Chicago Injury Attorney Blog

In a split decision, the Illinois Supreme Court last week ruled that placing caps on medical malpractice awards in certain cases is unconstitutional. This is the third time the state’s highest court has rejected the caps.

The court struck down a medical malpractice reform law, enacted in 2005, that limited awards to $1 million when the Illinois injury case is against a hospital and $500,000 when the defendants in the lawsuit are doctors. The justices said that while lawmakers could re-enact some of the provisions, this liberty does not apply to the caps on what malpractice plaintiffs can win in court.

The court said the caps infringe on the powers of the judiciary and are in violation of the separation of powers. The justices also handed more power to state regulators, allowing them to change malpractice insurance rates, punish negligent doctors, and investigate complaints.

The case involved Abigaile Lebron. The 4-year-old suffered a traumatic brain injury during her birth in 2005. As a result of her birth injuries, she has to be fed through a tube from now on and she will never fully develop the way other girls her age will. More than likely, Abigaile will never be able to live alone.

Following her birth, Abigaile's family filed a Cook County medical malpractice lawsuit against a doctor and a hospital, claiming birthing malpractice. The defendants have denied the allegations.

While trial lawyers are celebrating the Illinois Supreme Court’s decision to strike down the caps, those in the medical profession are disappointed.

Birthing Malpractice
If your son or daughter’s life has been forever ruined because he or she suffered birthing injuries that are a result of birthing malpractice, you may have grounds for filing a Chicago, Illinois medical malpractice lawsuit.

Common Kinds of Birth Injuries:

• Caput Succedaneum

• Cerebral Palsy

• Forceps injuries

• Subconjunctival Hemorrhage

• Cephalohematoma

• Brachial Palsy

• Traumatic Brain Injuries

• Facial Paralysis

• Bone fractures

In many cases, these injuries could have been avoided if only a doctor, surgeon, obstetrician, or another medical provider hadn’t been negligent.

Ill. medical malpractice caps unconstitutional, BusinessWeek, February 5, 2010

Medical Malpractice Caps Nixed in Illinois, The Wall Street Journal, February 4, 2010

Related Web Resources:

Continue reading "Illinois Supreme Court Says Medical Malpractice Caps are Unconstitutional" »

A woman who says that doctors at Northwestern Memorial Hospital failed to aggressively treat her malaria is suing the Illinois hospital for Chicago medical malpractice. Dawn Dubsky is now an amputee. She says that doctors at another hospital saved her life but they were forced to amputate her legs and arms.

Dubsky contracted malaria after a mosquito bit her in 2008 while she was in the West Africa Republic of Ghana. After returning to Chicago, Dubsky went to the emergency room at Northwestern after she began to experience severe fatigue and suffer serious headaches.

A doctor there prescribed quinine sulfate tablets, which is a standard treatment for malaria, but the then-32-year-old’s medical condition grew worse. Dubsky’s blood pressure dropped and she developed jaundice on her skin. She also appeared to be suffering from the beginning stages of disseminated intravascular coagulation, her kidneys showed signs of failure, and there were indications that she was about to go into septic shock.

Doctors at Northwestern were able to stabilize Dubsky's condition. She was transferred to University of Chicago Medical Center, and the doctors there amputated her lower legs and arms in order to save her life. Dubsky’s family says that she was devastated when she found out what had happened to her. She later suffered health complications.

Dubksy’s Cook County medical malpractice lawyer says that doctors at Northwestern made a medical mistake when, despite the evidence, they treated her client’s serious condition as if it were “simple, non-complicated malaria.”

Malaria
1 million people in the developing world die from malaria every year, and although it has been over 50 years since the disease was eliminated from the US, people can still bring it home with them after traveling abroad. It is important that doctors not only diagnose the kind of malaria the patient is suffering from but that they administer the proper care in a timely manner. Otherwise, the health consequences for some malaria patients can be catastrophic.

Some of the Symptoms of Malaria:

• Fever
• Vomiting
• Nausea
• Chills
• Diarrhea
• Jaundice
• Anemia

Woman suing hospital for malaria treatment, UPI, February 4, 2010

Fight against malaria: Battle of life and death, Chicago Tribune, November 26, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Malaria, CDC

Northwestern Memorial Hospital

The family of Juan Robles is suing the Chicago police for his Illinois wrongful death. Robles, 28, was shot last September 27 during a police pursuit in Ashburn.

