June 19, 2014
For the third time in six months, Bradley Cosgrove, partner at Clifford Law Offices, has obtained a verdict for a victim of medical malpractice as of late Wednesday (June 18, 2014).
Following a two-week trial before Cook County Circuit Court Judge Elizabeth Budzinski, Cosgrove obtained a $4 million verdict on behalf of a 51-year-old man from Addison. The jury deliberated for 11 hours over the course of two days before finding that the nursing staff of Elmhurst Memorial Hospital failed to contact a physician to report signs and symptoms of a post-operative neck hematoma. William Wachholz died on Nov. 22, 2008, just 17 hours after having a carotid endarterectomy despite showing significant changes in condition over the course of the overnight hours. The nurses responsible for the patient never reported these changes which including impaired swallowing, increased neck swelling, garbled speech, diminished lung sounds and a new finding of sputum. As a result of his untreated postoperative hematoma, Wachholz’s airway became compromised. He began suffocating, which resulted in full cardiopulmonary arrest and death. The cause of his death was determined to be hypoxia due to obstruction of his airway. Wachholz was survived by his wife, Joann, and his three adult daughters, Brandy, Jennifer and Tiffany.
The attorneys for defendant, Elmhurst Hospital, made no offer in this case.
“The Wachholz family takes solace in the fact that patients like their father will likely no longer be monitored in Progressive Care Units but rather will be monitored in the Critical Care Unit so that hopefully this type of tragedy will never again happen” Cosgrove said following the verdict.
Just last month, Cosgrove obtained a $14 million verdict in a medical malpractice case and just a few months before that he obtained a $900,000 verdict in another medical malpractice case.
Marta Kowalczyk Davidson, associate at Clifford Law Offices, assisted at this trial.