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October 13, 2007

NEWS-SUN STAFF REPORT

A $2.9 million medical malpractice settlement was reached late Thursday in Cook County Circuit Court on behalf of John and Diane Scholz of Gurnee.

John Scholz was admitted to Northwestern Memorial Hospital on Sept. 4, 2000, with a life-threatening lung condition. His attorney, Michael Schostok, said doctors decided to use a drug to break clots in the lungs, but that a nurse gave Scholz too much over too short a time.

Scholz began bleeding from his tongue, forehead and face before the drug was discontinued, Schostok said. The next day, hematologist Dr. David Green noted that Scholz had "a clear sign of neurologic injury," Schostok said, but took no action.

Other doctors recognized that Scholz appeared worse and ordered a CT scan, but the test was not performed, Schostok said.

Hours later, Scholz was unable to speak, Schostok said, and a CT scan was finally done "which revealed a massive intracranial bleed which left Mr. Scholz with physical and cognitive deficits."

"Much of the responsibility falls upon Dr. David Green, who is known throughout the world as one of the foremost experts on blood coagulation problems.

"Not only did Dr. Green fail to recognize that Mr. Scholz had been misinfused the evening before, but he also double-dosed John with two blood thinners which contributed to the ultimate catastrophic bleed.

"This case shows how multiple mistakes can happen, even in large, well-respected hospitals under the care of famous doctors," Schostok said.

"According to the Independent Institute of Medicine, 1.5 million people are harmed by medication errors in U.S. hospitals every year. John Scholz was a statistic like so many other Americans," Schostok said.

The settlement with the hospital and Green was approved by Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman.