CASE REPORT
(RRR 23/2) MEDICAL MALPRACTICE--UNTREATED PAIN DURING RA- DIATION BLAMED FOR LEG LOSS (12R) Cindy Stringham, John Stringham v Dr. Sean Chen, Copley Memorial Hospital 18L-7333 Tried Jan. 23-31, 2023 VERDICT: Not Guilty v both defts. The case was subsequently settled pursuant to a pre-verdict high/low agreement between the parties.
Brian J. Hickey Mr. Hickey has over 35 years of trial experi - ence and has spent his entire legal career at Cassiday Schade LLP. He currently fo - cuses his practice on the defense of physi - cians and hospitals in malpractice litigation. He has tried more than 40 cases to verdict in over 8 Illinois counties. In addition to his trial experience, he has vast appellate expe - rience and argued matters in several of the appellate courts as well as the Illinois Su - preme Court. His representations in the area of medical malpractice include the defense of a num - ber of hospitals and physicians. The types of medical specialists he has represented include: internal medicine, emergency medi - cine, orthopedics, cardiology, nephrology, gastroenterology, radiology, anesthesiology, obstetrics, gynecology, urology, family prac - tice, general surgery and neurosurgery. Bri - an has made presentations before hospital associations, nursing staffs and other medi - cal personnel to further medical profession - als’ understanding of key issues in defense and avoidance of malpractice claims. Brian is a frequent speaker and regularly counsels clients through educational pro - grams, lectures and seminars. He is a mem - ber of the Chicago Bar Association and Du - Page County Bar Association.
JUDGE: John P. Kirby (IL Cook-Law)
PLTF ATTY(S): Terrence M. Quinn, Stephen J. Phillips of Phillips Law Offices (Chicago, IL) for both pltfs DEMAND: $15,000,000 ASKED: $15,000,000 DEFT ATTY(S): Brian J. Hickey, Joseph J. Lombardo of Cassiday Schade (Chicago, IL) for both defts (Self-Insured) OFFER: none
DEFT MEDL: Dr. Suzanne Bergen (Gynecologic Oncology) for both defts
PLTF EXPERT(S): Dr. Perry Grigsby (Radiation Oncologist) for Cindy Stringham
DEFT EXPERT(S): Dr. William Small (Radiation Oncologist); Dr. Martin Borhani (Vascular Surgeon) for both defts After pltf F-57 was diagnosed with Stage 3 vulvar cancer with lymph node metastasis in May 2016, she began concurrent chemotherapy and radiation treatment at Copley Memorial Hospital on June 28, 2016. She underwent ra- diation therapy every day under the direction of deft Dr. Chen. On August 2, 2016, pltf complained of severe pain in her right foot while lying in a custom mold device used to immobilize her during the radiation treatment. Medical records indicate she reported her pain was resolved by repositioning. Pltf again complained of right foot pain during radiation therapy on August 5, which also reportedly resolved after repositioning. On August 8, pltf went to an emergency room with a cold blue foot which was unable to bear weight. Testing revealed complete occlusion of her right superficial femoral artery with irreversible loss of blood flow into the forefoot. As a result, pltf required amputation of her right leg below the knee. Pltf contended her foot pain complaints were caused by vascular insufficiency into her foot, Dr. Chen should have suspected a vascular source of the foot pain, and he should have either investigated or referred her to an emergency room for a workup – either of which would have led to timely diagnosis of severe vascular disease in the leg and treatment to prevent the subsequent arterial occlusion. The defense denied pltf had a cold blue foot or other signs of arterial occlusion from August 2 through August 5, asserted she only had positional foot pain on those two dates which on both occasions re- solved with repositioning, and maintained that these facts as well as the lack of complaints on August 3 or 4 all were incompatible with pain from vascular insufficiency to the foot. The defense further argued arterial occlusions do not occur from radiation therapy, none of the radiation oncologists who testified at trial had ever seen an arterial occlusion in their radiation therapy patients (12,000-15,000 combined), pltf’s superficial femoral artery occlusion was due to undiagnosed atherosclerosis and her lifetime smoking habit, the occlusion likely developed within hours before she went to the ER on August 8, and even
JURY VERDICT REPORTER • 2024 ANNUAL TRIAL LAWYER EXCELLENCE AWARDS 89
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