Lawyers at DBS successfully litigate a wide variety of civil cases and argue appeals in some of the most challenging jurisdictions in the country.
DBS Obtains a Not Guilty Verdict in Cook County
Physician and Practice Group
Outcome:Defense Verdict.
On April 25, 2025, Michael Borree and Jeffrey Eippert obtained a not guilty verdict for their clients, a critical care physician and her practice group, in a medical malpractice trial conducted in Cook County, Illinois. The case involved a 59-year-old gentleman who sustained a myocardial infarction on June 22, 2020, and was taken by ambulance to a local Chicago hospital for treatment. After the patient underwent a percutaneous stent procedure to relieve a blockage in his left anterior descending artery, he was admitted into the intensive care unit (ICU) under the care of the firm’s client and hospital residents. Over the day that followed admission into the ICU, the patient was alleged to have developed symptoms of stent thrombosis, (occlusion of the stents placed during the procedure, causing a re-infarction). Plaintiffs’ experts contended that the critical care physician was negligent in failing to timely report the symptoms to the attending interventional cardiologist. Mr. Borree and Mr. Eippert presented testimony from their client and an expert demonstrating that the critical care physician’s communications with the interventional cardiologist were both timely and reasonable. Expert testimony was also presented that the patient’s symptoms were more consistent with septic shock, as opposed to stent occlusion causing cardiogenic shock. An x-ray confirmed pneumonia, the patient had an elevation in his white blood cell count in the hours following the procedure, and an echocardiogram taken on the day in question showed normal heart function. Testimony was presented that although an angiogram did eventually reveal stent thrombosis, there was no indication to investigate the potential for stent thrombosis any earlier in time. The patient required transfer to an outside hospital for a complex revascularization procedure, and he sustained permanent heart failure. After the plaintiffs’ attorneys requested over $23 million in closing arguments for the patient and his wife, the jury returned a verdict for the firm’s clients.