Rapoport Law Offices Obtains $9.858 Million Jury Verdict for Medical Malpractice Victim

A Chicago jury returned a $ 9.858 million verdict against the Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine and the doctor running the Fellows Clinic of the college in Downers Grove, Illinois, on behalf of a Rapoport Law Office client who was formerly a medical student at that school.

Now 31 years old, our client was injured on December 8, 2003, at the Fellows Clinic. That day, she presented to the clinic with complaints of mild shoulder and neck pain from studying. An unsupervised medical student manipulated her neck, injuring her long thoracic nerve. As a result of her injury she had two shoulder surgeries, developed a chronic pain syndrome, and had to withdraw from medical school.

In the lawsuit, the Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine and the doctor, who ran the Fellows Clinic, denied doing anything wrong, arguing that our client suffers instead from a rare disease. But according to Jon Papin of Rapoport Law Offices, P.C. and the lead trial attorney for the case, "We thought this defense was total nonsense and the jury agreed with us."

At the trial Mr. Papin was assisted by Paul Richter, the firms managing partner, who added "a Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine witness filed a false affidavit in the case, and an important log record had been altered by someone at the college. When the defense attorney argued our client's credibility was suspect, Jon effectively turned that around on the defense during the final rebuttal argument."

According to Mr. Papin, "In the Fellows Clinic on the day our client was hurt, the University failed to have procedures and protocols requiring direct on premises supervision of medical students by a licensed doctor as required by Illinois law. Instead, the medical student was allowed to form his own diagnosis and treatment plan, and then he proceeded to execute it badly, all without supervision."

At 31, our client has accomplished much in her life. She was graduated from Rush University College of Nursing cum laude in 1998 and was inducted into the national nurses' honor society, Sigma Theta Tau. She worked as a registered nurse while completing her prerequisites for medical school and was accepted to the Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine where she began medical school in August of 2003. Before she was injured, our client was also a marathon runner, completing four marathons including her favorite, LaSalle Bank's Chicago Marathon, on two occasions.

If you would like to discuss a potential lawsuit with one of our attorneys contact our office by email, or telephone Rapoport Law Offices at 800-545-6437 (toll free) or 312-327-9880. There is no fee to consult with one of our attorneys. The fee for our services is solely based on a percentage of the amount we recover for our client. No fee is charged unless there is a recovery.