OSF found liable in $41 million malpractice lawsuit
Other Illinois medical professionals also liable
A jury in the Circuit Court of Cook County has awarded $41 million to a 72-year-old lawyer whose cerebral artery stroke was brought on by medical mismanagement at the Peoria-based OSF HealthCare System, according to a news release from the law firm representing him.
Craig Pierce was awarded the verdict on Tuesday against OSF, an Illinois nephrologist, a kidney care corporation and a dialysis service. According to his lawyers, this is the largest award in Illinois history for a medical malpractice case with a plaintiff over 70 years old.
When contacted by the Journal Star on Friday afternoon, OSF HealthCare spokesperson Shelli Dankoff said the healthcare network has no comment at this time.
“The jury's verdict is bittersweet for this wonderful family, which has been devastated by Craig Pierce's injury and the loss of his ability to function independently and practice law,” Christopher Hurley, founding partner at the Chicago-based Hurley McKenna & Mertz, which represented Pierce, wrote in a release.
“Craig was a pillar of his community as a successful lawyer and member of his local school board. During the month-long trial, the jury carefully considered all of the evidence and rendered a just verdict. Craig Pierce will now receive the twenty-four hour per day care that he needs and deserves.”
The jury found that in 2016, Pierce, then living in Bushnell, Illinois — located about 60 miles west of Peoria — suffered a catastrophic stroke as a result of medical mismanagement by OSF HealthCare System, Fresenius Medical Care of Illinois, RenalCare Associates and Dr. Sudha Cherukuri. According to the lawsuit, the medical professionals failed to properly manage Pierce's blood thinning medication, Coumadin, a brand name for the commonly prescribed anticoagulant, Warfarin.
Pierce was admitted to OSF HealthCare Saint Francis Medical Center in Peoria in February 2016 to undergo treatment for pneumonia, according to a Friday news release from the Chicago-based TC Public Relations. During the hospital admission, Pierce developed an acute kidney injury due to his pneumonia treatment, which required short-term dialysis and consultation by nephrologists.
OSF HealthCare System cardiologist Dr. Barry Clemson diagnosed Pierce with atrial fibrillation (AFib), a common heart condition characterized by an abnormal heart rhythm that increases a patient's risk of cardioembolic stroke, thereby requiring anticoagulant medicine to minimize that risk, according to the release.
Pierce was prescribed Coumadin and recommended for daily blood testing to ensure that the drug was keeping the patient in the therapeutic range for an international normalized ratio (INR), which is a measure of how quickly blood clots. When Pierce was discharged in March 2016, according to the release, his INR level was below the therapeutic range. He was given a prescription for Coumadin, and was to receive short-term outpatient dialysis for his kidney injury. However, there was no post-discharge plan to monitor his INR levels, according to the release.
Over the next four weeks, Pierce received four dialysis treatments at a Fresenius Medical Care of Illinois dialysis facility in Macomb, Illinois. Nephrologist Dr. Sudha Cherukuri was the facility's medical director and an employee of RenalCare Associates.
According to the release, Fresenius dialysis nurses drew Pierce's blood three times during that period for lab testing, which included INR levels. By April 5, 2016, Pierce's INR levels had dropped dangerously low, leaving him at high risk for stroke, the release said. None of the involved health care providers increased Pierce's Coumadin dose to get him into the therapeutic
INR range and reduce his stroke risk, the release said.
The morning of April 13, 2016, Pierce suffered a large right middle cerebral artery stroke in his brain. CT imaging that day revealed that a large clot had lodged in his brain and cut off blood circulation to nearly all of the brain's right side.
Since the time of the stroke, Pierce has been paralyzed on the left side of his body and has suffered from severe cognitive deficits, the release said. He has been unable to practice law or function independently at all, and his wife, Susan, and grandchildren have provided him with around-the-clock care in his home.
Hurley McKenna & Mertz filed a medical malpractice lawsuit in 2020 on behalf of Pierce and his wife against Fresenius Medical Care of Illinois, RenalCare Associates and Cherukuri. After Cherukuri said in her deposition that she believed OSF HealthCare System personnel were handling Pierce's INR levels, OSF was added as a defendant in an amended complaint.
The lawsuit charged that OSF HealthCare System staff was negligent in failing to monitor Pierce's INR levels and increase his Coumadin dosage, relying instead on kidney care providers Fresenius and Cherukuri to manage Pierce's heart condition.
The trial began April 10 and lasted just under a month.