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November 29, 2010

Levin & Perconti Reach $17.7 M Medical Malpractice Settlement for Park Police Officer

Chicago malpractice attorneys Steven Levin and Margaret Battersby of Levin & Perconti recently reached a $17.7 million settlement with the University of Illinois at Chicago Medical Center stemming from a medical negligence lawsuit filed on behalf of George Nissen.

For the full article, see the Pioneer Local.

In February of 2005, Mr. Nissen suffered a stroke and was admitted to the neurological intensive care unit of UIC. While at UIC, Mr. Nissen was placed on an external ventricular drain, otherwise known as an EVD. EVDs are used to relieve raised intracranial pressure when the normal flow of cerebrospinal fluid around the brain is obstructed.

A week after being placed on the EVD, physicians at UIC ordered the nursing staff to test the external ventricular drain by clamping it. This type of test is called an EVD challenge and is used to determine whether a patient is stable enough to have the EVD permanently removed. During Mr. Nissen’s EVD challenge, his intracranial pressure reached dangerous levels throughout the night and a physician was not timely notified of these changes. As a result, Mr. Nissen suffered a brain stem herniation which ultimately led to severe and permanent brain damage.

Following his injury, Mr. Nissen and his family filed a lawsuit alleging that nursing staff was negligent and failed to properly monitor George Nissen’s intracranial pressure during the EVD challenge.

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Posted In: Brain Injury Lawsuits

November 25, 2010

Jury awards Illinois couple $3.6 million in brain injury lawsuit.

The Quad City Times recently reported on a trial involving an injured plumber. A Scott County jury recently awarded a couple in Coal Valley, Illinois $3.6 million in a brain injury lawsuit.

In 2006, a plumber was working in a trench as sewer and water service was being installed for a home under construction in Davenport. The trench collapsed when a skid loader drove too close. Rescue efforts successful dug the unconscious plumber out of the collapsed trench but the plumber suffered permanent brain damage in the work related accident.

The skid loader was being operated by an employee of Alliance Concrete Construction LLC of Davenport, Illinois. At trial, the injured worker and his wife were seeking damages from Alliance for lost wages and past and future medical expenses.

During the trial, the plumber’s wife took the witness stand and testified about dramatic changes in her husband’s behavior since his accident. She testified that since his brain injury, her husband suffers from severe nightmares that have caused the couple to sleep in separate beds at night.

The jury awarded the wife $300,000 for loss of consortium. Loss of consortium refers to the deprivation of the benefits of a family relationship due to injuries.

The defense attorney for Alliance argued at trial that the injured worker was at least partially responsible for his own injury because he failed to use a trench box and other safety precautions. The jury found the plumber 40 percent at fault. As a result of the plumber’s own negligence, he was awarded $1.8 million of his $3.6 million verdict. In Illinois, if an injured party is partially at fault for his or her injuries, then the total recovered amount may be reduced in proportion to the degree that the injured party was at fault.

For the full article on this brain injury case, see the Quad City Times.

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Posted In: Brain Injury Lawsuits, Brain Injury Recovery, Brain injury trials, Traumatic Brain Injury, Verdicts and Settlements, Workplace Accident

November 24, 2010

Levin & Perconti Reach $6.5 Million Settlement with Advocate Lutheran General Hospital

Levin and Perconti recently announced in a press release on November 24, 2010 that its Chicago brain attorneys reached a $6.5 million settlement for a young girl who suffers from cerebral palsy following a brain injury sustained during birth.

The settlement was with Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, IL and a physician who failed to timely perform a Cesarean section. Chicago attorneys John J. Perconti and Patricia L. Gifford of Levin & Perconti represented the injured child and her family.

During the mother’s pregnancy, doctors failed to diagnose cephalopelvic disproportion. Cephalopelvic disproportion occurs when a baby’s head or body is too large to fit through the mother’s pelvis. Abnormal fetal positions often cause cephalopelivic disproportion, which is what occurred in this case. According to the American College of Nurse Midwives, cephalopelvic disproportion occurs in 1 out of 250 pregnancies.

Physicians further failed to order an emergency Cesarean section after noticing erratic decelerations on the fetal monitoring strips. These decelerations are typically a warning sign for fetal hypoxia. Hypoxia occurs when the fetus is deprived of adequate oxygen.

During the emergency Cesarean section, the mother was not properly anesthetized and the staff had to hold the mother down during the procedure.

Although the newborn and mother survived the complicated birth, the newborn suffered hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy, which means that inadequate oxygen caused damage to cells in the central nervous system, specifically the brain and spinal cord. This damage can cause cerebral palsy.

The injured child is now 10 years old but has cerebral palsy and mental retardation from the complications of her birth. She suffers from motor delays and moderate cognitive deficiencies and will need to use a wheeled assistive device as she gets older. She will also need constant assistance with dressing, bathing, and using the bathroom. The settlement will allow the child’s family to provide her with the ongoing care and medical treatment throughout her lifetime.

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Posted In: Brain Injuries from Birth, Brain Injury Lawsuits, Cerebral Palsy, Verdicts and Settlements

November 3, 2010

Parties Reach $20 Million Settlement Following Child’s Traumatic Injury

Postcrescent.com recently reported that a $20 million settlement was reached following a tragic car accident that left a young girl with a severe brain injury.

In October of 2008, a family from Appleton, WI was driving down an off-ramp in their van. A truck heading towards the ramp ran a red light and crashed into the family’s van. While the impact of the crash was not severe because the truck driver had applied his brakes, the truck was carrying a pipe rack that allowed multiple pipes to escape upon collision. One of the loose pipes shattered the left rear window of the van and hit a young girl that was a passenger in the backseat. The child suffered severe brain damage from the accident.

The child’s family filed a lawsuit following this incident alleging that the pipe rack was negligently constructed and installed as it was missing a front stop. The distributor of the pipe rack settled their case for $18.7 million. The rest of the settlement amount comes from the truck driver and his employer as well as the manufacturer of the pipe rack. The settlement amounts were assigned based on each defendant’s responsibility in the accident.

The large settlement will help the family of the young girl pay for her care and medical expenses. The girl’s medical expenses totaled $850,000 in the first two years of her life after the accident left her with severe and permanent injuries including traumatic epilepsy and blindness. Because of her traumatic brain injury, she will require around-the-clock care for the rest of her life.

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Posted In: Brain injuries in children, Car Accident/Truck Accident, Verdicts and Settlements

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The purpose of this blog is to deliver news and information that is relevant to our areas of practice. The news and information reported on this blog represent the legal actions of attorneys throughout the United States. Our firm does not claim to represent plaintiffs in all of the lawsuits, settlements, and jury verdicts reported, only those noted as Levin & Perconti cases.

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