CHICAGO (July 12, 2022) – A Cook County jury has awarded a $395,000 verdict to a Chicago woman who suffered a full-thickness burn injury when a doctor improperly handled a medical device during the removal of a gluteal cleft condyloma.
On May 31, 2016, 56-year-old Plaintiff Carol Hardeman-Miller went to Dr. Nancy Church at Wellness Connections, LLC for treatment of gluteal cleft condyloma on her gluteal cleft. Dr. Church performed a PlasmaJet ablation procedure on June 29 to remove the approximately 5-6 centimeter lesion. The PlasmaJet is a wand-like device that uses thermal energy to remove skin tissue but is rarely used to remove condyloma.
After the procedure, Ms. Hardeman-Miller went home, and she saw Dr. Church again on July 7 for a follow up appointment. During the follow-up, Ms. Hardeman-Miller reported that she had experienced excruciating pain since the procedure and her bandages did not feel right. The next day, she went to the hospital where another doctor diagnosed her with a full thickness burn injury. Mrs. Hardeman-Miller’s injury caused severe pain and eventually required intervention from a wound care specialist. Mrs. Hardeman-Miller returned to work and normal activities by the end of November 2016.
Plaintiff’s attorneys alleged Dr. Church did not properly handle the PlasmaJet device during the procedure and destroyed an excessive amount of healthy tissue into the dermis of the skin in violation of the standard of care.
“While Carol understood there would be a healing period following her procedure, she could not have expected months of wound care, debilitating pain with any movement, and being taken away from her work as a nurse for an extended period of time,” Plaintiff’s attorney Brian L. Salvi said. “The nature and extent of her injury is directly related to the extent and depth of tissue destruction that occurred due to Dr. Church’s malpractice, and not a known complication to the procedure itself.”
A trial of the case began on July 6, 2022 before the Honorable Lorna Propes in Cook County Circuit Court. On July 11, 2022, a Cook County jury awarded Ms. Hardeman-Miller $395,000 for her injuries.
The Plaintiff was also represented by Rob L. Kohen and Michael J. Schostok of Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard, P.C.
For more information, please contact Marcie Mangan at (312) 372-1227 or mmangan@salvilaw.com.
###
Case No. 17 L 10658 [Hardeman-Miller v. Church, et al]
