HPS Attorneys Secure Favorable Outcome in Cook County Wrongful Death Case
HPS Attorneys Secure Favorable Outcome in Cook County Wrongful Death Case
Chicago
October 3, 2024
HPS trial attorneys Ben Patterson and Joe Ambrose successfully limited damages in a highly sympathetic Cook County wrongful death case involving the death of a 31-year-old woman. Plaintiff’s counsel requested $47 million in wrongful death and survival damages, including compensation for past and future grief and sorrow, loss of society, and the decedent’s conscious pain and suffering. Ben Patterson argued for a more reasonable award of $2 million to $3 million, better aligned with the evidence. The Cook County jury ultimately returned a $3 million verdict. Due to a prior $8 million settlement with co-defendants, the verdict against the hospital and ER physician was reduced to zero.
The case involved the death of a 31-year-old woman who suffered a bowel perforation during an operation at a Chicago hospital with her gynecological surgeon to treat extensive endometriosis, a procedure meant to prepare her for IVF. Two days post-op, she presented at a local ER in Kankakee and was transferred back to her surgical team in Chicago. The patient, unfortunately, suffered cardiac arrest because of septic shock due to her perforated bowel and tragically passed away ten days later. The plaintiff alleged that the ER doctor was negligent for failing to obtain emergency general surgery and infectious disease consultations and for transferring an unstable patient. The plaintiff also claimed institutional negligence against the hospital for its alleged negligent transfer policy.
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