In many Illinois medical malpractice cases time is of the essence and can make the difference between a positive or a negative outcome. A recent Chicago wrongful death case typifies this point. The case was brought against a suburban Chicago hospital for the death of a 22 year-old woman who developed sepsis and acute respiratory distress syndrome.
The Chicago lawsuit claimed that the hospital’s nursing staff discharged the patient despite her continued symptoms of nausea, severe abdominal pain, and faintness following surgery to treat her endometriosis. The woman returned to the hospital within less than 24 hours after her discharge, this time with complaints of extreme pain. She was prescribed an antibiotic, but it was not actually administered to her until 8 hours after it was ordered. Furthermore, the cause of her severe pain was not discovered for over 18 hours after she returned to the emergency room, depleting even more crucial hours in this woman’s care.
During exploratory surgery it was discovered that she had suffered a perforation in her small bowel, presumably during her recent surgery to treat her endometriosis. Even though surgeons were able to repair the perforated bowel, by this time it was too late. The patient’s condition worsened and she was dead by the following day.
In medical malpractice cases sometimes a patient’s status can deteriorate in a matter or hours or days. When this is the case it is crucial that hospitals, physicians, and nurses are doing everything they can to diagnose and treat patients in a timely fashion. This was not done in this poor woman’s case, which resulted in her untimely death.
The Illinois wrongful death lawsuit was settled against the hospital, the anesthesiologist, and the surgeon for $5.7 million and has been approved by a Cook County judge.
Kreisman Law Offices has been handling Chicago medical malpractice lawsuits for over 30 years, serving those areas in and around Cook County including Blue Island, Downers Grove, Elmwood Park, and Northbrook.