Our Case Results

Our attorneys have won hundreds of millions of dollars in awards for our clients. Over the years, Mr. Lloyd and our injury lawyers have prosecuted:

Medical Malpractice and Personal Injury Verdicts & Settlements

A full-term baby was brain damaged from decreased oxygenation during labor and delivery.
Vlachos, a minor v. Northwestern Memorial Hospital, et. al.
Settlement:
$14,000,000

Settlement: $14 Million. The plaintiff mother was admitted to Prentice Women’s Hospital for labor and delivery at forty weeks after a routine, uncomplicated pregnancy. When the mother began pushing during the second stage of her labor, the external fetal monitor began capturing the heart rate of the mother instead of the baby. This phenomenon is common during pushing efforts and the nurse and obstetrician can confuse the mother’s heart rate pattern for the baby’s and falsely believe the baby is doing well. The Plaintiff’s attorney Mr. Lloyd proved that the standard of care is to compare the maternal pulse rate to the heart rate seen on the monitor screen in between contractions. The obstetrician and nurse failed to do so, and the baby was born in severe distress. Despite resuscitation the baby experienced cerebral palsy and related brain damage.

A pediatric surgeon paralyzed a child’s vocal cords causing apenia and brain damage.
Robertson, a minor v. Advocate Christ Hospital, et. al.
Settlement:
$12,000,000

Settlement: $12 Million. The minor plaintiff was born with a tracheal fistula in a suburban hospital and then transferred to Christ Hospital for surgical repair by pediatric surgeon Dr. Angel Bazuk. Dr. Bazuk performed three unsuccessful surgical attempts to repair the fistula, but in the processed paralyzed the child’s vocal cords causing her to suffer multiple hypoxic episodes in her sleep resulting in brain damage. Christ hospital paid 10 million dollars towards the settlement for negligence of Dr. Bazuk on an apparent agency theory.

An HMO physician failed to review and approve a pregnancy care plan resulting in child’s brain damage
Thomas, a minor v. Antony, MD
Verdict:
$9,697,000
Offer: $200,000

Jury Verdict: $9.7 Million. The plaintiff’s mother was a member of Chicago HMO when she became pregnant with baby Anthony. During the pregnancy, the mother developed gestational diabetes, a common complication, which went untreated. When plaintiff’s mother was admitted to the hospital, Anthony was in fetal distress and, despite emergency cesarean section, he was born brain damaged.

Plaintiff’s trial counsel Kurt D. Lloyd successfully argued that the defendant primary care physician Dr. Antony was required to review and approve the defendant obstetrician’s care plan under the HMO guidelines and recognize unmanaged diabetes. Despite receiving copies of abnormally elevated blood sugar test results without fetal monitoring or insulin treatment, the defendant primary care physician did not contact or discuss the patient’s condition with the defendant obstetrician.

This case represents the first Illinois jury verdict to hold the primary care physician responsible for the overall care of an obstetrical patient despite a referral to another specialty.

Hospital nurse transposed Chemo drug dose on physician’s order causing patient’s death (featured on ABC’s “20/20” TV show).
Estate of Gargano v. University of Chicago Hospitals
Settlement:
$8,000,000

Settlement: $8 Million. A hospital nurse transposed the numbers on a physician order causing the patient to receive (5) times the recommended dose of a toxic chemotherapy drug. Then, other hospital’s nurses failed to cross-check the order against the label of the I.V. drug bag received from the pharmacy department. The plaintiff’s decedent was undergoing his last round of chemotherapy and had a prognosis for survival of ninety-five percent. This case was featured on ABC’s “20/20” on chemotherapy overdoses.

Mis-read blood clot test caused young woman to suffer brain damage.
Estate of Morris v. University of Chicago Hospitals
Settlement:
$8,000,000

Settlement: $8 Million. The patient, Valerie Morris had surgery to remove an abdominal abscess. After surgery, she developed swelling in both legs. The hospital’s surgeons ordered a PRG test, a non-invasive vascular test, which is used to rule out blood clots in the legs as a cause of the swelling. The PRG was mis-interpreted and reported as negative, and the surgeons then assumed her swelling was caused by excess “third spacing” fluid. The next day, Valerie was found in cardiac arrest on the floor of her room. Despite resuscitation, Valerie suffered brain damage and lived in a vegetative state for the next nine years before she died.

