Representative Verdicts and Settlements Prosecuted By Peter D. Kasdin, Ltd.
EG v. LT, M.D: 16,000,000.00 – Obstetrical Negligence
EG delivered her son in June of 2008 at a Cook County hospital. After two hours of labor, LT, her physician and obstetrician, elected to use a vacuum extractor to accelerate the delivery of the newborn according to the claim. The plaintiff argued that the election to use a vacuum with no immediate risk to the health of either the Mother or the newborn was improper. The plaintiff further argued that the physician misapplied the vacuum to the wrong area of the fetal head when the fetus was too high in the birth canal. The plaintiff also argued that a vacuum extraction and/or a forceps use may have permanent effects on the fetal brain when used improperly and without indication.
When attempts to deliver the newborn with the vacuum extractor failed, he was delivered two hours later by C-section. A CT scan revealed hemorrhage on the side of the child’s head where the vacuum had been applied. It was argued by the plaintiff that the improper application of a vacuum created traction, twisting and/or elongation of the right middle cerebral artery, and resulted in the obstruction of blood flow that caused a stroke and subsequent brain damage.
The son is now a 10-years-old child. He suffers from seizures, cerebral palsy, and left-sided paralysis. He is required to wear a helmet in order to protect himself whenever he stumbles and falls. He continues to struggle with regular outbursts and tantrums. He is nevertheless a fun and challenging 10-year-old. His parents will forever wonder what could have been if he had not lost half of his brain through no fault of his own. This result will provide the child and his family with the financial resources that will be required to ensure that the child receives the quality care that he deserves throughout his life.
JG v. CMH: $11,876,668.00 — Medical and Hospital Negligence
One-year old normal boy was hospitalized in a LaSalle County Hospital with an upper respiratory infection. He was injured when the medical and Hospital staff at the Hospital ignored signs of a bacterial infection and thereafter administered an inappropriate antibiotic therapy to treat the infection. The failure of the defendants to appropriately and timely treat the child resulted in an accelerated fever, febrile seizures and convulsions and brain damage with spastic quadriplegia. The compensatory damage award represented the highest compensatory damage jury award in the history of Illinois at the time.
KS v. CH: $10,000,000.00 — Medical and Hospital Negligence
Toddler boy presented at the Emergency Room of a Chicago area Hospital with early signs of virulent meningococcal bacterial meningitis that was initially misdiagnosed by a staff physician with flu symptoms and sent home. When the child continued to deteriorate, the medical and hospital staff commenced antibiotic therapy too late to treat the infection. The child was left with brain damage and spastic quadriplegia.
HS v. Farmers Ins. Co., et. al. $5,500,000.00 — Motor Vehicle Liability
Twenty-one year old female grade-school teacher died in Texas following a sideswipe by an under-insured driver of an adjacent vehicle. A study of the photographic damage to the two vehicles demonstrated that the driver side of the defendant’s vehicle initiated the contact with the decedent’s vehicle. The contact threw the plaintiff’s vehicle across the median of the highway and into oncoming traffic where her vehicle was hit by oncoming traffic. The plaintiff was killed. She experienced conscious pain and suffering before she died the same day. The Estate settled the case with the insurance carriers for the policy limit of $5,500,000.00.
ARH v. LB, et. al. $4,500,000.00 — Medical and Hospital Negligence
The inadequate prenatal care and delayed caesarean section delivery of a newborn boy at a LaSalle County Hospital resulted in brain damage, cerebral palsy, spastic quadriplegia and the inability to perform routine activities of daily living. The result at the time was a record recovery for obstetrical negligence in LaSalle County.
SW v. PCH, et al. $4,250,000.00 — Medical and Hospital Negligence
Inadequate prenatal care and delayed caesarean section delivery of newborn girl at a Peoria County Hospital resulted in brain damage, cerebral palsy, spastic quadriplegia and the inability to perform routine activities of daily living.
JT v. EP, et al. $4,020,000.00 — Motor Vehicle and Product Liability
A sixteen year old teen-age boy was paralyzed when he was ejected from his sport-utility vehicle following an intersection impact with an oncoming vehicle when his seat belt inertially unlatched during the collision. The plaintiff is now wheelchair bound as a result of the injury.