The deadly incident occurred at around 11:55 pm. Police say they spotted a vehicle on South Kedzie Avenue that they believed was involved in a weapons violation. They tried to pull the car over but Robles wouldn’t stop and proceeded to accidentally strike two vehicles, causing his car to become disabled.

Police say that Robles was carrying a handgun when he excited the vehicle and tried to run away. The officers started chasing him on foot. They claim that Robles then turned around, pointing the gun at the cops. That is when police fatally shot him.

One officer injured his arm during the police pursuit. However, the cop's injury was not a gunshot wound.

Now, Robles’s family is seeking at least $100,000 and claiming Chicago police brutality. They say that the officers that chased after Robles used excessive force and neglected to provide him timely medical attention after they shot him in the back multiple times.

The Independent Police Review Authority is investigating the deadly shooting but has yet to release their findings.

If your loved one was injured, abused, or killed by Chicago police, it is a good idea to speak with a Cook County police brutality law firm to determine if the incident is grounds for an Illinois injury complaint or a wrongful death lawsuit. Police are never allowed to use excessive force at any time.

Suit filed over police-involved fatal shooting, Chicago Breaking News, January 26, 2010

Police shoot, kill armed man on Southwest Side, Chicago Breaking News, September 27, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Independent Police Review Authority

Chicago Police, ClearPath

The family of 10-year-old Aquan Lewis is suing Evanston Skokie School District 65 for his Cook County wrongful death. Lewis was discovered hanging from a bathroom stall hook at Oakton Elementary School on February 3, 2009.

Paramedics were able to revive him but he died at a Chicago hospital the following day. Suicide was determined to be Aquan's cause of death.

However, Aquan’s family is holding the school district responsible for his hanging. Angel Marshall says that the district was responsible for her son while he was at school and that school employees should have gone to look for him after he disappeared at around 2:30 pm. Aquan was discovered a half hour later.

According to the family’s Chicago, Illinois wrongful death lawyer, even though the school district and Evanston police announced during a press conference on February 17, 2009 that all evidence had been looked at, there was vomit, blood stains, and other physical evidence that had not yet been studied.

The Cook County wrongful death complaint claims that the 10-year-old’s nose was bleeding when he was found. There was also blood in the bathroom. Lewis has said that she does not believe her son committed suicide. She says the school should have accounted for him when he went missing.The family believes that the school district could have done more to investigate Aquan’s death.

The Illinois wrongful death lawsuit is seeking over $50,000 and claims survival action negligence, wrongful death negligence, survival related to willful and wanton conduct, and wrongful death related to willful and wanton conduct.

Schools are responsible for students’ well-being and safety during school hours. They are also supposed to make sure that there are no hazards, unsafe conditions, or dangerous circumstances that could cause Illinois injuries to minors or wrongful death.

Family sues school district over hanging death of son, Chicago Sun-Times, January 30, 2010

Aquan Lewis: 10-Year-Old's School Death Ruled Suicide, The Huffington Post, February 4, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Evanston Skokie School District 65

Oakton Elementary School

One week after the Cook County wrongful death trial against Northwest Suburban Urologists, Ltd. and urologist Jeffery Norris, M.D. began, a $1 million Chicago medical malpractice settlement was reached between the defendants and the family of Daniel Russell.

Russell died in April 2006 from bladder cancer. After experiencing flank pain, microscopic hematuria, nocturia, and dysuria, he was referred to Norris in late 2002 for a second opinion. The urologist told Russell that his medical problems were behavioral and that he should relax his sphincter. Even though the patient exhibited early signs of bladder cancer, Norris did not perform any procedure to make sure that he didn’t have the disease.

Russell went to see Norris again in 2004. This time, the urologist performed a cystoscopy. The patient was diagnosed as having late stage muscle invasive bladder cancer.

Delayed Diagnosis of Bladder Cancer
Failure to timely diagnose an affliction such as cancer can prove catastrophic for the patient. The disease may have accelerated to an incurable phase or, the treatments required to try saving the patient’s live may be very painful and invasive with no guarantee of survival. Two of the more common causes of delayed diagnosis are the failure to correctly diagnose symptoms and testing-related errors.

Delayed diagnosis of bladder cancer increases a patient’s fatality risk by 30%. According to researchers at the University of Michigan Health System, persons who were diagnosed with bladder cancer less than three months after symptoms started appearing had a significantly greater chance of survival than those who were not diagnosed until over nine months after the symptoms began to surface.

