Marni Slavick and Michael Compton recently obtained a defense verdict in a Cook County medical malpractice case in which the plaintiff claimed that the defendant general surgeon had negligently performed a hiatal hernia repair surgery. The plaintiff died following an injury to her vena cava sustained during the surgery. Plaintiff argued that such an injury was not a known complication and would not have occurred absent professional negligence.
Marni and Mike presented evidence that this was indeed a known complication of the hernia repair surgery and that their client-surgeon had operated in accordance with the standard of care. Following a 2-week trial, plaintiff asked the jury for $2,200,000 in damages. The jury returned a defense verdict in favor of the surgeon.