Johnson Secures Defense Verdict in $1M Medical Malpractice Case Brought by Former Pro Tennis Player

After a two-week trial and 47 minutes of deliberations, a Cook County jury found in favor of a neurosurgeon and a Chicago hospital in a medical malpractice case tried by Matthew L. Johnson of Johnson & Bell’s Health Care practice group.  In this medical malpractice case, the plaintiff, a former female professional tennis player, filed suit against the defendants in 2005 and alleged that her ankle was broken during the course of a spinal fusion procedure.  Plaintiff’s attorneys argued under the legal doctrine of res ispa loquitur that such an injury could not occur during surgery absent negligence, and sought nearly $1,000,000 in damages.  Johnson successfully argued that the injury was not a surgical one, because plaintiff did not begin to complain of right ankle pain until 3 days after surgery, and that the initial injury to the foot occurred while plaintiff was repositioning herself in her hospital bed three days after the surgery.