In Circuit Court, Chicago Daily Bulletin, January 26, 2010

Delayed Diagnosis Raises Bladder Cancer Death Risk, Renal and Urology News, April 29, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Northwest Suburban Urologists, Ltd.

Bladder Cancer, National Cancer Institute

Continue reading "$1 Million Cook County Wrongful Death Settlement Reached In Suit Accusing Urologist of Illinois Medical Malpractice for Delayed Cancer Diagnosis " »

A woman is suing Quest Diagnostics and Dr. Michael E. Herrmann for Illinois medical malpractice. Ashley McCoy claims she suffered serious emotional distress after the blood testing agency and doctor confirmed that her test results for HIV were positive. They even issued written and oral statements that McCoy had HIV to other people at SLUCare Physicians of St. Louis University. However, following a re-test at ARUP laboratory, employees at the lab determined that McCoy actually did not have disease.

In the plaintiff’s Illinois medical malpractice complaint, she is seeking a judgment of over $250,000 plus costs. She accuses Quest Diagnostics of wrong diagnosis and says the company failed to correctly label its blood specimens, did not provide the right tests, and published the wrong test results, which it then gave to Herrmann.

McCoy says that the false positive HIV test results and the statements that Herrmann and McCoy issued wrongly claimed that she had the disease. She used the words liable, slander, and defamatory to describe test results and statements, and she claims her reputation was damaged. McCoy notes that she had to leave her job so she could receive treatment for a disease that she wasn't afflicted with. She says that she continues to see a psychiatrist and a psychologist.

McCoy is seeking damages for serious emotional injury, severe emotional pain, and loss of reputation.

Wrong Diagnosis
It is traumatic for anyone to receive a diagnosis for a serious illness or disease. This type of news inevitably takes a toll on someone’s emotional and physical well-being. Hopefully the diagnosis is issued sooner rather than later so that the proper treatment can be administered immediately and the chance of recovery is at its greatest.

A wrong diagnosis can delay necessary treatment and the patient may have to undergo more invasive procedures as a result. Prognosis for recovery may not be as good. There is also the kind of wrong diagnosis that occurs when a patient is mistakenly diagnosed with a condition that he or she actually doesn’t have. While this can be good news for the patient, he or she may have already suffered serious emotional trauma and undergone intensive medical treatment as a result of the wrong diagnosis. A person wrongly diagnosed with a disease that has a social stigma attached to it may suffer damage to his/her reputation, professional life, personal life, and social relationships.

Doctor sued over false positive HIV test, The Record, January 27, 2010

Related Web Resources:
Quest Diagnostics

HIV/AIDS, MayoClinic

More than three years after police allegedly assaulted then-15-year-old Gavin Farley while arresting him in October 2006, the city of Park Ridge and the plaintiff have agreed on a $185,000 Cook County police brutality settlement.

According to the Cook County, Illinois injury complaint, a Park Ridge cop slammed Farley’s head to the ground while another officer punched the teenager’s head and face while arresting him after he and another teenager ran from police. A projectile had been used to break the window of a vehicle that an off-duty cop was driving. Police found the boys hiding close to the cemetery.

Farley was charged with two counts of reckless conduct, curfew violation, resisting a cop, underage drink, and two counts of criminal damage to property. Farley’s companion reportedly confessed that the two of them shot at the windows. The criminal case against Farley was resolved in juvenile court.

However, just because someone has been apprehended for allegedly committing a crime does not give police the right to assault him/her or use excessive force in any other way. Farley’s Cook County police brutality complaint contends that the plaintiff sustained injuries from the alleged assaults. Also, the lawsuit says that a request by his parents to file a complaint against the Park Ridge police department for battery was denied. City of Park Ridge and four of its police officers are among the Illinois injury defendants.

Meantime, the defendants’ attorney called Farley’s accusations of police violence unfounded. He says by settling, they are not admitting guilt.

Cook County Police Brutality
Unfortunately, there are cops who abuse their authority by using excessive force when doing their job. Physical violence, verbal violence, emotional violence, sexual violence, and psychological violence are all forms of police brutality. Police officers must not only follow the law, but they too must be held accountable when they break the law.

