Patients here in Illinois and around the country routinely put their lives into the hands of strangers when they are at their most vulnerable. When an illness strikes or an injury occurs, many people rush to a hospital looking for someone to take the time to care about their predicament and do what it takes to ensure they leave the hospital better than when they arrived. However, when the trust given to medical professionals is betrayed and someone is injured by hospital negligence, his or her life can be changed forever.
For instance, a woman from another state was suffering from a benign tumor located on the tissue that covers the brain. As part of her treatment, she was given heparin, which is designed to thin a patient’s blood. The doctor in charge of her care and other hospital staff failed to notice that she suffered an adverse reaction to the anticoagulant medication.
She began excessively bleeding in her brain and subsequently suffered injury to it. As a result, the woman is now significantly paralyzed. The jury agreed that she did not receive the appropriate standard of care and awarded her $44.1 million in total damages. The Pennsylvania hospital where the incident occurred was found to be 65 percent responsible and the doctor was found to be 35 percent responsible for her resulting condition.
When an individual is seriously or fatally injured by hospital negligence, there could be more than one party responsible for what happened. All of the parties believed to have played a part in an injury or death may be listed as defendants. If an Illinois court rules that negligence occurred, a percentage of liability will then be assigned to each defendant the court finds to be at fault.
Source: Philadelphia, PA The Business Journals, “Jury awards $44M to patient in Philadelphia medical malpractice lawsuit“, John George, April 28, 2016