Bradley M. Cosgrove, partner at Clifford Law Offices, obtained a $3 million verdict on behalf of a 52-year-old man who died from a pulmonary embolism 50 days after undergoing leg surgery at Elmhurst Memorial Hospital.
The case involved Edward A. Smolinski of Elmhurst who died when doctors failed to prevent, diagnose and treat a pulmonary embolus following surgery to repair a quadriceps tendon in his left leg. The case was brought by his wife Margaret and their two children.
Smolinski was a patient at Elmhurst Hospital in the summer of 2011, after slipping from the cab of his work truck causing a ruptured tendon in his left leg. Following surgery, Smolinski suffered shortness of breath, chest pain, tachycardia and leg swelling. From July 20, 2011, through July 28, 2011, doctors and physical therapists failed to recognize signs and symptoms of a pulmonary embolus and did not perform testing to rule out this life threatening disorder.
“The jury saw that this husband and father would still be here today had the physical therapist and doctors paid attention to the well-recognized and reported symptoms that clearly indicated that Ed was suffering from a life-threatening blood clot,” Cosgrove said following the verdict. “The grief and loss suffered by this family will be felt their entire lives for something that should have been diagnosed and treated in a timely manner by medical professionals.”
The two-week trial was before the Hon. Lorna Propes in Cook County Circuit Court, Law Division, at the Daley Center. It took the nine-woman-three-man jury about four and a half hours of deliberation before reaching the verdict.
Susan A. Capra, partner at Clifford Law Offices and a registered nurse, worked up the case. Charles R. Haskins, associate at the firm, participated in the trial with Cosgrove.
Prior to trial, the case against another defendant, Dr. Vioneet Singla, a family practitioner and osteopath, settled for $1.5 million.
Smolinski v. Elmhurst Memorial Healthcare, et. al., No. 13 L 5258
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For further information, please contact Clifford Law Offices Communications Partner Pamela Sakowicz Menaker at 847-721-0909.