Many victims of police violence are too scared to report what happened to them. You may be entitled to Chicago, Illinois injury compensation.

Park Ridge Police: Police brutality case settled for $185K, Park Ridge Herald-Advocate, January 12, 2010

Related Web Resources:
City of Park Ridge, Illinois

Communities United Against Police Brutality

The families of two 12-year-olds are each suing the Kankakee School District 111, the city of Kankakee, two teachers, and a Kankakee police officer for $10 million after the boys were Tasered during an unauthorized school demonstration at Kankakee Junior High School, which is located about 60 miles from Chicago. An Illinois injuries to minor lawsuit filed by the family of a third boy is seeking $33 million. Police have placed Officer Lonnie Netzel on administrative leave following the alleged incident.

Netzel is accused of stunning the students with a Taser after they volunteered for the demo. One of the boys has a heart murmur. His mother took him to a hospital emergency room as soon as she found out about the Taser incident. The boy’s mother says this was not the first time the cop had used the stun gun on students. School officials and police, however, will not verify her claim. Some of the plaintiffs are claiming that racism was involved.

Tasers are used to apprehend suspects. Consider a less lethal alternative to shooting someone, the electrical shocks meant to incapacitate its target are painful and have been known to cause serious injury and even death. They definitely should not be used without just cause. Using a Taser to apprehend someone who could’ve been apprehended in a less painful manner is considered excessive use of force and may be grounds for a Chicago injury lawsuit.

Just last month a Chicago man filed a Cook County police brutality lawsuit against LaGrange Park and Brookfield cops. Prospero David Lassi claims he was shocked 11 times because he accidentally hit a police officer while having a diabetic seizure. The cops were supposed to be helping paramedics move him. Lassi says he sustained permanent scars, including a facial injury, as well as musculoskeletal and neurological injuries. He says that because of the police assault, he was unable to work for several months.

School is back on for some students, The Daily Journal, January 17, 2010

Lawsuit alleges excessive force, PioneerLocal, January 5, 2010

Related Web Resources:
TASER Danger?, CBS News, October 12, 2004

Kankakee School District 111

The estate of a Kane County woman who died in an Illinois pedestrian accident on Highway 31 on August 25 is suing an Elgin pickup driver for her wrongful death. Diane Bonitzer, a nurse from West Dundee, was 66.

According to the wrongful death lawsuit, Bonitzer was crossing the road at around 10 am when she struck by a 2007 Chevrolet Silverado driven by 31-year-old Francisco Rodriguez. Bonitzer sustained serious skull and traumatic brain injuries and died an hour after the Kane County pedestrian accident.

The complaint accuses Rodriguez of failing to pay attention, honk the horn, and drive safely. According to police reports, Rodriguez told them he did not see the 66-year-old pedestrian until after he turned onto the roadway. They cited him for failing to exercise due care and yield to a pedestrian. Rodriguez also paid a $300 fine. However, no criminal charges were filed against him.

Illinois Pedestrian Accident Cases
Even if the driver that struck you was not charged in criminal court, you still may be able to hold them accountable in civil court by suing them for Illinois personal injury compensation. If you win your case, the negligent driver will likely be ordered to pay damages for the harm that you have suffered, as well as your medical and recovery costs.

Getting hit by a car can prove catastrophic for the pedestrian, who may have sustained traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, organ damage, permanent disfigurement, and other serious injuries.

Common Causes of Chicago Pedestrian Accidents Caused by Negligent Motorists:

• Drunk driving
• Speeding
• Text messaging
• Talking on a cell phone
• Driver inexperience
• Poorly designed roads
• Auto defects
• Failure to obey traffic signs and traffic lights

Elgin driver who struck, killed West Dundee woman is sued, Chicago Tribune, January 8, 2010

Lawsuit filed in West Dundee pedestrian death, Illinois Daily Herald, January 6, 2010

Related Web Resources:
Pedestrians, NHTSA

CyberDriveIllinois

Patricia Quirk was just 60 when she died in 2004 from a perforated bowel following treatment for stage three endometrial cancer. Now, her family has agreed to a $7.5 million Cook County medical malpractice settlement for her Illinois wrongful death.

Quirk began undergoing radiation therapy at Little Company of Mary in Evergreen Park on March 26, 2003. After 11 uneventful treatments, she was overradiated 17 times. This caused Quirk's to bowel to become perforated. She became septic and then died.

