In early May 2024, after a one-month trial, a Cook County, Illinois medical malpractice jury returned its verdict in favor of a now 72-year-old lawyer who suffered a serious stroke because his medical providers failed to properly manage his anticogulation medication.
On February 28, 2016, the lawyer was admitted to St. Francis Hospital in Peoria, Illinois, for pneumonia. During his inpatient hospital stay, the man developed an acute kidney injury due to his pneumonia treatment that required short-term dialysis. A cardiology consultation was arranged while the man was in the hospital for an abnormal heart rhythym. The cardiologist prescribed an anticoagulant medication to minimize the risk of stroke. As a result, daily monitoring of his blood level was required to avoid issues with blood clotting.
The man was discharged from the hospital two weeks later at which time outpatient dialysis was arranged but no arrangement was made for monitoring his anticoagulant blood level. During his dialysis treatments, blood testing revealed that his anticoagulation blood levels had fallen to dangerous levels meaning that his risk for stroke increased. Despite such findings, none of the treating physicians adjusted his anticoagulation medication to bring his blood level into the therapeutic range under the circumstances.
Four weeks later, the man suffered a stroke that a head CT scan revealed was due to a large clot that nearly cut off blood flow to the right side of his brain. As a result, the man became paralyzed on the left side of his body and he was left with severe cognitive deficits that precluded him from continung his profession as a lawyer.
The Illinois medical malpractice lawsuit filed on behalf of the man and his wife alleged that the hospital, the cardiologist, nurses, and other medical providers breached the applicable standard of care by failing to properly monitor the man’s blood levels and adjust his anticoagulation medication accordingly. The lawsuit further alleged that the hospital should not have relied on the kidney doctors to manage the man’s heart condition. The defendants reportedly placed the blame on the others, alleging it was the others’ responsibility, and not their’s, to monitor the man’s blood levels and adjust his medication.
One of the plaintiffs’ Illinois medical malpractice attorneys stated after the verdict, “The jury’s verdict is bittersweet for this wonderful family, which has been devastated by Craig Pierce’s injury and the loss of his ability to function independently and practice law. Craig was a pillar of his community as a successful lawyer and member of his local school board. During the month-long trial, the jury carefully considered all of the evidence and rendered a just verdict. Craig Pierce will now receive the twenty-four hour per day care that he needs and deserves.”
If you or a loved one may have been injured (or worse) as a result of hospital malpractice in Illinois or in another U.S. state, you should promptly find an Illinois medical malpractice lawyer, or a medical malpractice lawyer in your state, who may investigate your hospital medical malpractice claim for you and represent you or your loved one in a hospital medical malpractice case, if appropriate.
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