Trial Victory in Medical Malpractice Case in Winnebago County

The trial team of Sommer Luzynczyk and Kayla Condeni secured a defense verdict on behalf of their client, an anesthesiologist. The jury trial was held before Judge Lisa Fabiano in the Circuit Court of the 17^th Judicial Circuit, Winnebago County, Illinois. The plaintiff alleged the anesthesiologist diverted Fentanyl during his surgery on March 10, 2013, resulting in a brief period of anesthesia awareness. The plaintiff maintained the anesthesiologist replaced Fentanyl with saline and then falsified the anesthesia record. The day after surgery, the plaintiff underwent testing for Fentanyl and its metabolite, Norfentanyl. The test showed no detectible Fentanyl or Norfentanyl to the limits of the test. The anesthesiologist subsequently resigned from the anesthesia practice group. The plaintiff argued the plaintiff’s drug test results and the resignation proved the anesthesiologist diverted, and the anesthesia practice group engaged in a cover up to hide the diversion. Sommer and Kayla successfully argued the sole proximate cause of the awareness was due to a gap in the Propofol wearing off and the Sevoflurane taking full effect. Sommer and Kayla presented evidence showing their anesthesiologist did not divert Fentanyl, did not falsify the records, and the plaintiff received Fentanyl during the surgery.  The plaintiff asked the jury for $4 million to $14 million. After deliberating for 12 hours over the course of 2 days, the jury returned a complete defense verdict moments before a mistrial was declared.