After many attorneys were unable to prove a case, plaintiff’s counsel Kurt D. Lloyd was asked to investigate the cause of Valerie’s arrest. The PRG test had not been recently used by physicians. After research, plaintiff’s counsel found and retained the vascular surgeon who had invented the PRG test who testified that it had been misinterpreted as negative. Instead, the test demonstrated blood clot in Valerie’s pelvic veins, near the site of her original surgery, which had dislodged and flowed to her heart causing cardiac arrest before the clot was ejected into her lung.

Hospital emergency room failed to perform EKG resulting in cardiac arrest and brain damage.
Barbara Jackson, a disabled person v. Westlake Hospital
Settled on Trial:
$7,500,000

Settled on Trial: $7.5 Million. The plaintiff was brought via ambulance to the Emergency Department of Westlake Hospital complaining of chest pain. No physician or nurse performed an EKG for 45 minutes to rule out a heart condition as the cause of her chest pain. The plaintiff went into cardiac arrest and suffered brain damage.

The plaintiff alleged that a 10-minute standard applied to the performance of an EKG for chest pain patients. If performed, an EKG would have been positive for heart attack requiring cardiac medications and catheterization.

Defense claimed that even with prompt EKG cardiac drug would not have had enough time to take effect.

Doctor’s negligence resulted in infant’s fetal distress and irreversible brain damage.
Wright v. Anderson, MD, et. al.
Policy Limits:
$6,000,000

Policy Limits: $6 Million. The minor plaintiff sued her obstetrical group alleging that three days after her due date, the mother thought she was experiencing decreased fetal movement, so she went to the hospital outpatient center. The mother underwent a non-stress test (NST), which measures fetal heart rate activity and oxygenation while not in labor, and he NST results demonstrated a one-minute fetal heart rate deceleration indicating that the baby likely had low amniotic fluid causing umbilical cord compression and reduced oxygenation. The defendant obstetrician on duty did not read as concerning or order an amniotic fluid index (AFI) and sent her home. At the mother’s next prenatal visit, another obstetrician did not repeat the NST or obtain an AFI. A few days later the minor plaintiff was born in fetal distress and suffered irreversible brain damage.

The plaintiff’s attorney Kurt Lloyd hired leading experts about antenatal testing to prove negligence.

Doctor misplaced an endotracheal tube in child’s stomach causing child to suffer irreversible brain damage.
Kierl, Minor v. Children’s Memorial Hospital
Settlement:
$5,500,000

Settlement:  $5.5 Million.  The minor plaintiff successfully underwent cardiac surgery at Children’s Memorial Hospital two weeks after birth for a small hole in his heart. However, the child experienced a respiratory arrest from congestion in his lungs and the surgical resident misplaced an endotracheal tube into the child’s stomach during emergency resuscitation.

The child suffered irreversible brain damage requiring him to be tube fed for life.

Passenger involved in head-on collision sustained neck fracture required spinal fusions and several future spine surgeries.
Eastwood v. American International Group
Judgement:
$5,000,000

Judgement: $5 Million. The plaintiff, a single, forty-year-old health care consultant, was a backseat passenger in an automobile involved in a head-on collision. She sustained a C-2 through C-4 neck fractures requiring several spinal fusions and a mild closed head injury. The plaintiff claimed that the head injury caused her to be unable to perform complex tasks in the management of her health care staff. The plaintiff claimed that the neck fracture would require several future spine surgeries.

Minor Plaintiff suffered hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy
Braun, a minor v. Pombar M.D. et. al.
Verdict:
$5,000,000

Verdict:  $5 Million.  The minor plaintiff alleged that he suffered hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy during the 2nd stage of labor during several episodes of pushing with decelerations at Rush Medical Center.  The mother had advanced stage chorioamnionitis.

60-year-old woman died due to vehicle “yaw” immediately before crash.
Estate of Taylor v. Chrysler Motor Co.
Verdict:
$4,500,000

Verdict: $4.5 Million. A sixty-year-old woman who was survived by two adult children was one of twelve passengers on a Dodge Model B3500 Wag “cargo van.” The vehicle traveling southbound on I 55 rolled over and crashed in a snowstorm killing all passengers and the driver. The plaintiff’s estate alleged that the vehicle when near capacity became unstable because of a high center of gravity and caused the vehicle to “yaw.”

