Johnson v. Loyola University Medical Center

              FOURTH DIVISION
March 31, 2008
No. 1-06-3222
RHODORIS JOHNSON, Individually and as ) Appeal from the Circuit Court of
Special Administrator of the Estate of Jesse ) Cook County, Illinois
M. Johnson, Deceased, ))
No. 02 L 4486
Plaintiff-Appellant, ))
Honorable Deborah Mary Dooling,
v. ) Judge Presiding
)
LOYOLA UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER, )
RICHARD M. CARROLL, and DIANE WALLIS, ))
Defendants-Appellees. )
JUSTICE MURPHY delivered the opinion of the court:
Plaintiff, Rhodoris Johnson, individually and as special administrator of the estate of Jesse
M. Johnson, filed an action for survival and wrongful death based on medical malpractice against
defendants, Loyola University Medical Center, Richard M. Carroll, M.D., and Diane Wallis, M.D.
On May 30, 2006, the jury returned a verdict in favor of plaintiff against Carroll and vicariously
against Loyola in the amount of $1,412,000. The jury found in favor of Wallis. The trial court
entered judgment notwithstanding the verdict (judgment n.o.v.) in Carroll’s and Loyola’s
(hereinafter, collectively defendants) favor on the basis that plaintiff failed to prove proximate
cause because her expert, a pulmonologist and critical-care specialist, was not qualified to testify
as to whether a cardiac catheterization and bypass surgery would have prolonged or saved the
decedent’s life. On appeal, plaintiff contends that the trial court erred by (1) barring her expert