MA v. MH $4,000,000.00 — Medical and Hospital Negligence
A thirty-three year old father of three suffered a fatal heart attack while waiting to be seen by a staff physician at a Chicago area Hospital following triage by the Hospital Emergency Room nursing staff that suggested he was experiencing indigestion. The evidence revealed that the plaintiff would have been saved if he was seen within a reasonable period of time after he was triaged. The plaintiff argued that the Hospital failed to rule out a cardiac event by placing the victim on a cardiac monitor that would have disclosed a clot that caused a coronary blockage that required immediate intervention with a so-called “clot-buster.” The plaintiff was survived by his wife and three pre-school children.
AV v. LT $4,000,000.00 — Medical and Hospital Negligence
A twenty-eight year old woman presented for an elective tubal ligation procedure to be performed at a Chicago area Hospital by a staff surgeon with the assistance of hospital nursing staff. The surgeon elected to perform the laparoscopic procedure using a laparoscope that had a cracked lens that obscured a portion of the visual field. The nursing testimony disclosed that several other undamaged laparoscopes were available on site at the time. The plaintiff was discharged from the Hospital with an undiagnosed surgical bleed that ultimately led to a pulmonary embolism and her death two weeks later. She was survived by a young daughter.
BVM v. PCH $3,500,000.00 — Medical and Hospital Negligence
A newborn boy was delivered in a Chicago area hospital with excellent Apgar scores. The newborn thereafter refused to breastfeed or bottle feed without nursing staff intervention during his 24-hour protocol hospitalization and was characterized as a “colicky” baby. Diagnostic films at the Hospital disclosed blood within the subarachnoid space of the baby’s brain that would create ongoing headache pain in the newborn that he could only express by crying. The baby was nevertheless discharged from the hospital with routine maternal instructions and his apparent discomfort continued at home. The newborn continued to refuse to feed at home and when he was finally readmitted to the Hospital his severe dehydration was responsible for brain cell death and severe neurological deficits.
CM v. RMH $3,500,000.00 — Medical and Hospital Negligence
A newborn girl was delivered after experiencing signs of possible fetal distress while in utero according to the bedside notes. The defense was unable to locate the fetal heart monitor printout that was at bedside and would have confirmed or ruled out the circumstances that existed. A claim based on the Hospital’s spoliation of evidence was included in the case. The award at the time was a record recovery for obstetrical negligence in Winnebago County.
ATC v. EH $3,500,000.00 — Medical and Hospital Negligence
Newborn girl was delivered after experiencing fetal distress. The child exhibits superior intelligence and has been successfully mainstreamed academically. Her extreme physical deficits foreclose her ability to perform routine activities of daily living in line with her extraordinary intellectual level. Her damages were awarded to compensate for her extreme motor dysfunction, speech and related dysfunction and subtle hearing impairment. The child’s disabilities appear more remarkable when juxtaposed against her intelligence quotient.
JS v. SFH $3,492,000.00 — Medical and Hospital Negligence
Toddler presented to his pediatrician with a pimple on his eyelid. The pediatrician removed the pimple, the site became infected, and the infection traveled to the meninges of the brain resulting in global brain damage with spastic quadriplegia. The child requires twenty-four hour care that will last a lifetime.
EF v. NWMH $3,250,000.00 — Medical and Hospital Negligence
Caesarian-section delivery delayed in a Mother with a post-term pregnancy while a suburban hospital support staff and attending resident were unable to locate the attending physician. The newborn was ultimately delivered by caesarian-section with birth anoxia and in severe distress. The fetal heart monitor printout was described by the plaintiff’s expert as a “smoking gun.”
DB v. KBE $3,250,000.00 — Product Liability
A married father of two was attempting to repair the control underneath a lifted bed of a truck when the control failed and the uplifted bed of the truck decapitated him. He left a widow and two children behind. The defense argued that the father was negligent when he undertook the project.
MJ v. AMG $2,709,583.00 — Dental Negligence
Defendant’s delay in diagnosing the plaintiff’s jaw tumor resulted in the removal of a greater portion of the jaw than would have been required with a timely diagnosis and excision of the tumor.
SP v. DB and RH $2,900,000.00 — Psychiatric Malpractice
The plaintiff, a psychologically depressed 29 year-old woman under the care of her psychiatrist received assorted psychotropic prescription drugs from him in exchange for sexual encounters and the drugs. She developed a severe addiction to tenuate (speed) and other related drugs and ultimately ingested a potentially fatal overdose of that drug because of her depression. When the semi-comatose plaintiff arrived at the hospital emergency room, the staff did not properly treat her critical condition, and as a result she developed intravascular coagulation and required the amputation of one arm at the elbow and the fingers of her other hand leaving only the middle finger. The Kasdin firm distinguished the law that would have barred recovery due to her self-inflicted injuries by demonstrating that she became insane and bereft of reason by the conduct of the psychiatrist. The result at the time represented the highest compensatory damage award in the history of Illinois for a self-inflicted injury.