The plaintiff’s counsel using reconstruction engineers and design engineers was able to show that the “yaw” pattern had occurred immediately before the crash.

The Taylor Estate obtained the largest individual settlement of all passengers.

A toddler playing in the yard was mutilated by the blade of an unattended riding lawn mower due to the lack of a safety device.
Morgan v. International Harvester Co. aka Navistar
Settlement:
Confidential

Record Settlement: Confidential. The plaintiff’s mother was mowing the lawn with an International Harvester “Cadet” 85 Special, a rear-engine riding lawn mower which was manufactured in l975. After the mower became stuck along the fence, the mother got off her seat without disengaging the manual blade control lever and attempted to move the machine. The plaintiff, a two-year-old boy who had been inside the screened porch, unexpectedly opened the door and wandered into the lawn in front of the mower at the same moment that the mower became dislodged. The mower traveled a few feet before knocking the toddler to the ground and mutilating his left foot and ankle resulting in a below knee amputation.

The plaintiff counsel Kurt D. Lloyd alleged that the mower product should have been equipped with a selective “Deadman” safety seat “kill switch,” which causes the engine to automatically die if the operator leaves the seat without remembering to disengage the manual blade lever. The plaintiff’s counsel found industry research that showed that the primary injury to bystanders and riding mower operators was blade contact while the operator was off the seat. The plaintiff’s counsel deposed the chief engineers from two industry competitors who testified that a Deadman safety device design was available and used by three competitors in the industry. The plaintiff’s counsel found three facsimiles of the Defendant’s mower product and had one re-engineered and built with a Deadman safety seat device that eliminated the danger.

This case was the largest settlement from hundreds of cases involving power riding lawn mower accidents and lack of Deadman safety seat switches and is now an industry safety standard.

A law student whose vision was impaired by a construction canopy while riding his bicycle was struck by oncoming taxicab.
Hallsten v. City of Chicago, et. al.
Settlement:
$4,350,000

Verdict: $4.35 Million. The plaintiff, a third-year law student who was riding his bicycle to school, attempted to cross Dearborn Street from Delaware Street on the corner where the Park Newberry high rise building was being constructed. While stopped inside a construction sidewalk canopy within the Dearborn Street crosswalk, the plaintiff looked for oncoming traffic and thought it was clear. As he entered the moving lane, he was struck by an oncoming taxicab, ejecting him from his bicycle and rendering him a wheelchair-bound, paraplegic.

The plaintiff alleged that the placement of the construction canopy created a sightline traffic blind spot for users of the crosswalk. Using traffic-engineering standards and computer-simulated models of the intersection, the plaintiff’s Kurt Lloyd demonstrated that the canopy interfered with the minimum sight line distance for a bicyclist to see and react to an oncoming vehicle or for an oncoming vehicle driver to see and react in a reasonable stopping time to an emerging pedestrian/bicyclist.

A physician diagnosed a schoolteacher’s headache as the flu when she in fact had a ruptured cerebral aneurysm causing a stroke and paralysis due to delay in diagnosis.
Nancy Sea v. Undisclosed Medical Clinic and Physician
Settlement:
$4,200,000

Settlement: $4.2 Million. The plaintiff who was a forty-one-year-old elementary schoolteacher saw an internist for a sudden headache and dizziness which she had experienced that day while shoveling snow. The defendant internist assumed that she had the flu and sent her home on bed rest and fluids. Five days later, the plaintiff began to slur her speech and drop things that she held in her right hand.

She was admitted to the hospital and found to have a ruptured cerebral aneurysm, which had likely burst while shoveling snow. After surgery, she experienced a vasospasm causing a stroke. As a result of the delay in her diagnosis, the plaintiff has partial right-sided paralysis and inability to speak.

The parties agreed to a nondisclosure of the identities of the defendants as a term of the settlement.

Mother died because of an undiagnosed maternal infection due after delivery.
Estate of Moore v. Wrona, MD & St. Joseph’s Medical Center.
Settlement:
$2,475,000

Settlement: $2.475,000. This maternal death case arose because of a necrotizing fasciitis infection to the mother’s episiotomy wound laceration wounds which was contracted at the time of delivery.

The defendant obstetrician repaired the wound and ordered a narcotic medication for pain for the mother’s wound. Despite continuing pain and an increased white blood cell count two days after delivery, the obstetrician discharged the mother home. Mother was re-admitted to the hospital four days later at the age of 20 and later died leaving the minor plaintiff as her sole surviving heir.

