$55.4 Million Verdict for Woman Left With Locked-In Syndrome After Bronchoscopy
Won by Power Rogers LLP.
A 54-year-old woman underwent a routine bronchoscopy for a possible tuberculosis biopsy, but physicians ignored oximeter alarms and delayed intubation until she had suffered irreversible anoxic brain damage, leaving her with locked-in syndrome; the Cook County jury returned a $55.4 million verdict against the responsible physicians, then the largest medical malpractice award in Illinois history.
What happened
A 54-year-old woman went to a Chicago-area hospital for a bronchoscopic procedure and lung biopsy to evaluate a suspected tuberculosis infection. The test required sedation, and from the start her oxygen levels dropped. The pulse oximeter monitoring her blood-oxygen saturation began signaling distress. The physicians present saw the readings but did not intubate her promptly. By the time they acted, too much time had passed.
The delay cut off adequate oxygen to her brain long enough to cause anoxic brain injury. She survived, but was left with locked-in syndrome, a condition in which a person retains full consciousness and cognitive function while losing nearly all voluntary muscle control. She could hear, understand, and feel everything around her, but could not speak or move.
At trial in Cook County Circuit Court, attorneys Larry Rogers Sr. and Joseph Power Jr. of Power Rogers LLP faced a central defense argument: that the patient was unaware of her surroundings and therefore could not claim conscious pain and suffering. The trial team met that argument head-on. They presented evidence that she responded to stimuli, including laughing at Spanish-language cartoons on television and reacting to jokes from her husband. The jury found that she was fully aware, which opened the door to full non-economic damages.
The jury returned a total verdict of $55.4 million. Of that, roughly $40.4 million went to the patient herself, and $15 million went to her husband for loss of consortium, which was at the time the largest award of its kind in Illinois.
The Chicago Sun-Times and CBS Chicago both reported the $55 million figure as one of the largest verdicts in Illinois history. The Lawdragon profile of Joseph Power described it as 'the largest medical malpractice verdict that went to judgment in Illinois.' Larry Rogers Sr., who died in January 2023, was repeatedly identified in coverage of his career as the attorney who secured this landmark result.
Sources
This account is drawn from contemporaneous public reporting and the court record.
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