$7.5 Million Medical Malpractice Settlement

In the Circuit Court of Lake County (Illinois), a $7.5 million medical malpractice verdict was reached on behalf of a 12-year old boy and his parents. The case garnered media attention back in late 1999 when the boy died on an operating table during what was considered to be a minor surgery to repair a cut on his arm.

On December 14, 1999, the child was taken to the Emergency Room at Condell Medical Center in Libertyville for treatment of a cut on his left arm that he sustained after falling at his home. The boy’s parents alleged, through their attorneys Michael P. Schostok and David G. Pribyl of Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard P.C., that their son developed respiratory difficulties after he received an antibiotic that he was allergic to. Despite these breathing difficulties, the surgery was started by Dr. Andrew J. Kontrick, M.D., one of the defendants in the case. Soon after the surgery ended, the boy redeveloped severe breathing difficulties and died on the operating table. The Plaintiffs alleged that Dr. Kontrick, and the anesthesiologist, Dr. Dale S. Gordon, M.D., should have stopped the operation so that the boy’s breathing difficulties could have been controlled.

“The facts of the case clearly showed that the doctors completely failed to recognize well known warning signs of impending disaster,” said the family attorney, Michael Schostok. “No parent should ever have to go through the loss of a child and the fact that his death was preventable… makes this case all the more tragic.”

“The family is obviously very pleased that after all these years … these jurors told (the doctors) they did do something wrong,” Michael Schostok continued. “The verdict is believed to be the largest in Lake County for any wrongful death.”