The plaintiff’s counsel Kurt D. Lloyd retained an obstetrical expert with a specialty in maternal infections who testified to the negligence of the defendants and demonstrated that, even though the death rate for this infection was 70%, the mother should have survived with timely, appropriate treatment.

Surgeon over manipulated a brain tumor causing Plaintiff to suffer stroke and partial paralysis.
Crane v. Luken, M.D.
Settlement:
$2,000,000

Settlement:  $2,000,000.  The Plaintiff had a benign meningioma tumor in the brain which a neurosurgeon attempted to remove.

 

During surgery, the surgeon over manipulated the tumor causing the plaintiff to suffer a stroke and leaving him partially hemiplegic.  Plaintiff’s counsel Kurt D. Lloyd handled the case after seven other plaintiff’s lawyers turned the case down.

Garbage truck driver had his toes amputated by an unguarded “pinch point” on his truck.
Hornsby v. Undisclosed National Garbage Truck Manufacturer:
Settlement:
$2,000,000
(Largest product liability settlement in McLean County, Illinois)

Settlement: $2,000,000. Under a confidential settlement, the Defendant which was a
Nationally known manufacturer of a garbage truck container and compaction equipment
had designed and manufactured the tailgate with an unguarded, exposed “slide shoe” assembly for the hydraulically powered compaction arm, all of which created a hazardous pinch-point for operators of the truck.

The plaintiff had all toes of his right foot amputated while troubleshooting for a hydraulic
leak. In downstate Illinois, this is the largest product liability settlement in McLean County, Illinois.

Front-seat passenger in a Ford truck suffered hip fracture injury when his vehicle was rear-ended by semi-truck.
Stephens, et.al. v. Land Truck, Inc.
Settlement:
$1,700,000

Settlement: $1.7 Million. The Plaintiff who was a front seat passenger in a Ford Box truck suffered serious hip fracture injury when his vehicle was rear-ended while stopped in a construction zone by the driver of a semi-tractor and attached trailer.

Neurosurgeon cut a nerve in bricklayer’s hand causing reflex sympathetic dystrophy in hand.
Weiner v. Pedersen, MD
Verdict:
$1,575,000
Offer: $0

Verdict: $1.575 Million. (Offer: $0) The Plaintiff, age 60, was a part-time bricklayer who had developed carpal tunnel disease. During a carpel tunnel release surgery, the defendant neurosurgeon cut a nerve in the patient’s wrist causing reflex sympathetic dystrophy in the patient’s hand.

Internist failed to recommend routine annual screening mammograms resulting in the wrongful death of an elderly woman.
Estate of Urbanski v. Lerner, MD
Settlement:
$1,500,000

Settlement:  $1.5 Million.  The plaintiff sued for the wrongful death of his wife and waitress, alleging that she died from a delay in diagnosis of breast cancer, because the defendant internist failed to recommend routine annual screening mammograms to her after her fiftieth birthday. The plaintiff argued that a routine screening mammogram would have likely detected her asymptomatic breast cancer two years earlier when it was 95% curable with treatment.

Surgeon performed laser spine surgery causing neuropathic pain syndrome to 44-year-old woman after surgery center negligently granted privileges to the surgeon who was uncredentialed in the procedure.
Tsakonas v. Lakeshore Surgery and Stamelos, MD.
Settlement:
$1,500,000

Settlement: $1.5 Million. The plaintiff, age 44, underwent laser spine surgery to her low back for a bulging disc and right leg pain which resulted in a new neuropathic pain syndrome. The plaintiff attorney Kurt D. Lloyd alleged that defendant Lakeshore Surgery Center negligently granted surgical privileges to an orthopedic surgeon to perform laser spine disc decompression surgery at an Ambulatory Surgery Center when the surgeon did not hold hospital equivalent privileges or current credentialing for laser spine surgery.

The plaintiff’s attorney Kurt Lloyd found and retained the orthopedic surgeon who had developed and patented the laser spine procedure and had trained the majority of orthopedic surgeons in laser spine surgery techniques.

