Donald Shapiro and Matt Basinger successfully represented Mary Jarzebkowski in a dental malpractice claim against Dr. Christian Kubilius, D.D.S., a dentist who practices in Palos Heights, Illinois.
Although a patient of the dentist for over 12 years, Dr. Kubilius never took probe readings , failed to take periodic full mouth x-rays and therefore failed to diagnose and treat periodontal gum disease. By the time Mary transferred her care to another dentist, the condition had become so severe that Mary lost all of her upper teeth plus she suffered substantial bone loss on the bottom teeth. The jury awarded $420,000.00 in damages but assessed Mary with 18% comparative fault due to the fact that Mary ignored the dentist’s advice to stop smoking and did not return for cleanings as often as recommended. Thus, the final verdict was $344,400.00. The case was tried the week of July 8th in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois, the Honorable Michael Panter presiding.