CASE REPORT
(QQQ 39/1) MEDICAL MALPRACTICE--FAILURE TO PROPERLY TREAT SUBDURAL HEMATOMA--DEATH (12F) Estate of Saul Garcia, deceased v Advocate Health & Hospitals Corp., d/b/a Ad- vocate Good Samaritan Hospital, Advocate Medical Group 17L-11848 Tried Jun. 16-Jul. 1, 2022
VERDICT: Not Guilty
Jenny O. Blake Jenny Blake is a trial lawyer that concen - trates her practice in the defense of com - plex medical malpractice matters. She rep - resents hospitals, physicians, nurses, and other healthcare providers in all aspects of medical malpractice litigation and that has been the focus of her 24+ year career. Ms. Blake was born in the Ukraine, is bilingual, and immigrated to the United States as a child. She has proven herself to be an ag - gressive, compassionate, and creative advo - cate for her clients. She has been success - ful in prevailing in numerous jury verdicts, significant motions for dismissal as well as otherwise reaching favorable resolutions on behalf of her clients. Ms. Blake has been recognized as an Illinois Super Lawyer since 2020 by Thompson Re - uters as well as a Leading Lawyer by the Law Bulletin Publishing Company. These distinc - tions are earned by fewer than 5% of all law - yers licensed to practice law in Illinois.
JUDGE: Elizabeth M. Budzinski (IL Cook-Law)
PLTF ATTY(S): Peter D. Tarpey, Eric D. Jones of Tarpey, Jones & Schroeder (Chicago, IL) DEMAND: $21,500,000 ASKED : $21,502,146 - $23,502,146 DEFT ATTY(S): Jenny O. Blake, Kimberly D. Flanigan of Smith, Blake & Hill (Chicago, IL) for both defts (Self-Insured) OFFER: none DEFT MEDL: Dr. Raed Abusuwwa (Neurosurgeon), Dr. Grace H. Chang (Trauma Surgeon), Jeanne Barkley, A.P.N. (Nurse, Neurosurgery) for both defts PLTF EXPERT(S): Dr. Jonathan Gates of Hartford Hospital, 85 Seymour St., #415, Hartford, CT (860-548-7336) (Trauma Surgeon); Dr. James Holsapple of Boston Medical Center, 725 Albany St., #7C, Boston, MA (617-638-8992) (Neu- rosurgeon); Dr. Joel Meyer (Neuroradiologist) DEFT EXPERT(S): Dr. Michael B. Shapiro (Trauma Surgeon); Dr. Lorenzo Mu- noz (Neurosurgeon); Dr. Gordon Sze (Neuroradiologist) for both defts Saul Garcia presented to Presence Mercy Medical Center after falling down twenty cement stairs on November 14, 2016. He struck his head in the fall and had injuries to his neck, shoulder and wrist. A CT scan of his head/brain was reported as negative and he was released from the hospital the same day with pain medication. Saul M-42 returned to Mercy on November 18 with a worsen- ing headache and vomiting. A new CT scan revealed an acute subdural hema- toma (8 mm) with a 4 mm midline shift. Saul was transferred to deft Advo- cate Good Samaritan Hospital and admitted into the intensive care unit under the primary care of the trauma service. Four CT scans through November 21 continued to show a subdural hematoma with midline shift (and other related findings), and Saul continued to complain of headaches, photophobia and oc - casional nausea. After a neurosurgeon (Dr. Abusuwwa) deemed Saul relatively stable from a neurosurgical perspective and signed off on his care on Novem- ber 21, trauma surgeon Dr. Chang discharged him from the hospital around 3 pm. Saul woke up around 3 am on November 22 with complaints of the worst headache he had ever experienced and feeling like a dog was biting his head. Over the next several hours, he paced, screamed out in pain, and vomited. His family called paramedics at 3:20 pm and Saul was transported back to Mercy, where he became obtunded. An emergency intubation was performed and he was transferred via helicopter to Good Samaritan. A CT scan revealed a mas- sive brain bleed with a 20 mm midline shift and herniation. Saul required an emergency craniotomy, followed by a second surgery the next day (partial tem- poral lobectomy and frontal lobectomy), and he was unresponsive and mostly comatose after several subsequent surgeries. Saul remained in a nursing home with poor neurological function for the rest of his life; he died four years later at
JURY VERDICT REPORTER • 2024 ANNUAL TRIAL LAWYER EXCELLENCE AWARDS 81
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