Hospital pharmacy mis-filled prescription order.
Okerstrom v. Evanston Hospital
Jury Verdict:
$1,500,000

Jury Verdict: $1.5 Million. The hospital pharmacy received an order for gentamycin to be filled for the plaintiff but misread the order and filled it at 10 times the dose prescribed. The drug is toxic to the ear and caused loss of balance. The plaintiff, age sixty-eight, was on kidney dialysis and in end-stage renal failure at the time of injury with only a few years to live.

Secretary slipped and fell on hazardous, sloped concrete stoop and fractured her right heal.
Hruby v. FCB, Ltd.
Settlement:
$1,400,000

Settlement:  $1.4 Million.  The plaintiff, age 42, was working as a part-time secretary in a commercial office building when while exiting the rear door of the office building, she slipped and fell on concrete stoop and fractured her right heal. Plaintiff alleged that the stoop had an excessive slope in violation of City building code making it hazardous. The Plaintiff, who was diabetic, developed a degenerative condition called “Charcot’s foot” from the traumatic fracture, which later resulted in amputation of her foot above the ankle.

Newborn dies from herpes viral encephalopathy contracted at birth due to obstetrician and hospital failure.
Estate of Davis v. Northwestern Memorial Hosp., et. al.,
Settlement:
$1,300,000

Settlement: $1.3 Million. The parents of a newborn filed suit for the wrongful death son who died from herpes viral encephalopathy which was contracted at birth. At birth, the defendant obstetrician and hospital nurses each failed to advise newborn’s pediatrician in the newborn nursery that his mother had a history of herpes infection, so that he could be examined and tested for signs and symptoms of herpes infection. In a newborn, the herpes virus can attack the central nervous system and destroy it, because the infant has no immunity to the virus during the first month of life. The drug acyclovir, if given as a precaution, can halt the attack of the virus on the nervous system. The newborn was stricken with the virus and lived in a vegetative state for before he died.

Even though the defense claimed that there was no evidence of active herpes virus in the mother, the plaintiff’s attorney Kurt D. Lloyd was able to show a 25% rate of asymptomatic viral shedding in mothers who had any history of the disease.

Freshman daughter who was a passenger died as a result of underinsured motorist one-car crash in DuPage County
Baries v. CNA Insurance Co.
Settlement:
$1,250,000

Settlement: $1.250 Million. A family brought an underinsured motorist claim against CNA Insurance for the wrongful death of their fourteen-year-old daughter who had been a front-seat passenger in a one-car crash. Their daughter was a freshman in high school without any income. The death occurred shortly after the Illinois General Assembly had passed into law in l996 a new wrongful death limit of $500,000 for non-economic damage awards.

This is the only reported case to settle in excess of the statutory limits before the Illinois Supreme Court struck down the limit as unconstitutional.

Minor suffered Erb’s palsy because of excessive traction after shoulder dystocia in term delivery.
Garcia v. Endres, M.D. et. al.
Settlement:
$1,200,000

Settlement: $1.2 Million. The newborn’s mother alleged that her child suffered an Erb’s palsy as a result of excessive traction(pulling) by an obstetrician after a shoulder dystocia occurred during delivery. $950,000 cash and waiver of $250,000 Public Aid lien.

Genecologist failed to recommend baseline screening mammogram and 41-year-old homemaker and mother died.
Estate of Baierle v. Matviuw, MD
Settlement:
$1,000,000

Settlement: $1 Million, policy limits. The plaintiff husband sued for the wrongful death of his wife, a forty-one-year-old homemaker, and mother of his seven-year-old daughter, alleging that she had died because the defendant gynecologist had not recommended or obtained a baseline screening mammogram at age 40. In February, the patient saw the defendant for a routine check-up and her breast examination was negative. In September, she saw an internist for heartburn who ordered a mammogram which detected a 3.0 cm malignant breast mass. Despite a radical mastectomy which revealed four positive lymph nodes, she died one year later.

The plaintiff’s counsel Kurt D. Lloyd argued that a baseline screening mammogram at age 40 would have likely detected her asymptomatic breast cancer one to two years earlier when she could have been cured with diagnosis and treatment.

68-year-old widow died due to a misread chest x-ray showing a lung cancer.
Estate of Greenblatt v. Poor, MD
Verdict:
$1,195,000
Offer: $500,000

Verdict: $1.195 Million dollars (Offer: $500,000). This was a radiology negligence case causing a 16-month delay in diagnosis of lung cancer and represents one of the few jury verdicts recorded on behalf of a plaintiff for lung cancer. This verdict is also noteworthy for being one of the first in Illinois to award more than one million dollars for the wrongful death of a widowed woman over the age of sixty-five.

