Swedish Covenant Hospital faces medical malpractice lawsuit

A local hospital and doctor are being sued over claims a patient received inadequate medical care resulting in death.

Megan Schmitz, as personal representative of the Estate of John Schmitz, filed a lawsuit in Cook County Circuit Court on Oct. 17 against Dr. Sung Sup Kim, individually and as agent of Swedish Covenant Hospital, and Swedish Covenant Hospital, citing the wrongful death and survival acts.

The estate alleges the defendants breached the standard of care owed to John Schmitz when he was admitted on May 9, at Swedish Covenant Hospital at 5145 N. California Ave. in Chicago.

The estate states the defendants improperly cared for John Schmitz by failing to order CT of the chest as part of the evaluation of the positive D-dimer test, failing to order a Venous Doppler of the lower extremities as part of the evaluation of the positive D-dimer test, failing to order pharmacological VTE prophylaxis and failing to ensure that the nursing staff carried out orders.

As a result of the defendant's actions, John Schmitz died on May 12, likely cause of death was an undiagnosed pulmonary embolism, according to the complaint.

The estate is seeking damages in excess of $50,000 and is represented in the case by the Law Office of Steven J. Seidman in Chicago.

Cook County Circuit Court Case No. 2013L011531.

This is a report on a civil lawsuit filed at the Cook County Courthouse. The details in this report come from an original complaint filed by a plaintiff. Please note that a complaint represents an accusation by a private individual, not the government. It is not an indication of guilt, and it represents only one side of the story.