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not preclude an action for punitive damages against the driver’s estate. The facts and holding in
Penberthy are not helpful in guiding our analysis in the instant case and present nothing to fit the
facts and circumstances in this case within the parameters set by our supreme court. We find that
the plaintiff has presented no convincing argument to persuade us to deviate from strong Illinois
public policy and established law, as repeatedly set out by our supreme court. Specifically, actions
for punitive damages will not survive the death of the original plaintiff unless the legislature
specifically authorizes such an action or there are strong equitable reasons for allowing the recovery
of punitive damages. The circumstances of this case, which include an ample compensatory damages
award in favor of the decedent’s estate, do not fit the narrow exceptions to this principle.
We next consider whether there was sufficient evidence to support the compensatory
damages awarded by the jury. Walgreen admits that the negligence of its pharmacist did cause injury
to Leonard Kulisek. But it contends that the plaintiff failed to prove that the negligence, or the
ingestion of the wrong medication by Kulisek, caused Kulisek’s kidneys to fail or caused the ensuing
need for dialysis, his mental deterioration, stroke and eventual death. In fact, the plaintiff presented
overwhelming medical evidence of a cause and effect between Kulisek’s ingestion of the glipizide
and the onset of his subsequent medical problems. It was sufficient for the plaintiff to present expert
testimony that, to a reasonable degree of medical certainty, ingestion of the glipizide was the
proximate cause of Leonard Kulisek’s problems. And the plaintiff in fact secured the testimony of
two medical experts who testified that, to a reasonable degree of medical certainty, the glipizide
caused Kulisek’s medical problems. They testified that the glipizide caused hypoglycemia, which
then caused severe injury to Kulisek’s kidneys and his need for dialysis for the rest of his life. These
