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Townsend v. University of Chicago Hospitals12/20/2000
The question in this medical negligence case is whether the proof created a fatal gap between the defendant doctor's purported negligent breach of the applicable standard of care and the death of Debra Puckett. The trial judge held there was enough evidence of proximate cause to take the case to the jury, which found in favor of the plaintiff. We do not agree. We find the defendants are entitled to Judgment Notwithstanding the Verdict.
FACTS
Debra Puckett (Puckett), a 37 year-old single mother, suffered from transverse myelitis, a neurological impairment she contracted in 1992 after an adverse reaction to a hepatitis vaccination. Puckett had decreased motor strength and sensation below her waist, and she was confined to a wheelchair. Puckett also had an indwelling catheter to drain her urine.
Around 7:30 p.m. on February 20, 1994, Puckett went to the University of Chicago Hospital emergency room, complaining of a high fever, diffuse back pain, and foul-smelling cloudy urine. Dr. Diane Chaney (Chaney), the emergency room attending physician that night, examined Puckett and provisionally concluded she had a urinary tract or kidney infection. Dr. Chaney ordered antibiotics, intravenous fluids, blood tests, and a urine culture for Puckett.
Around 1 a.m. on February 21, Dr. Chaney decided to admit Puckett to the neurology floor of the hospital, where she could receive treatment for her infection by medical personnel familiar with the needs of neurological patients. Shortly after her transfer to the neurology floor, Puckett's blood pressure fell. A team from the intensive care unit gave Puckett a central i-v line, and her blood pressure stabilized.
Several hours later, Puckett was transferred to the intensive care unit, where she continued to receive antibiotics and fluids. Around 10 a.m., Puckett was placed on a breathing machine, and her condition deteriorated rapidly. Puckett died in the intensive care unit around 4:30 p.m. An autopsy revealed she had a kidney stone, which caused a severe infection and ultimately septic shock and death.
Vera Townsend (Townsend), special administrator of Puckett's estate, filed a two-count medical malpractice complaint against, inter alia, the hospital and Dr. Chaney, under the Wrongful Death Act (740 ILCS 180/0.01 et seq. (West 1998)) and the Survival Act (755 ILCS 5/27-6 (West 1998)). A jury heard the case.
At the close of Townsend's case in-chief, the trial court directed a verdict in the defendants' favor on the survival count. The jury ultimately returned an $850,000 verdict in Townsend's favor on the wrongful death count. Following unsuccessful post-trial motions by both parties, including a motion for Judgment Notwithstanding the Verdict made by the defendants, this appeal and cross-appeal followed.
DECISION
The defendants raise two issues on appeal. First, they contend the trial court erred in denying their motions for Judgment Notwithstanding the Verdict because Townsend failed to present any evidence of proximate cause. Second, they contend they are entitled to a new trial because of various trial errors.
Judgment Non Obstante Veredicto - Proximate Cause
The trial court should enter judgment non obstante veredicto, or judgment n.o.v., where "all the evidence, when viewed in its aspect most favorable to the opponent, so overwhelmingly favors movant that no contrary verdict based on that evidence could ever stand." Pedrick v. Peoria & Eastern R.R. Co., 37 Ill. 2d 494, 510, 229 N.E.2d 504 (1967); accord Maple v. Gustafson, 151 Ill. 2d 445, 453, 603 N.E.2d 508 (1992). Judgment n.o.v. will be granted only if plaintiff fails to
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