DuPage Medical Group, now operating as Duly Health and Care, is accused of failing to supervise Dr. Cannon even though patients reported that Dr. Cannon was working under the influence of alcohol.
If you were a victim of Dr. Cannon or a witness to his misconduct at DuPage Medical Group, please contact us today.
>>> Related resource: How Private Equity-Owned Medical Practices Can Enable Sexual Abuse and Malpractice
Case Update as of Tuesday, January 10, 2023
On January 10, 2023, Hurley McKenna & Mertz, P.C., filed five separate misconduct lawsuits against obstetrician-gynecologist Dr. Vernon Cannon and his employer DuPage Medical Group, now operating under the name Duly Health and Care. Of the five new lawsuits HMM filed on January 10, three involve alleged intoxicated examinations, one alleges an inappropriate sexual relationship with a patient outside of examinations, and another accuses Dr. Cannon of bizarre behavior after a stillbirth.
The five new lawsuits are:
Stortz v. Cannon and DuPage Medical Group
O’Leary v. Cannon and DuPage Medical Group
McKay v. Cannon and DuPage Medical Group
Bretana v. Cannon and DuPage Medical Group
Jane Doe v. Cannon and DuPage Medical Group
These lawsuits follow a similarly egregious Complaint at Law HMM filed in January 2020 in the Cook County Circuit Court accusing Cannon of sexual assault and DuPage Medical Group with negligence.
Along with an additional medical battery lawsuit against Dr. Cannon, all of the new complaints name the physician group as a Defendant for its alleged failures to adequately supervise a medical professional operating as their employee–a doctor who had been previously arrested for and charged with an alleged domestic battery.
An investigation conducted by Hurley McKenna & Mertz has revealed that Cannon was arrested on March 31, 2016, by Warrenville Police, who charged him with domestic battery involving alcohol. Cannon has also been the subject of multiple reports by patients to DuPage Medical Group alleging that Cannon practiced while intoxicated. Despite these reports, the suits all allege that DuPage Medical Group did nothing over a prolonged period to investigate the misconduct reports or discipline Dr. Cannon.
The lawsuits also allege that DuPage Medical Group negligently retained Cannon when it knew or should have known he examined patients while under the influence of alcohol and that DuPage Medical Group failed to adequately supervise Dr. Cannon during his interactions with female patients in light of these reports.
“We have grave concerns that a physician with domestic battery charges and reports by patients of being under the influence of alcohol on the job was able to continue his practice at DuPage Medical Group without any evidence of discipline or investigation,” according to Michael Mertz, Partner at Hurley McKenna & Mertz. “We intend to find out why DuPage Medical Group allowed this to occur.”
Patient Survey Results
Among the evidence cited in the Complaints are patient surveys stating that Cannon “was under the influence of alcohol,” “slurring his words,” and had a “strong odor of an alcoholic beverage coming from his breath.” Another patient commented that Cannon slurred his words and lacked alertness, evident in the below summary taken from the patient surveys:
Despite these patient reports, “we believe the evidence shows that DuPage Medical Group did nothing – and allowed Cannon to continue to practice medicine at their facilities,” according to Evan Smola, Partner at Hurley McKenna & Mertz. “In fact, after two of the reports, Cannon was disciplined, not for the complaints made by patients, but for not generating enough revenue for the practice group.” As explained by Evan Smola:
There are now seven lawsuits pending against Cannon, filed by seven separate women who suffered damage at the hands of a DuPage Medical Group physician. An obstetrician-gynecologist should be a medical professional above reproach, one with whom you must trust your most intimate information, not to mention your life and health. We believe the evidence will show that Cannon betrayed that trust, violating the sanctity of the doctor-patient relationship.
Case Update as of Friday, January 6, 2023
On Friday, January 6, 2023, the Circuit Court of Cook County ruled that patient surveys reflecting Cannon’s conduct could not be deemed “confidential” by DuPage Medical Group. The court denied DuPage Medical Group’s request to deem the patient complaints confidential, which would have prevented their disclosure to the public.
DuPage Medical Group adopted the name Duly Health and Care in September 2021; at the time of Cannon’s alleged misconduct, DuPage Medical Group was Illinois’ largest independent multispecialty physician group and operated 115 locations in and around DuPage County. Today, under the name Duly Health and Care, the medical entity advertises more than 150 Chicago area sites and over a thousand medical providers.
“We hope that these Complaints will lead to real change in the manner in which DuPage Medical Group and Duly Health and Care supervises its physicians,” according to Evan Smola. “Each of these women hopes to make positive change.”
How to Contact Hurley McKenna & Mertz
Contact us today if you were a victim of misconduct while at a DuPage Medical Group/Duly Health and Care facility. We can help.
If you witnessed Dr. Cannon’s misconduct at DuPage Medical Group, please contact HMM Partner Evan Smola at 312.602.1424 or esmola@hurley-law.com.Evan can advise you on how you can help with the ongoing investigation of Cannon’s misconduct and DMG’s failure to protect patients.
