Press Release

DLG WINS $2.35 MILLION PARTIAL SETTLEMENT IN MALPRACTICE CASE

February 2005

In February, attorneys Yao O. Dinizulu and Jesse V. Harris partially settled a medical malpractice lawsuit against Advocate Christ Hospital and Medical Center in Oak Lawn and attending physician Dr. Warren Robinson for $2.35 million in a fatal case of medical negligence.

Sheila Jones, a 49-year-old woman with a history of heart problems, died Dec. 11, 2004, after repeated requests for emergency treatment were ignored by hospital staff and her attending physician.

On the afternoon of Dec. 9, 2004, Ms. Jones was taken to Advocate Christ Hospital from her job with the Chicago Board of Education by ambulance due to chest pain. The pain had been continuous for some 7 or 8 hours before Ms. Jones received aspirin and nitroglycerin from paramedics on the way o the hospital.

A resident in the hospital's emergency department noted at about 4:55 p.m. that Ms. Jones had a history of aortic dissection and that she complained of pain in the left shoulder and scapular areas. The resident also noted that her blood pressure was elevated, and he ordered a computed tomography scan of Ms. Jones' chest.

A resident in the emergency department received the preliminary radiology report, which indicated that the CT Scan had been done without contrast due to the patient's elevated creatinine level. The report indicated further that "aneurismal prominence of the descending thoracic aorta is noted." According to the report, Ms. Jones' descending thoracic aorta measured up to 5.4 centimeters, nearly twice the normal size, and that "internal intimal injury cannot be excluded presently."

The radiologist recommended a transesophogeal echocardiograph to address concern about the aortic dissection. But no physician ordered the transesophogeal echocardiograph, nor did a physician request a "STAT" consultation with a cardiologist or a cardiothoracic surgeon.

The next day, Ms. Jones' pain escalated but the defendant failed to connect her with an appropriate physician. Around midnight on Dec. 10, Ms. Jones called her son, Willis, to report she was in terrible pain and that no one at the hospital was treating her. She asked her son to call the hospital to convince someone that she needed to see a physician. He called the hospital' s general telephone number and explained his mother's condition to the receptionist. Dr. Warren Robinson, the on call attending physician, did not return urgent phone calls from the hospital's nurses about Ms. Jones escalating pain, because he was apparently sleeping. The nurses, in turn, failed to route Ms. Jones' urgent care issues to any of the appropriate hospital administrators.

At 5:40 a.m., a medical technician entered Ms. Jones' room and found her unresponsive. Her heart rate was less than 30 beats per minute. Ms. Jones was pronounced dead on Dec. 11. She was survived by four adult children.

There are other aspects yet to be settled about the case including whether the cardiothoracic surgeons who were informed of Ms. Jones condition timely and appropriately responded or advised on MS Jones' condition.

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