congratulations to Stacey, Connor, and the entire J&B trial team. This was a big win and extremely favorable outcome for our client.
