Brian Thomas Henry

1980, Illinois
1980, Illinois Supreme Court
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, General and Trial bars

of the American College of Trial Lawyers, one of the premier legal associations in North America which seeks to identify those trial lawyers who have mastered the art of advocacy and whose professional careers have been marked by the highest standards of professionalism. From 2003 until 2009 Mr. Henry was selected to serve as a member of the ACTL Upstate Committee.

News and Verdicts

Orthopedic Surgery Defense Verdict

Pretzel & Stouffer Equity Partner Teaches Course at University of Chicago Medical Center

Defense Victory for Physicians in Bacterial Meningitis Death Case Upheld on Appeal

Pretzel & Stouffer Wins Defense Victory for Surgeon in Fibroadenoma Case

Pretzel & Stouffer Equity Partner Publishes Article in Pain Physician

Pretzel & Stouffer Equity Partner Lectures at University of Chicago Seminar

Professional Affiliations

Fellow, American College of Trial Lawyers
Upstate Illinois Committee, 2003 - 2009

International Association of Defense Counsel
Medical Defense & Health Law Committee
Drug, Device and Biotechnology Committee

Illinois Association of Defense Trial Counsel

DRI™

Illinois Association of Hospital Attorneys

Society of Trial Lawyers

Illinois State Bar Association

Representative Cases

Giant breast fibroadenoma in 13-year-old
Mr. Henry defended a general surgeon in a Cook County lawsuit where the plaintiff alleged the surgeon had failed to biopsy a lump in her right breast and monitor her. Over four and a half months, the 13-year-old patient's right breast grew to the size of a basketball, requiring removal of most of her breast and subsequent reconstructive surgery. The plaintiff's counsel asked the jury for $4.1 million, but the jury found in favor of the defendant.

Shoulder dystocia resulting in brachial palsy
Mr. Henry defended an obstetrician who delivered a newborn after encountering a shoulder dystocia in the child. The minor plaintiff suffered a brachial palsy, which resulted in a weak arm and shoulder and limited the plaintiff's range of motion. The Cook County lawsuit alleged that the obstetrician improperly pulled on the child's head. The plaintiff's counsel asked jury to award $4.5 million, but the jury returned a verdict for the defendant.

Failure to diagnose bladder cancer
An urologist, whom Mr. Henry defended, faced a wrongful death lawsuit in Cook County. The plaintiff claimed that the urologist failed to diagnose bladder cancer in a patient who later died, while the urologist maintained that the delay in diagnosis was due to the patient deferring a cystoscopy for several months. The plaintiff's counsel attempted to prevent the defendant from testifying about his discussions with the patient by invoking Illinois' Dead Man's Act. The plaintiff's counsel asked the jury to award $4.9 million, but the jury found in favor of the defendant.

Epidural hematoma from lumbar puncture in emergency room
In this Cook County lawsuit, Mr. Henry defended an emergency medicine physician who performed a lumbar puncture on a patient suspected of possibly having bacterial meningitis. The patient had a past history of stroke and had been taking Coumadin. The defendant doctor denied that the patient told her about being on Coumadin until after lumbar puncture was performed. Five days after the lumbar puncture, the patient experienced an epidural bleed in her spine, requiring emergency surgery and resulting in neurological deficits. The plaintiff's counsel asked the jury to award nearly $480,000, but the jury returned a verdict for the defendant.

Septic death following pain injection
Mr. Henry defended a pain medicine physician in a DuPage County lawsuit. The physician performed a lateral femoral cutaneous nerve block on a 45-year-old female, who was hospitalized 12 hours later and died of a massive infection from a bacteria found only within the bowel. The plaintiff alleged that the defendant's needle punctured the bowel, causing the fatal infection. The plaintiff's counsel asked jury to award more than $3.9 million. After 11 hours of deliberations, the jury returned a $100,000 verdict for the plaintiff.

Death during Whipple surgery
Mr. Henry defended an attending physician and a resident physician in a wrongful death lawsuit filed in Cook County. During a patient's surgery for pancreatitis, the resident physician passed a clamp behind the pancreas and ruptured the portal vein. The patient then bled to death. The plaintiff claimed that the resident physician was negligent when he injured the portal vein, and the attending physician was negligent in his supervision, as this was the first time the resident physician had performed the procedure. The plaintiff's counsel asked the jury to award $1.6 million, but the jury returned a verdict for the defendants.