As plaintiff’s counsel, Kurt D. Lloyd successfully retained one of the world’s leading lung cancer surgeons, who testified that a person with a malignant lung tumor less than 3.0 cm in size has a seventy percent chance of survival with timely diagnosis and treatment.

A minimum wage factory worker stopped breathing and suffered mild brain damage during a tooth extraction under general anesthesia.
Hicks v. Wonderlick D.D.S.
Verdict:
$1,195,000

Verdict: $1.195 Million, after 35 not guilty verdicts. The Plaintiff, age 65 and retired, who had been previous minimum wage factory worker, underwent a tooth extraction in the defendant’s office. During a 10-minute general anesthetic, she stopped breathing as a result of failure to properly monitor her vitals.

Despite resuscitation in less than 2-minutes, the Plaintiff alleged diffuse organic brain damage which was not detectable on MRI scan.

A water ski rope device broke causing blunt trauma and blindness to a 16-year-old girl.
Robertson v. Straight Line Water Sports, et.al.
Settlement:
$1,100,000

Settlement: $1.1 Million. The defendant Straight Line Water Sports began marketing a new water ski rope device called the “Woggle,” which was manufactured in Hong Kong by an injection mold plastic process. The Woggle was intended as a quick release device to connect and disconnect tow ropes to water ski handles and inner tubes. The plaintiff, a sixteen-year-old woman, was being towed behind her father’s boat on an inner tube when the woggle device shattered causing the tow rope to snap back and strike the plaintiff in her eye. The blunt trauma blinded the plaintiff in one eye.

The Woggle device which broke sank to the bottom of the Illinois River. The plaintiff alleged that the woggle device had a propensity to fracture under load based on a design defect in the ejection mold process. Using a plastics engineer who tested dozens of facsimile Woggles, plaintiff’s counsel Kurt D. Lloyd proved that the injection mold had improperly placed gates, which produced air bubbles causing weakness in the Woggle. This is a rare case of reverse engineering used to prove a defect when the injury-causing product is no longer available for testing or examination.

A surgeon failed to timely perform exploratory abdominal surgery in morbidly obese patient resulting in death from a perforated bowel.
Estate of Lucas v. Roper, MD
Settlement:
$1,000,000

Settlement:  $1 Million( insurance policy limit). The plaintiff’s estate sued the defendant surgeon for the failure to timely perform exploratory abdominal surgery to determine the cause of the morbidly obese patient’s diarrhea, cramping, and lower abdominal pain for past three days. The defendant claimed he could not obtain an abdominal CT scan because the patient weighed 350 pounds making him too large for an abdominal CT-scan. The patient died of peritonitis which had resulted from a delayed diagnosis and repair of a perforated bowel.

65 year-old man died after hernia surgery due to failure of nurses to follow post-operative risk assessment for venous thromboembolism.
Estate of Thomas, deceased v. Advocate Christ Hospital
Settlement:
$1,000,000

Settlement: $1 Million. The deceased plaintiff, age 65 and obese, was admitted for hernia surgery. Nursing staff did not follow procedures for pre-operative and post-operative assessment of the plaintiff for risk of venous thromboembolism (‘blood clots”) and notify physicians, which resulted in a delay in heparin drug prevention. The plaintiff died one day after discharge home from a large saddle pulmonary embolism. The plaintiff had history of Stage III colon cancer with risk of recurrence at time of death.

Physician failed to repeat an elevated PSA test or order follow up examination resulting in patient’s life expectancy being diminished.
Morris v. Ajmere, MD
Settlement:
$1,000,000
(Policy limit)

Settlement: $1 Million (Policy limit). The plaintiff, age 50, had a PSA test result which was elevated to 7.0, but the defendant physician did not repeat the test or order a follow-up examination. Two years later, the plaintiff was diagnosed with a Gleason’s 8 rated prostate tumor with a diminished life expectancy.

20-year-old woman suffered cardio-respiratory arrest and death after extraction of tooth under conscious sedation.
Estate of Barksdale v. Horowitz, D.D.S.
Settlement:
$1,000,000
(Policy limit)

Settlement: $1 Million (insurance policy limits). The plaintiff’s mother filed a wrongful death case against a defendant oral surgeon for the loss of her 29-year-old daughter who died from a cardio-respiratory arrest in the dental chair after extraction of a wisdom tooth under a short acting general anesthetic. The plaintiff’s attorney Kurt D. Lloyd alleged that the oral surgeon terminated recovery room monitoring before the patient had sufficiently awakened from conscious sedation.

