Chicago malpractice attorneys Steven Levin and Margaret Battersby of Levin & Perconti recently reached a $17.7 million settlement with the University of Illinois at Chicago Medical Center stemming from a medical negligence lawsuit filed on behalf of George Nissen.
In February of 2005, Mr. Nissen suffered a stroke and was admitted to the neurological intensive care unit of UIC. While at UIC, Mr. Nissen was placed on an external ventricular drain, otherwise known as an EVD. EVDs are used to relieve raised intracranial pressure when the normal flow of cerebrospinal fluid around the brain is obstructed.
A week after being placed on the EVD, physicians at UIC ordered the nursing staff to test the external ventricular drain by clamping it. This type of test is called an EVD challenge and is used to determine whether a patient is stable enough to have the EVD permanently removed. During Mr. Nissen’s EVD challenge, his intracranial pressure reached dangerous levels throughout the night and a physician was not timely notified of these changes. As a result, Mr. Nissen suffered a brain stem herniation which ultimately led to severe and permanent brain damage.
Following his injury, Mr. Nissen and his family filed a lawsuit alleging that nursing staff was negligent and failed to properly monitor George Nissen’s intracranial pressure during the EVD challenge.
Today, over five years after his injury, Mr. Nissen is unable to walk, stand, eat, or speak on his own. His only mode of communication with his family and friends is by shaking his head or blinking his eyes. Mr. Nissen’s brain injury has left him a quadriplegic for the remainder of his life.
The settlement reached by our Chicago brain injury attorneys will help George Nissen’s family provide him with the medical care and attention he will require throughout his lifetime. If you or someone you know may have fallen victim to this type of negligence, please contact us today.
