Fourth District Appellate Court Affirms Defense Verdict In $31 Million Pediatric Malpractice Case

April 25, 2018

Following oral argument by John W. Patton, Jr. of Patton & Ryan, on November 15, 2017, the Fourth District Appellate Court issued its opinion affirming the defense jury verdict in First Bankers Trust Company, Inc. et al v. Koke Mill Associates, LLC., Case No. 15L97. The Fourth District Appellate Court held that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in finding the preju­dicial impact of expert testimony by a nurse practitioner outweighed its probative value in a case involving physician negligence. Koke Mill Associates was represented by partner, John W. Patton, Jr. and associate, Kathryn R. Vaughan.

This case involved an infant, Dramara Sivels, Jr. (hereinafter “DJ”) who was discharged from Memorial Medical Center in Springfield, Illinois 36 hours after birth. 63.5 hours after birth DJ was admitted to St. John’s with possible sepsis. The sepsis ultimately became meningitis, and DJ’s neurological system was irreversibly damaged as a result of the infection. Plaintiffs claimed that Koke Mill, acting through its agent Dr. Vasconcelles, negligently discharged DJ less than 48 hours after his birth despite his alleged complicated post-partum course which included respiratory distress, low blood glucose labs, feeding difficulty, vomiting and sleepi­ness. The trial court limited the scope of testimony of Plaintiffs’ nursing expert which led to Plaintiffs’ appeal. The Appellate Court held that the prejudicial impact of having a nurse render opinions that could be inferred to be critical of physician would outweigh any probative value of having the nurse testify. Plaintiff then called four expert physicians to testify against Koke Mill.