This case has resulted in more vigilant monitoring of anesthesia patients in dental offices.

Physician failed to perform a complete surgical repair of tear after vaginal birth delivery leading to infection (life-threatening sepsis and necrosis).
Jacobs v. Kobler, MD
Settlement:
$900,000

Settlement: $900,000. The plaintiff mother gave vaginal birth to a healthy baby boy and experienced an unrecognized fourth degree tear to her rectal sphincter muscle that was not repaired immediately after delivery. After her discharge home, she developed an infection which evolved into life-threatening sepsis and necrosis. This infection left the plaintiff with partial rectal incontinence and scarring to her vaginal area.

These types of wounds at delivery and their subsequent infection are defended as a recognized complication of delivery. However, the plaintiff’s attorney Kurt D. Lloyd successfully proved that the defendant family practitioner, performed an incomplete surgical repair of her tear after delivery, which allowed her wound to become infected.

Surgeon failed to order post-operative CT-Scan which delayed a diagnosis orbital bleeding in patient’s eye resulting in scarring and double vision.
Ross v. Lee, M, D. (Ottawa, IL)
Verdict:
$837,000
Offer: $0

Verdict:  $837,000. (Offer:  $0). The plaintiff, age 61, who was a part-time artist, underwent endoscopic sinus surgery (FESS procedure) for chronic maxillary sinus infections and headaches. During surgery, the defendant ENT surgeon penetrated the orbital bone of the right eye above the maxillary sinus causing double vision. The plaintiff’s trial attorney Kurt D. Lloyd alleged that because the patient had a black eye immediately after surgery the surgeon should have suspected orbital penetration of the lamina bone, which is a recognized complication, and the surgeon should have ordered a post-operative CT-Scan which would have discovered the orbital bleeding. The failure to diagnose the cause of the bleed delayed steroid treatment which would have prevented the scarring to the eye muscles and resulting double vision. No medical expense damages were presented.

A delivery truck struck a woman pedestrian while she was walking outside the crosswalk causing her to sustain a complex leg fracture.
Felgenhauer v. Sysco Foods
Settlement:
$425,000

Settlement: $425,000. A female pedestrian who was a curator for the Chicago Art Institute was walking outside the crosswalk when struck by a Sysco Foods delivery truck which was turning during heavy rush-hour traffic causing a fracture in the lower leg.

Victoria Secret mislabeled a a flammable Body Splash product causing severe burns to a 20-year-old African American Female.
Frazier v. The Limited, Inc.
Settlement:
$420,000

Verdict: $420,000. The defendant Victoria Secret, a subsidiary of the Limited, entered the body and skin care products market and sold a product labeled “Pear Glace Moisturizing Body Splash.” The product was its number one selling cosmetic product. Victoria Secret’s Marketing Department designed the label and marketed it as a moisturizer, despite the product’s primary ingredient being SD Alcohol 40 which is highly flammable.

The plaintiff, who was a twenty-year-old African American female, followed the instructions on the label and claimed she did not realize it was flammable. She applied the product liberally, as instructed, to her arms, chest, and neck, while dressing in the bathroom with the door closed. After she put on her blouse, she lit a cigarette causing ignition and a blue flame. She suffered 2nd and 3rd degree burns to eleven percent of her body.

The defendant re-labeled the product post-accident to say “flammable—keep away from heat or open flame” and dropped the word “moisturizing.” The plaintiff’s counsel Kurt D. Lloyd argued that the product was mislabeled and misbranded as a skin care product under FDA guidelines and that, although the product had a scented fragrance, the average woman would not assume it was perfume product which are known to be inherently flammable. Research of competitive market products, such as “Jean Nate Body Splash,” revealed that body splashes carried a warning label regarding flammability.

Bed-side nurse pulled patient up in bed causing “shearing” injury which resulted in wound infection in elderly patient.
Fred Jaffe v. Lexington Health Care Center
Settlement:
$250,000

Settlement. $250,000. The Plaintiff, age 73 and obese, underwent hip replacement surgery and was then transferred to the defendant nursing facility for rehabilitation. In middle of night, the defendant’s bedside nurses pulled the plaintiff up in bed causing “shearing” injury to his right buttock, which progressed to Stage III infected wound and nine-month delay in hip rehabilitation.

