A personal representative has filed a lawsuit against the United States of America, alleging medical negligence that resulted in severe injuries to a veteran. On February 21, 2025, Mary Kaye Depperschmidt, acting on behalf of the estate of Daniel Steinhauer, filed the complaint in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. The suit claims that the negligence occurred at Edward Hines Jr. Veterans’ Hospital, leading to Steinhauer’s suffering.
The complaint narrates a distressing series of events beginning on August 10, 2022, when Daniel Steinhauer visited VA Hines for an elective procedure to change his percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) tube. This was not his first interaction with the hospital; an original PEG tube had been placed earlier in May 2022 by hospital staff. However, during this visit, significant lapses allegedly occurred: both removal and placement of the new PEG tube were conducted without anesthesia and crucial confirmation procedures were omitted. “There was no endoscopic or radiologic confirmation performed…to ensure that the new PEG Tube was properly situated,” states the complaint.
After being discharged home to Indiana on the same day as his procedure, Steinhauer experienced excruciating pain while attempting to feed himself using the newly placed tube. The liquid food reportedly leaked into his abdomen causing him to collapse in agony. Emergency responders transported him to St. Joseph Plymouth Hospital where he was diagnosed with acute peritonitis due to improper positioning of the PEG tube outside its intended location.
Surgery revealed further complications including a “ragged edge perforation” at the previous PEG site indicating negligent removal practices by VA Hines staff. As a result of these alleged failures in medical care and oversight by federal employees under their scope of employment at VA Hines, Depperschmidt asserts that Steinhauer endured unnecessary physical and financial harm prior to his unrelated death on June 26, 2023.
In her pursuit for justice under both federal and state laws—the Federal Tort Claims Act and Illinois Survival Statute—Depperschmidt seeks compensation amounting to $149,999.99 along with legal costs from this action against the United States government.
This article was first published in Cook County Record.
