A Missed Blood Clot, an Amputated Foot, and a Record $32.7 Million Verdict

On June 15, 2014, William "Billy" Fern was 25 years old and already knew his body made clots too easily. He lived with ulcerative colitis, he had survived a pulmonary embolism, and just a week earlier he had finished a six-month course of blood-thinning medication. When two days of foot pain sent him to an urgent care center, the doctor there suspected a clot in his leg and sent him straight to the emergency department at Central DuPage Hospital.

In the ER, Fern was seen by Dr. Jeffrey Bohmer and reported that the pain in his foot was getting worse. Bohmer sent him home with a chart note of "limb pain" and no working diagnosis, telling him to follow up with a primary care doctor in a day or two. The clot that was choking off blood to his foot went unaddressed.

Over the next several days the foot turned cool to the touch, a warning that blood was no longer reaching the tissue. A vascular surgeon was finally called, and testing revealed an arterial occlusion. During exploratory surgery on June 21, the surgeon found a cluster of embolized clots and blocked arteries. By then the damage could not be reversed, and Fern's foot was amputated.

Attorneys David Rashid, Patrick Salvi II, and Jennifer Cascio tried the case in Cook County Circuit Court. They argued that the warning signs were present from Fern's first visit: a young patient with a documented clotting history, freshly off anticoagulation, showing the textbook symptoms of a vascular emergency. The defendants were Dr. Bohmer, Central DuPage Emergency Physicians, Dr. Lisa Rondeau, Dr. Benjamin Heatwole, and DuPage Medical Group.

On September 29, 2023, the jury returned a verdict of $32,747,000. The panel broke the award into categories: $9.5 million for past and future loss of a normal life, $10.5 million for past and future pain and suffering, $6.6 million for emotional distress, $5 million for disfigurement, and roughly $1.1 million for medical care.

The figure became the largest award the Illinois Jury Verdict Reporter had on file for the loss of one leg or foot, and it ranked first among the state's top ten personal injury verdicts for 2023. The available coverage records no reduction or remittitur of the award.