A Walgreens pharmacist who admitted to being a drug addict was found responsible for a prescription mix up that led to the death of an elderly Illinois man. A jury awarded the decedent’s family $6.1 million in damages – but it could been a whole lot more. Find out why…

Illinois personal injury

According to Chicago’s Daily Herald, 79 year old Len Kulisek died from liver failure after being prescribed the wrong medication from a Walgreens pharmacist for over a year. Kulisek was supposed to take the drug allopurinolm, but Walgreens gave him the drug glipizide instead. He died approximately one year later. His family sued Walgreens and the pharmacist that continually filled his prescription. What was discovered next shocked the family, the court – and likely Walgreens as well.

Egregious behavior

Walgreens’ pharmacist James Wilmes admitted that, in addition to prescribing the wrong medication to Kulisek, he had been stealing drugs from Walgreens for over eight years. A lot of drugs. In fact, he admitted to stealing and ingesting over 86,000 pills over that time consisting of OxyContin, Vicodin, codeine, Ritalin and others.

Jury awards family $31M

Although the jury awarded Kulisek’s family over $31 million - $6.1 million in compensatory damages and another $25 million in punitive damages – an appellate court refused to allow the punitive damages altogether because Illinois law doesn’t allow for them if a plaintiff dies from their injuries.

Hopefully Kulisek’s Illinois personal injury attorney, David Axelrod, will appeal that verdict. He was quoted as saying, "It's disappointing… that… somebody like Walgreens doesn't watch their inventory - and it ends up killing someone, they're not subject to punitive damages; whereas if they hurt someone who doesn't die, they could have [paid punitive damages].”

Personal injury lawsuits can be complicated – especially when a state’s laws don’t play in your favor. However, not every state has laws which disallow punitive damages and the plaintiff’s lawyer in this case may be able to appeal the decision given the egregious circumstances. Every case is different and is based on the facts and circumstances surrounding it. An experienced personal injury attorney will be able to discuss your situation and evaluate your options.