Big News:
Phillips Law Offices is incredibly pleased to announce that attorney Stephen J. Phillips recently secured a $3,000,000 settlement for a 46-year-old man who suffered a serious leg injury following a cardiac catheterization procedure at a local Chicagoland Hospital.
Our client, who worked full-time in sales, had a lengthy history of cardiac disease and had undergone multiple cardiac procedures in the past. In December of 2021, he presented to the hospital for a cardiac catheterization and coronary intervention through the femoral artery in his leg. During the procedure, the interventional cardiologist had significant difficulty obtaining closure of the femoral artery, which resulted in a large hematoma in our client’s leg. The medical providers testified that they were concerned about continuing bleeding internally in our client’s leg over the following 2 days. However, none of the providers ordered an ultrasound, or any other imaging, to check for bleeding. Instead, they relied on visual observation and physical exam. On post-operative day 3, one of the providers finally decided to order an ultrasound which identified a large bleed, known as a pseudoaneurysm, in our client’s femoral artery requiring emergent life saving surgery. He later developed a significant infection in his leg and required skin grafting and muscle flap transfer at an outside institution. He now lives with chronic pain and discomfort but he has returned to work full time.
During discovery, our office compiled evidence to show that the physician improperly used a medical device during the cardiac catheterization which dramatically increased the risk of a pseudoaneurysm. We also argued that in light of the complications to the femoral artery during the surgery, the providers should have been on alert that an earlier ultrasound was indicated to check for continuing internal bleeding. Ultrasound is a simple, safe, cheap test to check for bleeding.
The defendants defended the case for 3 years, contending that their providers did absolutely nothing wrong and that this was just a “bad outcome.” They also argued that pseudoaneurysm was a known risk of this procedure and that our client’s past medical history put him at high risk. They retained multiple board-certified physicians in support of their position who repeatedly employed a “blame the patient” defense, i.e., it’s the patient’s fault that he’s injured.
Mr. Phillips stated: “We were not going to let them get away with the ‘blame the patient’ defense. Our client is one of the hardest working people I have ever met. Even after this injury, and despite now being a chronic pain patient, he continues to work long hours to support his family. He has a wife and 4 kids, 2 of whom are still little– they depend on him. He has had to make adaptions to the way he does his job in light of his leg injury, but he doesn’t complain. He’s just a tough, resilient guy. It’s a shame because this was all avoidable.”
The case settled at mediation less than a month before trial after 3 years of litigation. Please contact Stephen J. Phillips at 312-346-4262 or [email protected] for more information.