JR v. Medicor Cardiology, et al. $2,500,000.00 —Medical Negligence
A thirty-five year old healthy New Jersey father of three was scheduled by his physician for an exercise stress test before beginning a fitness program. While on the treadmill at the cardiology facility and testing pursuant to the Bruce Protocol, the cardiac monitor was printing out sheets that disclosed ST elevations suggestive of an impending heart attack. These signs were ignored by the cardiology staff and the father was sent home to await results the following day. He died while at home that day leaving a widow and three young children. The recovery was at the time a record recovery in Somerset County, NJ in a medical negligence case.
CD v. GSH, et al. $2,300,000.00 — Medical and Hospital Negligence
A newborn boy was delivered at a Galena Illinois Hospital after experiencing fetal distress. Delivery delays resulted in a newborn with extreme physical and cognitive deficits that foreclosed his ability to perform routine activities of daily living. The award was reported at the the time as the largest obstetrical award in Jo Davies County at the time.
SJ Financial Corp. v. FS Airlease, et al. $2,158,333.33 — Breach of Contract
Defendants defaulted on plaintiff’s rights to remarket several aircraft at the expiration of leases to Alaska Airlines and Air Florida. The plaintiff’s placed a lien on the aircraft and ultimately prevailed. The defense had argued that the brokerage agreement was unenforceable.
VP v. MGM Grand Hotel of Las Vegas, Inc. — $2,075,000.00
The plaintiff, a twenty-eight year old unmarried woman, lost her life in a Las Vegas fire at the MGM Grand Hotel due to the negligence of multiple contractors. The plaintiff did not leave any dependents and the recovery was based on the loss to her family of her society.
MAC v. SBH, et al. $2,000,000.00 — Medical and Hospital Negligence
A newborn boy was delivered in a Chicago Hospital after experiencing fetal distress. The condition was not recognized by Hospital staff until it was too late to address the situation. His extreme physical and cognitive deficits foreclosed his ability to perform routine activities of daily living.
SM v. RME, et al. $2,000,000.00 — Motor Vehicle Liability
The decedent homemaker was killed in a suburban Illinois head-on collision when a truck operated by the defendant’s employee swerved into oncoming traffic striking her vehicle. The decedent was survived by her husband, three adult children and a grandchild.
RN v. CTA $2,000,000.00 —- Motor Vehicle Liability
Plaintiff pedestrian was struck by a public transportation company bus while crossing the street. The plaintiff’s injuries included head trauma, skull fracture, orbital bone fracture and a fracture of the zygomatic arch. The defense argued that a prior brain injury was responsible for the occurrence.
PD v. RFCC, et al. $1,990,000.00 — Premises Liability (Pool)
A four year-old child drowned while a single lifeguard was on duty at a suburban Chicago Country Club pool. Manual resuscitation failed. The Club and its management had failed to equip the pool facility with a defibrillator or other resuscitative equipment on site. The child was survived by his parents and two siblings.
JW V. MHMC $1,925,000.00 — Medical and Hospital Negligence
A Chicago Hospital Medical Center and its staff physician ignored gastrointestinal signs and symptoms and improperly discharged the female patient. The wrongful discharge ultimately resulted in her death from widespread infection. The standard of care required a complete gastrointestinal work-up to rule out sepsis or an associated complication.
Estate of HR v. Strawbridge, et al. $1,800,000.00 —Motor Vehicle Liability
Decedent, 80 years of age, was struck in a Florida cross-walk by a van operated by the defendant. The decedent suffered severe brain damage and was placed in a rehabilitation facility where he remained until he died a year later. The Kasdin law firm produced a day in the life video that demonstrated and preserved the nature and extent of the damages and became the operative evidence in the case.
LC v. M R S & C, et al. $1,800,000.00 — Ophthalmic and Surgical Negligence
The plaintiff child experienced permanent eye and vision damage when she awoke from a drug- induced coma because of an insufficient anesthesia dosage while refractive surgery was in progress. The plaintiff will require corrective lenses for her vision for the foreseeable future.
HF v. SFIC $1,600,000.00 — Motor Vehicle Liability
The plaintiff was involved in two separate vehicle collisions two months apart. The defense claimed the earlier collision was the cause of her neck and myofascial pain. She required herniated disc surgery three years post-occurrence.
JS v. Cartwright, et al. $ $1,502,000 – Motor Vehicle Liability
Plaintiff truck driver was accessing an interstate highway and traveling within the inner lane of traffic when he was rear-ended by the defendant’s 18-wheeler truck. The plaintiff claimed the impact exacerbated a dormant cardiomyopathy and now required a heart transplant. The travel logs of the defendant driver and his passenger-wife disclosed that, if accurate, both were sleeping at the time that the truck had traveled 90 miles before impact. Those logs became circumstantial evidence that the operator of the truck violated federal regulations against operating an interstate vehicle with travel logs impossibly accurate on their face and with driving while fatigued.
BB v. City $1,500,000.00 Bicycle Injury (Premises Liability)
A twenty-three year old who was riding his bicycle on a City street when he struck a large hole surrounding a catch basin in the roadway near the curb. The hole had been present for more than two months and the City had actual notice of the defect that was scheduled for repair the next day. On the evening of the occurrence, there was one unlighted sawhorse in the hole. City employees admitted that such a configuration did not conform to the City’s practices but denied that it was in that condition when it last saw it. The plaintiff suffered a severe closed head injury and now resides with his parents who provide the majority of his care.
DM v. CH $1,500,000.00 — Medical and Hospital Negligence
The female plaintiff undergoing routine hemorrhoid suffered a severed rectal muscle leaving her partially incontinent of bowel. The event should not have occurred if a standard surgical dissection procedure had been used.
EE v. WSH $1,500,000.00 — Medical and Hospital Negligence
The Special Needs adult plaintiff suffered increased intellectual regression attributed to mismanagement of anesthesia. The defense argued that her needs remained the same.
SG v. KJ $1,400,000.00 — Medical Negligence
The left facial nerve of the plaintiff was severed by the defendant during a minor outpatient procedure to excise a benign lesion on her left cheek, leaving the plaintiff with a partially paralyzed left cheek. The recovery was based on the resulting disfigurement and pain and suffering.
TD v. Trans-Sterling, et al. $1,400,000.00 — Breach of contract
A Las Vegas organization denied plaintiff’s claim for performance-based bonus compensation. The plaintiff recovered 100% of what was claimed due. The plaintiff recovered for breach of employment agreement, including brokerage commissions, which had been withheld.
TW v. SD $1,000,000.00 — Bicycle Collision
The plaintiff, a middle aged woman, bicycling on a bike path along Lake Michigan was sideswiped at a high rate of speed by a competitive bicyclist. The plaintiff experienced a jaw injury and difficult sleep suggestive of temporal mandibular joint syndrome.
WV v. STH, et al. $1,275,000.00 — Medical and Hospital Negligence
Plaintiff, a diabetic, was hospitalized and treated at defendant Hospital in Lake County for disseminated intravascular coagulation and severe pain radiating down the leg. The delayed administration of anti-coagulation therapy resulted in gangrene in the leg with ensuing amputation of the leg. The defense argued that the gangrenous pathology that required amputation was a “mirror image” pathology that existed in the remaining leg and therefore, any delay did not cause additional injury. The defense was nevertheless unable to predict when the future amputation was expected to occur.
GN v. FAMC, et al $1,080,000.00 — Medical and Hospital Negligence
Plaintiff, a middle aged worker, presenting with symptoms suggesting left leg vascular thrombosis misdiagnosed as a strain by a Chicago worker’s compensation physician. He was placed on “light work,” an embolism traveled to his lung and he died shortly thereafter.
SG v. STH $1,000,000.00 — Medical and Hospital Negligence
Newborn baby was delivered with birth anoxia when the mother, a Jehovah’s Witness, rejected a Caesarian Section delivery because of the potential that a blood transfusion might be required during or following surgery and any transfusion would violate her religious principles. The child experienced intellectual deficits attributed to the delayed delivery. The plaintiff was able to identify several local physicians who had delivered the children of Jehovah’s Witnesses without any transfusion or blood on board. The plaintiff’s theory of the case was that the Lake County Hospital was required to refer the Mother to one or more of those physicians.
BC v. IMH $900,000.00 — Medical and Hospital Negligence
The Hospital staff ignored late fetal decelerations on fetal heart monitor printout that demanded a caesarian-section delivery. The baby was stillborn because of the failure to intervene with an emergency caesarean-section delivery.
JB v. V of R $800,000.00 — Assault and Battery
A pregnant young mother to be was home alone when local investigating police knocked down her front door, pushed her to the ground and began a search for contraband. The innocent woman later suffered a first-trimester miscarriage attributed by the episode. The defense argued that the fetus was not yet viable and fought the case for years until final resolution.
