On April 10, 2025, a Chicago medical malpractice jury returned its verdict in the amount of $43,330,947.34 in favor of the Estate of Anna Wyrwal. Anna is a 32-year-old woman who is in a permanent state of unresponsiveness following negligent hospital emergency room care that occurred in May 2020. Anna requires 24-hour care and is presently on a ventilator at a hospital elsewhere in Illinois, due to the medical negligence.
Background Facts
Anna went to a hospital emergency room because she had stridor (a high-pitched breath sound caused by a narrowed or obstructed airway) and was unable to speak. Eric Toone, M.D. examined Anna in the ER and improperly concluded that Anna required intubation, according to the Chicago medical malpractice lawsuit. Dr. Toone allegedly botched the intubation attempts (three failed intubation attempts) and then performed an emergency cricothyrotomy, which he allegedly improperly performed. The failed intubation attempts led to prolonged anoxia and cardiac arrest, which resulted in severe brain injury. As a result of her permanent brain injury, Anna is unable to interact with the outside world or respond to her surroundings.
The Chicago medical malpractice lawsuit alleged that Anna’s symptoms when she arrived at the emergency room were due to a psychological condition, and not a physical condition that required intubation. One of the plaintiff’s medical malpractice lawyers stated after the verdict: : “Anna didn’t require any airway intervention at all. The tragedy is that Dr. Toone’s errors created the exact problem he thought he was trying to solve. Anna suffered an unimaginable loss, but at least her family no longer has to worry about being able to afford the care she needs. This verdict sends a powerful message about the importance of careful, evidence-based medical decision-making.”
Failed Intubation
Failed intubation occurs in about 1 in 390 patients. The incidence of severe complications including death, hypoxic brain injury, or emergency surgical airway was 1 in 22,000 in a database of 2.9 million general anesthetics. The incidence of complications was 35 times higher in emergency departments and 55 times higher in intensive care units.
It is likely that not all critical events were reported and that the incidence was higher than stated.
Obesity and especially morbid obesity present challenges in all aspects of airway management, from bag-mask ventilation to laryngoscopy to emergency cricothyrotomy. Safe apneic time is also much shorter with rapid desaturation in these patients.
In trauma patients with a cervical spine injury, there should be a heightened suspicion for difficult intubation because of a rigid cervical collar for immobilization, higher Cormack-Lehane views of the larynx, and high aspiration risk. Intubation is often required for airway protection, mechanical ventilation, and/or emergency surgery. There may also be a concurrent closed head injury. Avoiding neck movement during intubation attempts and avoiding hypotension, hypoxia, and hypercarbia are all paramount.
If you or a loved one have suffered serious harm (or worse) as a result of failed intubation in Chicago or elsewhere in the United States, you should promptly find a medical malpractice attorney in Chicago or in your state who may investigate your failed intubation claim for you and represent you or your loved one in a failed intubation malpractice case, if appropriate.
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