Michael Barry and Charlene Echeverria Burciaga obtain defense verdict in a medical malpractice jury trial in Cook County

Michael Barry and Charlene Echeverria Burciaga had the privilege of representing an obstetrician/gynecologist and a practice group. Plaintiffs alleged a delayed diagnosis of infection following a cesarean section, ultimately resulting in a hysterectomy in a 23-year-old patient.  The claims centered on the handling of a patient’s telephone calls reporting symptoms and the alleged failure to bring the patient into the office for evaluation and initiation of antibiotics. The medical assistant and physician believed the symptoms were consistent with constipation—not infection. The defense maintained that the telephone triage was reasonable and appropriate, and further argued that the plaintiff’s hysterectomy resulted from uterine incision necrosis, which led to infection, and that earlier diagnosis—even if made—would not have changed the outcome.  Plaintiff made a request of over six million dollars to the jury.