EP v. Pelz, et al. $1,000,000.00 — Motor Vehicle Road-Rage
The plaintiffs, husband and wife, were driving on an interstate highway when the defendant asserted that his limousine had been “cut-off” by the plaintiff. The limousine driver then began tailgating the plaintiffs’ vehicle. Fearing for their safety, the plaintiffs exited the highway seeking a police station where they could report the incident. The limousine driver followed the couple causing the husband’s vehicle to leave the road where he suffered a rhythmic heart disturbance, cardiac failure and died at the scene.
FL v. HPH $1,000,000.00 — Medical and Hospital Negligence
The plaintiff, a two-year old boy, was brought to the Lake County Hospital Emergency Room by his mother with a scratched cornea from a fall. The mother was instructed by Emergency Room staff to follow up with the Hospital ophthalmology office the next day. The ophthalmology office refused an appointment because the mother was on Public Aid. As a result of not being seen, the boy suffered vision loss in one eye that could have been prevented with prompt treatment.
BC v. IMH $900,000.00 — Medical and Hospital Negligence
Hospital staff ignored late fetal decelerations on fetal heart monitor printout that demanded a caesarian-section delivery. The baby was stillborn because of the failure to intervene with an emergency caesarian-section delivery.
DO v. U of C $850,000.00 — Medical and Hospital Negligence
Pregnant mother was placed into the control group of an experimental maternal-fetal program at a Chicago Hospital. The mother was not removed from the program when it appeared that her delivery should be delayed. The child was delivered with multiple cognitive deficits because of the failure to pursue early intervention.
AH v. ABH $800,000.00 — Medical and Hospital Negligence
An elderly diabetic male recovering from a stroke in a rehabilitation facility in Cook County when he was taken off the medication that was required to treat his diabetes. The plaintiff ultimately experienced a diabetic coma and died leaving a widow, several adult children and grandchildren.
CW v. MSH $750,000.00 — Medical and Hospital Negligence
The Chicago Hospital staff conducted many vacuum extraction attempts to deliver the Mother’s baby when the fetus showed signs of fetal distress. The failure to intervene with an emergency Caesarean-Section delivery remained unexplained by Hospital staff. The baby was delivered with multiple deep depressions on his skull and died shortly thereafter.
IR v. LDC, et al. $750,000.00 — Construction Negligence
The plaintiff, a 43 year-old married mother of two children, had her home in a Chicago suburb inundated with a flash flood following a heavy storm. The property was located adjacent to a large construction site that the defendant developer was preparing to clear for multi-unit housing. The plaintiffs’ property damage amounted to approximately $35,000.00. The plaintiffs’ claim against the developer for the reimbursement of her property damages was rejected. Shortly thereafter, the plaintiff became ill with an upper respiratory infection that was ultimately diagnosed by a local pulmonologist as caused by a fungal parasite known as pulmonary blastomychosis. Research confirmed that the fungus grows in mud. Following a long and painful recovery with several tracheotomies, the plaintiff made a recovery.
FML v. WL $750,000.00 — Premises Liability
The Estate of a woman who suffered smoke inhalation during a fire at her Chicago apartment building claimed the fire had exacerbated her pre-existing sickle-cell anemia. The woman died five years after the fire. The apartment building had inoperable smoke detectors and exit sign lighting, no fire extinguishers or fire escapes, and the exit door was locked. The defense argued that it was impossible to maintain the building because it was in a high-crime area and that arson was an intervening criminal act that barred recovery.
MS v. KA $675,000.00 — Motor Vehicle Liability
The plaintiff, a 16 year-old new driver, suffered a fractured lumbar vertebra while in the process of a left-hand turn when the defendant ignored the left turning vehicle and collided with the plaintiff’s vehicle.
EL v. DP Confidential Third-Party Child Abuse
Confidential settlement on the behalf of a young child who was victimized by third-party abuse. The parents have asked that the details of the claim and the amount of the cash settlement remain confidential.
LS v. SR (2017) Confidential Surgical Malpractice
Confidential settlement on the behalf of a young woman who experienced severe physical and psychological injury as a result of improper and unnecessary ophthalmic surgery. The defense claimed that the woman was not injured to the extent claimed. Her previous medical records supported her claim.
BO v. MA (2017) Confidential Motor Vehicle Liability
Confidential settlement on the behalf of a 67 year-old woman whose pre-existing spinal condition was severely aggravated when her vehicle was struck from the rear while she was stopped at a red light. The defense claimed that the woman was not injured. Her previous medical records supported her claim.
