Dec 26, 2016 | Ozmon Law News
SUCCESS STORIES
Leading Lawyers Network
Laird M. Ozmon has been helping injured people and their families find justice for nearly 25 years. His firm, the Law Offices of Laird M. Ozmon, Ltd., focuses solely on cases of personal injury, medical malpractice, wrongful death, and product liability.
Laird M. Ozmon
Among the success stories of Mr. Ozmon has helped write for his clients: $12 million compensatory and punitive damage award for a man whose hand was nearly severed by a power saw and $8 million recovered for a former firefighter who was mistakenly diagnosed with asthma during a routine physical.
Mr. Ozmon is a past president of the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association, a governor from Illinois to the American Trial Lawyers Association, a past assemblyman to the Illinois State Bar Association, an inducted member of the Society of Trial Lawyers and the American Board of Trial Advocates, and one of the top 5 percent of all lawyers as recommended by his peers to Leading Lawyers Network.
Mr. Ozmon was elected this year to his fourth consecutive term on the executive committee of the American Association for Justice, formerly known as the American Trial Lawyers Association. He was also appointed to the association’s National Finance Counsel, and he received its Distinguished Service Award for 2009. In addition, he co-authored the chapter “Trial Tactics in Medical Malpractice” for the Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education, 1989-92.
In December, 2005, he was appointed by Justice Thomas Kilbride to the Illinois Supreme Court Committee on Jury Instructions in Civil Cases. For nine years, he will represent the Third Judicial District on the 21-member committee.
It is that experience, sophistication, and commitment that helps Mr. Ozmon help his clients.
Dec 26, 2016 | Ozmon Law News
Malpractice suit settled for $8 million
HERALD NEWS
By Charles B. Pelkie
HERALD-NEWS STAFF WRITER
CHICAGO – A Joliet legal firm recently reached an $8 million settlement in a medical malpractice case involving a former Glendale Heights firefighter who was mistakenly diagnosed with asthma during a routine work physical seven years ago.
Scott Sircher, the 45-year-old former fire department lieutenant, actually suffered from a genetic disorder known as Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency, which results in lung failure and can cause liver disease.
The disease currently has no cure. But Joliet attorney Laird Ozmon argued that if Sircher’s symptoms had been properly diagnosed during a work physical in 1994, his client could have received treatment that would have ‘slowed the destruction of his lungs and extended his life.
Sircher has since lost an estimated 75 percent of his lung capacity, and he requires oxygen intermittently, according to Ozmon. His body can stand only minimal exertion, making it impossible for Sircher to help his wife, Denise Sircher, who suffers from multiple sclerosis and lupus.
The attorney described his client as “a pulmonary cripple” whose life expectancy was reduced by 15 to 20 years because he did not receive timely treatment.
Ozmon filed a lawsuit in Cook County alleging that defendants Occupational Medicine Network Inc. and GlenOaks Medical Center, both located in Glendale Heights, should have properly diagnosed his breathing problems during a work-related exam in 1994.
The attorney alleged that doctors failed to conduct a pulmonary test that would have shown an irreversible loss of lung function and suggested that Sircher suffered from more than asthma. “It was a basic precursor to determining a loss of lung function inconsistent with asthma,” Ozmon said.
Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency, which can be diagnosed with a blood test, would have been a likely culprit had the doctors looked beyond asthma, Ozmon said.
Instead, doctors cleared Sircher for duty 10 days after his physical, Ozmon said. As he worked, his lung function continued to deteriorate. He was finally diagnosed correctly in 1996, Ozmon said. “By that time, he could barely stand up in the shower,” Ozmon said.
The attorney representing Occupational Medicine Network and GlenOaks Medical Center could not be reached for comment Wednesday, The lawsuit also named as a defendant the Asthma and Allergy Center in Bloomingdale, where Sircher had been receiving treatment for his breathing difficulties.
An estimated 21 -million Americans are undetected carriers of the disease, according to the Alpha-1 Foundation Web site.
The liver normally produces a protein called trypsin, which assists in ridding the body of dead cells. A healthy person also produces a protein known as anti-trypsin, which prevents the trypsin protein from destroying healthy cells, specifically in the lungs.
The only approved treatment for the lung disease is a weekly augmentation of the Alpha-1 protein, which can cost an estimated $60,000 per person, according to the Alpha-1 Foundation.
Signs of the disease can include shortness of breath, rapid deterioration of lung function, decreased exercise tolerance, chronic liver problems, elevated liver enzymes and a lack of response to asthma or allergy treatment.
Dec 26, 2016 | Cases, Ozmon Law News
Medical Malpractice Case Will County, Joliet IL
Recently awarded the highest settled Medical Malpractice suit in the history of Will County for 9.2 million.
Will County, Il.(a suburb of Chicago) – On January 15, 2015, a Will County woman and her husband settled a medical malpractice lawsuit against a local hospital and surgical group, for a Will County record high settlement of $9.2 million. She filed suit because surgical complications after weight loss surgery in November, 2010, led to above-the-knee amputation of both of her legs. The surgeon was an employee of the surgical group and an agent of a local hospital. Based upon claims of agency the hospital participated in the settlement. There were no other significant claims against the hospital. A local hematologist also contributed to the settlement.
On November, 10, 2010, a local woman underwent a weight loss procedure called a gastric sleeve surgery, which involved removal of approximately 70% of her stomach. She had a preexisting blood clotting disorder, and for the previous ten years had been required to take a blood thinner called Coumadin every day. The blood thinner had to be discontinued just before surgery, with the expectation that it would be restarted in a timely manner after the operation. Unfortunately, she suffered a bleeding complication after surgery, and the surgeon decided to delay the restarting of those blood thinners. Due to the absence of an anticoagulation bridging plan, blood thinners were never restarted and after two weeks, she developed massive blood clots in her legs that ultimately resulted in the complete loss of blood circulation to her legs. Because circulation could not be restored, both of her legs were amputated above the knees on November 26, 2010.
A lawsuit was filed in Will County by Laird Ozmon of the Law Offices of Laird M. Ozmon, Ltd. alleging that her doctor failed to sufficiently educate her that due to her hyper coagulable condition, she should have had a less invasive and risky weight loss surgery called a lap band procedure, failed to properly manager her anticoagulants before surgery, failed to restart her anticoagulants when it was safe to do so, and failed to respond in a timely manner when she developed extensive blood clots.
The plaintiffs were represented by Laird Ozmon of Laird M. Ozmon, Ltd, (Joliet) and Mark McNabola, Ted Jennings and Ruth Degnan of McNabola Law Group, P.C. (Chicago) who were subsequently added as trial counsel. Defendant hospital was represented by Brian Fetzer of Johnson & Bell, Ltd. (Chicago); defendant surgeon and medical group were represented by Troy Lundquist of Langhenry, Gillen, Lundquist & Johnson, LLC (Joliet); and the hematologist and medical group were represented by Martha Swatek of Swatek Law Group, Ltd. (Geneva).
