CASE REPORT
(23 JA/2) MEDICAL MALPRACTICE--ANKLE FRACTURE TREATMENT BLAMED FOR AMPUTATION (12M) Brandon Wall, Abby Wall v Dr. Luke Leutkemeyer, Midwest Orthpaedic Center S.C. 19L-19 Tried Jan. 9-18, 2023
VERDICT: Not Guilty v both defts.
Christian D. Biswell Christian D. Biswell is a shareholder and president of Drake, Narup & Mead. His main focus is professional liability defense. His practice focuses almost exclusively on de - fending physicians, medical providers, hos - pitals and medical practices in professional malpractice litigation. Chris has extensive litigation and trial expe - rience, having tried several medical malprac - tice cases to verdict over recent years. He has represented many specialists, includ - ing internal medicine, infectious disease, cardiology, orthopedics, pediatrics, obstet - rics, general surgery, and gastroenterology. Chris has a calm, confident style that clients and insurance representatives appreciate, and to which juries respond favorably. Chris joined Drake, Narup & Mead in 2001. He was admitted to the bar in 2001, Illinois; 2002 U.S. District Court, Central District of Illinois. Chris’s practice areas include civil litigation, insurance defense, professional liability de - fense, personal injury, and subrogation and products liability. Chris attended Southern Illinois University, where he received his B.A. in 1995, his M.A., 1997, and his J.D. in 2001.
JUDGE: Paul E. Bauer (IL, Tazewell 10th Jud Cir)
PLTF ATTY(S): Michael T. Gill, Matthew D. Ports of Pfaff, Gill & Ports (Chicago, IL) for both pltfs DEMAND: $4,000,000 policies ASKED: $18,524,100 total DEFT ATTY(S): Christian D. Biswell, Randall A. Mead of Drake, Narup & Mead (Springfield, IL) for both defts (ISMIE) OFFER: none PLTF MEDL: Dr. Evan A. Dougherty (Orthopedist), Dr. Benjamin J. Fried- man (Rehab/Physical Medicine), Dr. Kimberlee Overdeck (Radiologist) for Brandon Wall DEFT MEDL: Dr. Jeffrey W. Akeson (Orthopedist), Dr. Nirain D’Souza (Orthopedist) for both defts PLTF EXPERT(S): Dr. Craig R. Lareau of New England Orthopedic Surgeons, 300 Birnie Ave., Springfield, MA (413-233-1124) (Orthopedist); John W. Michael (Prosthetist) for Brandon Wall DEFT EXPERT(S): Dr. Mark Hutchinson (Orthopedist); Dr. John P. Flaherty (Infectious Disease) for both defts Pltf M-35 was injured in a serious one-car accident and transported to OSF St. Francis Hospital in Peoria on March 20, 2017, where he was diagnosed with a closed left ankle fracture/dislocation, traumatic brain injury, and pneumotho- rax. Deft Dr. Leutkemeyer was the on-call orthopedic surgeon that day who ini- tially treated the ankle injury, which included complete talar dislocation involv- ing all three main ankle joints. Pltf was taken to surgery due to the severe nature of the pan-talar fracture and poor circulation to the left foot from the injury. Dr. Leutkemeyer attempted a closed reduction procedure to minimize the risk of infection, but he could not achieve good alignment because soft tissue was in the way. One of his partners from Midwest Ortho was also at the hospital, Dr. Jeffrey Akeson, so he was called in to assist with the surgery. Their attempt at closed reduction still failed, so they decided to perform an open reduction. Fluo- roscopy showed good realignment of the bones was attained, and circulation was restored to the forefoot. Dr. Leutkemeyer also ordered a postop CT scan of the left foot/ankle which was done about five hours later. Leutkemeyer was not an ankle specialist, and he ordered the scan for follow-up care from ankle specialist Nirain D’Souza who was on vacation. However, the CT scan showed the talus bone was again significantly out of position. Dr. Leutkemeyer decided to stabilize the ankle with a bulky Jones splint until D’Souza returned instead of using K-wires or an external fixator, again to minimize the risk of infection. Pltf remained at the hospital in the ICU under the care of other specialists for his other injuries, primarily the TBI. Dr. D’Souza returned from vacation, was told the ankle was not urgent, first saw pltf on March 27, and performed open
JURY VERDICT REPORTER • 2024 ANNUAL TRIAL LAWYER EXCELLENCE AWARDS 27
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