Our Record of Success

DBS Obtains a Not Guilty Verdict in Cook County

On October 2, 2025, DBS attorneys Sherri Arrigo and Erin Davis obtained a defense verdict in favor of the firm’s clients, a local multi-specialty medical group and a neurosurgeon, following a 2-week trial before the Honorable Brendan O’Brien in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois.

Plaintiff, a 48-year old female, claimed that the neurosurgeon negligently failed to properly treat a seroma (abnormal fluid collection) in the patient’s lumbar spine and failed to timely diagnose and treat a lumbar spine infection following successful lumbar spine surgery.  The neurosurgeon ordered an indwelling drain and collection bag to be placed by the codefendant interventional radiologist to address the seroma, which occurred on December 22, 2020.  Plaintiff alleged that the defendants negligently failed to monitor and manage the drain and should have removed it within a few days after placement due to high risk of causing infection.  Plaintiff presented for a scheduled office visit with the neurosurgeon on January 4, 2021 and reported a history of fevers, nausea, vomiting, poor appetite, dizziness and back pain.  The neurosurgeon noted the patient appeared “unwell” with scant straw colored drainage in the bag and no signs of infection at the surgical or drain site.  The neurosurgeon referred plaintiff to her primary care physician for further evaluation of her fever and general complaints.  The neurosurgeon sent plaintiff back to interventional radiology for removal of the drain.  On January 6, 2021, the interventional radiologist performed an abscessogram that confirmed the seroma had decreased in size and the cavity had shrunken as intended.  The drain was removed without complication.  Later that day the plaintiff saw her primary care physician who suspected viral illness and ordered Covid testing, which was negative.

The plaintiff was admitted to a hospital on January 20, 2021 with staphylococcus aureus infection in her lumbar spine, sepsis, renal failure and pneumonia.  She was treated in the ICU and underwent surgery for the infection.  She was discharged 9 days later with a PICC line and underwent long-term IV antibiotic therapy.  In May 2021, she was hospitalized with a recurrent infection and diagnosed with osteomyelitis.  In October 2024, she underwent a lumbar-sacral spine surgery by another surgeon that was complicated by permanent right foot-drop.  Plaintiff claimed she developed arachnoiditis, causing constant pain in her back and lower extremities.  She requires a walker, leg and back brace, and has limited mobility.

The defense argued the drain was appropriately placed to treat the seroma and removed in a timely manner according to the plan.  There was no lumbar spine infection until after the drain was removed.  The defense argued that the patient’s subsequent hospitalizations and 2024 surgery were unrelated and that the patient did not have arachnoiditis.  Rather, her current condition is due to her pre-existing degenerative disease.

During Closing Arguments, plaintiff’s attorney requested over $12 million in damages.  Following several hours of thoughtful deliberation, the jury returned a verdict for the defense.