SBH Attorneys Jenny Blake, Katie Vaughan, and Suzana Broderick Defend Neurosurgeon and Hospital

SBH partners Jenny Blake and Katie Vaughan, assisted by associate Suzana Broderick, secured a trial victory on behalf of their clients, a neurosurgeon and a local hospital.  The plaintiff, a 55-year-old woman, claimed the physician improperly performed a posterior cervical decompression and fusion. Nine hours after surgery, the patient developed weakness in her right arm that progressed over time.  The surgeon promptly took her back to surgery for further decompression of her nerve roots. The patient awoke with full function of her right arm, but eight hours after the second surgery, she again developed right arm weakness followed by bilateral weakness and gait abnormalities. The plaintiff claimed the first surgery was improperly performed when the surgeon allegedly improperly placed allograft bone spacers in the cervical spine and allegedly failed to adequately decompress the foramina, requiring a second surgery where the plaintiff claimed the surgeon caused a permanent injury to her spinal cord. The defense argued the physician performed the surgery appropriately, as evidenced by neuromonitoring during surgery as well as the post-operative exams. The defense argued the patient developed a C5 palsy after both surgeries. This is a known and unpredictable complication of surgery and did not occur due to any negligence. The defense further argued there was no objective evidence of a nerve root injury or a spinal cord injury, despite the patient’s deterioration. The plaintiff asked the jury to award more than $27 million. The jury returned a verdict in favor of the neurosurgeon and the hospital. The case was tried in Cook County Circuit Court before Judge Slattery Boyle.