Death from undiagnosed bacterial meningitis
Mr. Henry defended a neurologist, a neurology resident and a neurosurgery resident in a wrongful death lawsuit filed in Cook County. The patient, a 26-year old female, came to the hospital with a severe headache. She had previously suffered a superior sagittal sinus thrombosis when she was 20. A magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)/magnetic resonance venography (MRV) was ordered and a neurology consultation was requested for the patient. When the MRI/MRV revealed abnormalities, the neurosurgery service was consulted. The plaintiff alleged that the consultants failed to order a complete blood count, which would have revealed an elevated white blood cell level and left shift and would have led to the correct diagnosis of bacterial meningitis. The correct diagnosis was not discovered until the patient's autopsy. The plaintiff's counsel asked the jury to award more than $11.4 million, but the jury found in favor of all three defendants.

Death of child following 44-minute Caesarean section
Mr. Henry defended an obstetrician in a wrongful death lawsuit in Cook County. The plaintiff claimed that the defendant was negligent because it took her 44 minutes to perform a Caesarean section, which should normally take 5 to 10 minutes. The defendant contended that the C-section was unusually long because the mother had extensive abdominal adhesions from prior surgeries, the uterus went into spasm during the surgery and the infant was in the breech position. An animation of the surgery was presented to the jury during the trial. The plaintiff's counsel asked the jury to award $2.5 million, but the jury returned a verdict for the defendant.

Brain damage from undiagnosed bleeding ulcer
Mr. Henry defended a gastroenterologist in a lawsuit filed in Cook County. The suit alleged that when the plaintiff, a 40-year-old female, was admitted to the hospital with abdominal pain, the defendant failed to perform a proper work-up. The following day, the patient experienced a massive bleed that resulted in permanent brain damage. The plaintiff's counsel asked the jury to award more than $28.5 million, but the jury returned a verdict for the defendant.

Death of child from diabetic ketoacidosis
Mr. Henry defended a pediatrician in a wrongful death lawsuit filed in Cook County. The suit alleged that the defendant saw a 2-year-old in his office, and that the child died at home in his sleep two days later from diabetic ketoacidosis because the defendant failed to diagnose the child's diabetes. The defendant denied that the patient was symptomatic in his office, despite contrary testimony from the child's parents. The defense contended that child was an asymptomatic diabetic who died because his mother gave him an excessive amount of the Lidocaine prescribed for his canker sores, precipitating the rapid onset of his diabetic ketoacidosis. The plaintiff's counsel asked the jury to award $3 million, but the jury returned a verdict for the defendant.

Brain damage from bacterial meningitis
Mr. Henry defended a pediatrician in a Cook County lawsuit that alleged the defendant failed to examine a child and gave negligent telephone instructions to the child's mother. As a result, the suit claimed, the child suffered brain damage because of a delayed diagnosis of spinal meningitis. The mother of the minor plaintiff claimed that she spoke by phone with the defendant and reported to him that her child was sick, crying a lot, constipated and felt very warm. The plaintiff claimed that the defendant instructed her to give her child castor oil, and the plaintiff's sister and her sister's friend corroborated her testimony about the phone call. The morning after the phone call, the plaintiff took her child to the emergency room at St. James Hospital, where the child was diagnosed with bilateral ear infections and spinal meningitis. The defendant contended that the phone call never occurred. The plaintiff's counsel asked the jury to award nearly $11.9 million, but the jury returned a verdict for the defendant.

Death from breast cancer
Mr. Henry defended a fertility specialist in a Cook County lawsuit. A patient came to the defendant with a complaint about a lump in her right armpit, but a breast exam did not reveal any masses. The defendant advised the patient that the lump was probably benign, but if it persisted, she should go to a surgeon and have it removed. The patient never went to a surgeon and was diagnosed with Stage 3 breast cancer 18 months later, dying nine months after the diagnosis. During the trial, the plaintiff's counsel attempted use the Dead Man's Act to bar the defendant from testifying about her instructions to the patient. The court allowed the testimony, however, in light of allegations from the plaintiff's expert witness that the defendant was negligent for not referring the patient to a surgeon. After the jury returned a verdict for the defendant, an appellate court upheld the verdict and established the precedent that a defendant physician must be permitted to testify to conversations with a deceased patient when necessary to respond to negligence allegations.

Publications/Speeches

A Medical-Legal Review Regarding the Standard of Care for Epidural Injections, with Particular Reference to a Closed Case, Vol. 13, Pain Physician 2, March/April 2010.

Casenote: Marshall v. Barlow's Inc., 436 U.S. 307, 1978, Vol. 67, Illinois Bar Journal 10, June 1979.