Cook County Circuit Judge William D. Maddux approved a settlement of nearly $1.4
million in a wrongful-death case involving a 35-year-old woman who died of a pulmonary
embolism, apparently after being misdiagnosed with dehydration at a suburban
hospital.
A day after being released from the hospital emergency room, the woman died of the
embolism, a severe condition in which blood vessels are blocked by a blood clot, fat
or other substance.
On April 19, 1998, Sharon Jean Williams went to the Loyola University Medical
Center emergency room with complaints of dizziness and shortness of breath. According
to the lawsuit, doctors attributed the symptoms to Williams’ weight of 325 pounds. She
also had moved to a new apartment the day before.
Williams was given food and an IV for dehydration, and was discharged. She died the
next day.
She is survived by her husband, Stanley, whom she had married three years earlier.
The couple had no children.
The woman’s estate was represented by Robert J. Napleton of Motherway, Glenn &
Napleton. The case is Stanley Williams, etc., v. Loyola University Medical Center, No.
99 L 00934.