Clifford Law Offices Obtains 2.6 Million Verdict in Medical Malpractice Case; Record in History of Adams County

Clifford Law Offices , one of the nation's top personal injury firms, received a record $2.6 million verdict today (Thursday, Feb. 10) in Adams County on behalf of the family of a 44-year-old man who died after back surgery.

Jeffrey Kroll and Susan Capra, partners at the Chicago law firm, obtained the verdict after a two-week trial in Quincy. The 10-man-two-woman jury deliberated 12 hours before rendering their verdict this morning.

The verdict was rendered against Blessing Hospital of Quincy which had been hospitalized for an infection following back surgery on Jerry Allensworth of Payson, a small rural town outside of Quincy.

He was released after five days and died of a pulmonary embolism. Derrick Thomas, a Kansas City Chiefs all-pro football star died of a similar blood clot to the lung earlier this week.

"The nurses and hospital staff refused to relay his change of symptoms before his discharge which would have led doctors to properly diagnose his serious condition," said Kroll moments after the verdict.

The jury found Dr. Michael Feeley of Quincy not liable for medical negligence.

Allensworth left a wife and four children. He was a machinist for Gardner Denver of Quincy for 16 years.

"The jury obviously understood and appreciated the loss that this family will suffer without him as a result of their clear lack of communication," said Capra, a former practicing nurse in Chicago.

Every one of the 12 jurors said they had used the hospital at some time in their lives; it is the only hospital in Adams County.

In the meantime, Clifford Law Offices is preparing to file Monday an unrelated lawsuit against Titan Tire Company of Des Moines, Iowa, and its parent company, Titan International of Quincy.

The lawsuit which alleges negligence against the tire companies involves the death of a 25-year-old Plainfield man who died in a plant explosion Nov. 24, 1999.

Douglas Oswald, a trucker for an Indiana trucking firm, was unloading his truck filled with the highly flammable chemical heptane at the Titan plant in Des Moines. An employee of the tire company improperly connected the pipe to the storage tank on the premises and 2,000 gallons spilled out and erupted in a fireball, burning Oswald to death.

Heptane is a spray cement used in tire building. "This incident would not have occurred had the Titan firm paid closer attention to the hazardous unloading procedure," said Robert Clifford , principal partner at the firm.