Plaintiff Sought $6.3 M in Pressure Ulcer Case
Following a trial that lasted almost four weeks, Johnson & Bell Shareholder, Sammi L. Renken, secured a "not guilty" defense verdict for a large operator of nursing homes in the Chicagoland area against Levin & Perconti. The estate for the plaintiff sought $6.3 million from our nursing home client, co-defendant hospital and one of the hospital's doctors, alleging that defendants missed a hip fracture and were negligent relating to a sacral and heel pressure ulcer. The decedent lived 5 years with the wound, or “rotting hole in her back” as plaintiff called it, before her death. Against the nursing home, plaintiff argued that there were deviations from the standard of care, violations of the Illinois Nursing Home Care Act and presented graphic photos of the wounds. Defense countered that the pressure ulcers were timely diagnosed and treated and that the plaintiff's underlying medical problems were the cause of the pressure ulcer formation and alleged worsening. The other two defendants in the case, a hospital and a treating physician from that hospital, both received guilty verdicts.
