CHICAGO DAILY LAW BULLETIN
A Cook County jury has awarded $3.2 million to an 81-year-old Alsip resident who claimed to have suffered permanent kidney damage because of a medication error made by a nurse at Little Company of Mary Hospital in Evergreen Park.
Betty Kunz, then 75, went to to the hospital in June 2000 for treatment of an infection in her right knee, according to plaintiff attorneys Christopher T. Hurley and Mark R. McKenna of [[title]] PC.
She received an intravenous antibiotic, gentamicin, that was to have been discontinued after several days when Kunz was sent to a nursing home for rehabilitation. The drug is toxic to the kidneys if given over a prolonged period.
But, according to Hurley and McKenna, the nurse incorrectly noted on the transfer form that Kunz should continue to receive the drug every 12 hours.
The transfer form accompanied Kunz to the nursing home, ManorCare Palos Heights East, and the women continued to receive the drug for four more days, her attorneys said.
As a result of the prolonged exposure to the drug, she now must undergo dialysis three days a week to survive.
The jury’s judgment in the medical negligence care came against the hospital on Friday. It absolved the nursing home and Kunz’ doctors of wrongdoing.
David J. Slawkowski of Anderson, Rasor & Partners LLP, who represented Little Company of Mary, said an appeal is under consideration. He declined further comment. Circuit Judge Mary A. Mulhern heard the case.
