Cook County Jury Returns Record $42.4 Million Verdict Against Advocate Condell in Baclofen Withdrawal Death

Scott Wilcox was 47 years old and a father of two. He had been quadriplegic since age 26, when a skiing accident changed his life. During his rehabilitation at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, he met the physical therapist's assistant he would marry three years later. To control his muscle spasms, he relied on an implanted pump that delivered a steady dose of baclofen.

In late July 2017, Wilcox went to Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville, Illinois, because his pump needed to be replaced. Surgery was scheduled. Over the weekend, his body began to react to the loss of baclofen. His condition worsened quickly, and the withdrawal pushed him toward respiratory failure.

At trial, the family showed that nursing staff did not tell a physician how far Wilcox had declined. It was his own father who reached his son's neurosurgeon to warn of the emergency. The hospital also did not have the replacement pump and the correct baclofen concentration ready at the time set for surgery. Wilcox went into respiratory arrest, lost oxygen to his brain, and fell into a coma. His family removed him from life support on August 13, 2017.

Thomas A. Demetrio, Michael D. Ditore, and David R. Barry, Jr., of Corboy & Demetrio represented the estate in a trial that lasted about two and a half weeks before Cook County Circuit Court Judge Lorna Propes. They pressed an institutional negligence theory, arguing that systemic failures in communication and preparation, not the fault of any single nurse, caused a preventable death. Before the case reached the jury, the defense had offered $3 million, then raised the figure to $5 million.

The jury deliberated about three hours and returned a verdict of $42.4 million on August 19, 2022. The award included $31 million for loss of society, $9 million for grief and mental suffering, and $2.4 million in lost income. Corboy & Demetrio said it was the largest medical malpractice verdict in Illinois for the wrongful death of a man age 20 or older. "While the family is pleased that the jury held Advocate responsible," Ditore said, the two daughters would feel their father's absence for the rest of their lives.

Advocate appealed. On February 13, 2024, the Illinois Appellate Court affirmed the verdict in full, rejecting the hospital's claim that the institutional negligence theory was a vicarious liability claim in disguise and upholding the state's prejudgment interest statute. With that interest added, the judgment grew to roughly $50 million. The Illinois Supreme Court later denied Advocate's petition for leave to appeal, leaving the verdict in place.