Little Company of Mary, Radiation Oncology S.C, and Dr. Vera Petras, are the defendants that were named in the Cook County wrongful death complaint. According to the plaintiffs' Chicago medical malpractice lawyer, Quirk was supposed to be treated with 180 centigrays of radiation. Instead, she was given a 50% overdose of 270 centigrays. The Illinois wrongful death lawsuit claims the defendants neglected to properly supervise the patient’s care and failed to make sure there were no radiation dosage errors.

Radiation treatments take enough of a physical toll on a patient. No one wants to suffer from cancer—especially if the illness has progressed to the point that she/he has to undergo this type of rigorous therapy. Radiation overdoses can lead to serious health complications, including tissue irritation, anemia, hair loss, bleeding, infections, and cancer.

It can be devastating to discover that the treatment you hoped would help cure you instead caused your condition to grow worse. You may have grounds for filing a Chicago, Illinois medical malpractice complaint.

Medical negligence suit nets family $7.5M, Chicago Sun-Times, January 14, 2010

In Circuit Court, Chicago Daily Bulletin, January 14, 2010

Related Web Resources:
Little Company of Mary

Stage three endometrial cancer, Cancer.org

A La Grange high school student is suing Lyons Township High School, a football coach, one of his teammates, School District 204, Principal David Franson, and Superintendent Timothy Kilrea for Cook County personal injury. Daniel Mattucci lost his finger after he was hurt during an off-season weight lifting accident on March 19, 2009. Mattucci’s Illinois injury attorney says doctors were unable to reattach the appendage.

According to Mattucci's Cook County injury lawsuit, his left ring finger was severed after football teammate William Bronec III dropped a 50-pound dumbbell on it. Mattucci claims that Bronec did not follow proper weightlifting procedures and failed to provide warning that he was letting go of the weight.

Mattucci is also accusing Brian Kopecky, a football coach, of failing to seek medical help for him and failing to properly supervise the exercise session. The plaintiff is seeking damages from the school district and the school for not letting paramedics treat him in the weight room. He says that the school made him leave "on his own" so he could "get an ambulance."

Mattucci is seeking over $200,000 in Cook County injury damages.

Schools are responsible for making sure there are no hazards on the school grounds that could cause injury or death to a student. This includes making sure that students are properly supervised in the classroom, on the playground, and during athletic events and other school activities. A school, the school district, and the individuals involved in a school accident can be held liable for personal injury if a student gets hurt.

LT athlete who lost finger files lawsuit, My Suburban Life, January 12, 2010

Lawsuit claims Lyons Township football player's finger was severed during weightlifting, PioneerLocal, December 31, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Types of Personal Injury Damages, Justia

Lyons Township High School

A man who says that he broke his kneecap when he was “body slammed” by police on Christmas Eve has filed a Chicago police brutality lawsuit against the city. John Preston Jr. says he is a victim of illegal seizure and excessive force.

In his Chicago police brutality complaint , he says that an unidentified police officer who arrived at the scene of an altercation he was not involved in grabbed him as he and his cousins walked back to his car after attending a holiday party. Preston claims that he was held from behind, placed in a choke hold, and slammed against a parked vehicle. The police officer allegedly said “I told you to leave the scene.” Preston then fell and sustained a broken kneecap and a torn medial collateral ligament.

Preston is alleging unlawful seizure, failure to intervene, assault, indemnity, intentional infliction of emotional distress, battery, and failure to provide medical attention. He says he cannot work his two jobs because of his injuries and continues to receive medical care at a Cook County hospital. Preston is seeking compensatory and punitive damages, as well as legal fees, medical costs, and additional relief.

Chicago Police Brutality
Chicago cops are not allowed to use excessive and unnecessary force when apprehending a suspect or guarding a defendant or a prisoner at any time. Police who engage in Chicago police brutality are violating Section 1983 of the Federal Civil Rights Act, which allows victims to sue state actors for the violation of their civil rights. You can receive financial compensation for the pain, suffering trauma, humiliation, and Chicago personal injury that you endured.

Suit: Cop 'body slammed' man outside Christmas party, Chicago Sun-Times, January 11, 2010

Cop Gave Me Busted Knee for Christmas: Lawsuit, NBC Chicago, January 12, 2010

Related Web Resources:
§ 1983. Civil action for deprivation of rights, Cornell University Law School

Chicago Police Department