Driver was rear-ended causing disc herniation which was unoperated. Settlement: $600,000
O’Brien v. Shulkin
Settlement:
$600,000.00

Teenage delivery driver rear-ended a 40-year-old woman’s vehicle causing disc herniation in her neck, but she did not have surgery.

ADDITIONAL INJURY MATTERS

$250,000
Kurke v. LAZ Parking Chicago, et. al.

Valet driver for Hyatt Corporation while exiting garage with guest’s vehicle struck a woman pedestrian crossing mid-block on Ohio Street causing compression fracture in lumbar spine.

$245,000
Sarelas v. Pan, et. al.

A rideshare driver missed his turn to pick-up his passenger. Then, attempting to go around the block, he made an improper lane change side-striking a college student driving his motorcycle at the foot pedal and causing foot fractures.

$210,000
MacDonald v. Moriarty

Defendant driver failed to yield and pulled out in front of firefighter riding his motorcycle resulting in his motorcycle “T boning” collision the defendant’s vehicle and causing chronic low back pain.

$125,000
Sarelas v. International Decorators, Inc.

Panel Truck driver rear-ended vehicle driven by 67-year-old man causing neck pain.

$100,000
Safakas v. Cody

(Policy limits)

Legal secretary driving to work rear-ended vehicle of young male driver while on Lakeshore Drive causing a labrum tear to his shoulder and requiring surgery.

$100,000
Jimenez v, Leslie, et. al.

Young mother of two was on travelling on I-55 at rush hour when her vehicle was rear-ended by semi-truck causing neck pain despite negative MRI imaging

$80,000
Kesler v. Weihofen, et. al.

Driver of borrowed vehicle failed to yield at “T” intersection striking vehicle driven by radiology equipment repairman and causing tendon injury to his thumb.

$1,000,000
Estate of Charlene Brooks v. Steinwald, M.D.

(Policy limits)

Plastic surgeon performed “tummy-tuck” on diabetic, 68-year-old woman without obtaining pre-op protein lab results which would have shown poor tissue healing, all of which resulted in wound breakdown, infection and ultimately death.

$400,000.00
Roseann Stuker v. Lowell Weil, Jr., DPM

Podiatrist applied excessive traction during ankle surgery causing tibial nerve damage and chronic pain to patient’s large toe.

$290,000.00
Crystal Jones v. Mark Godsel, DPM

A podiatrist performed surgery for a hammer toe condition to the patient’s great toe which failed causing chronic pain in the toe.

$150,000
Sahdev v. Jagasia, MD

Surgeon misdiagnosed a benign thyroid lesion as “suspicious” and performed unnecessary surgery causing thyroid function derangements.

$135,000
Alongi v. Nuzzo, DPM

Defendant podiatrist performed improper hammertoe correction surgery causing need for repeat surgery.

$100,000
May, a disabled person v. Alden Popular Creek Rehabilitation

While a patient of the nursing home, a disabled woman developed a bedsore from inadequate nursing care.

$2,350,000.00

A 29-year-old temporary worker injured his hand in a machine at work.

$2,065,000.00

A 49-year-old woman struck by a bus fractured her ribs and pelvis.

$1,975,000.00

A 40-year-old laborer fell from a ladder.

$1,375,000.00

A 30-year-old woman struck by a cab on Lake Shore Drive fractured her right leg.

$1,305,000.00

A 41-year-old truck driver slipped on ice at a freight terminal, injuring his back and knee.

$925,000.00

A 51-year-old police officer fell down the stairs, injuring his back.

$730,000.00

49-year-old fell at work, tearing a rotator cuff.

$550,000.00

A 50-year-old woman in an auto accident fractured her leg, among other injuries.

$450,000.00

A 50-year-old woman was rear-ended in traffic with no damage to either vehicle.

$400,000.00

A 61-year-old man in an auto accident injured his knee and shoulder.

$370,000.00

A 52-year-old woman slipped at a fast-food restaurant, fracturing her thumb and wrist.

$330,000.00

A 33-year-old man fell from a porch, fracturing his ankle.

$320,000.00

An 80-year-old woman slipped on a wet floor at the hospital, fracturing her leg.