A jury in Chicago has awarded what a $41 million medical malpractice verdict against four Illinois healthcare providers, including OSF HealthCare. The lawsuit claimed that OSF and others mishandled a patient’s blood-thinning medication, Coumadin, leading to a catastrophic stroke in 2016.
The jury awarded the patient $35.1 million and his wife $6 million, according to the law firm handling the case. The patient had been hospitalized for pneumonia in March 2016 at OSF St. Francis Medical Center in Peoria, where he developed acute kidney injury and was diagnosed with atrial fibrillation (AFib).
After being discharged, the patient was prescribed Coumadin and outpatient dialysis. The lawsuit alleged that he needed higher doses of Coumadin based on blood tests. The patient subsequently suffered a severe stroke, likely caused by a clot near his heart. As a result, he now has significant cognitive injuries and paralysis on one side of his body. His wife and grandchildren provide him with round-the-clock care.
OSF HealthCare declined to comment on the case but certainly seems financially capable of covering the verdict. OSF HealthCare says it operates 16 hospitals with 2,134 licensed beds across Illinois and Michigan. They employ over 24,000 staff, run two colleges of nursing, and offer extensive home health and hospice services. Additionally, OSF owns Pointcore, Inc., which includes healthcare-related businesses, the OSF HealthCare Foundation, and OSF Ventures, which invests in healthcare innovation startups.
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