Chicago Injury Attorney Blog

Kara S. Manley has filed an Illinois wrongful death lawsuit for the estate of her husband, Gary Manley. Gary died in June 2008 from a Fentanyl overdose.

In her wrongful death complaint, Kara is suing Wal-Mart Stores Inc, Dr. Oscar Florendo, and his medical practice Osbec Medical of Southern Illinois. Gary was taking Fentanyl for back pain injuries that he sustained during a slip and fall accident at Wal-Mart when he died.

Kara claims that Wal-Mart was negligent for allowing a slippery substance to accumulate on the ground of its O’Fallon store and for letting Gary slip and fall in February 2008. She is accusing Florendo and his practice of Illinois medical malpractice for allowing Gary to die from an overdose of the painkiller. Kara also contends that the doctor failed to properly monitor her husband’s Fentanyl use and neglected to comply with Physician's Desk Reference Manual standards for prescribing the drug.

She is seeking $50,000 in costs and damages.

A case management conference was scheduled for last month. Florendo and his medical practice want their case separated from the one against Wal-Mart. Meantime, Wal-Mart has filed counterclaims against them for equitable apportionment if a judgment is entered against it.

Chicago, Illinois Wrongful Death
There may be more than one party who should be held liable for the Chicago wrongful death of a loved one. It is important that you are represented by an experienced Chicago wrongful death law firm that knows how to pursue all claims and will work to obtain you the maximum recovery possible.

The death of a loved one is never easy—especially if his/her passing could have been prevented were it not for other parties’ negligence. You may, however, be able to hold the responsible parties financially liable.

Case against Wal-Mart and doctor involving trip and Fentanyl, in court, St. Clair Record, August 24, 2010

Related Web Resources:
Wrongful Death Claims, Nolo

Illinois Wrongful Death Act

Physician's Desk Reference Manual

Fentanyl

Loretta Corbett and Gwen Davis are suing the managers and owners of a South Side apartment for Chicago premises liability for the injuries their two children sustained during an acid attack that occurred on Tuesday. The moms are seeking unspecified damages.

Corbett’s son, 10-year-old Adrian Bennett and Davis’ daughter, 11-year-old Nala Armstrong, sustained burn injuries when another boy, age 13, poured a bottle of Black Zap drain cleaner, which contains 93% sulfuric acid, on them. The teenager has been charged with heinous battery.

Corbett and Davis are accusing building owners Bernice and Greg Haynes and property manager Chicago Rental Solutions of negligence for allowing a maintenance worker that had cleaned the building to leave the chemicals on the back porch. Greg Haynes argues that it was the teen that poured the acid and that the building does not use chemicals on the property.

Unfortunately, acid attacks, although not uncommon, do happen. The injuries sustained can be very painful, disfiguring, and life-altering. There may be a way to hold negligent parties liable for your injuries, pain, and suffering.

Recently, A Logan Square woman filed her Cook County injury lawsuit for severe burns she suffered during a 2008 acid attack. Esperanza Medina contends that was assaulted with acid because she and a woman charged with masterminding the attack had dated the same man. The incident left Medina permanently disfigured. She is suing her alleged attackers.

In June, two people sustained serious injuries when an attacker assaulted them during a Chicago acid attack accident close to Strohacker Park.

Chicago Personal Injury
Victims of violent crimes may be able to sue their assailants for Chicago personal injury. There also may be other liable parties that played a role—whether intentionally or not—in allowing the crime to occur.

Lawsuit filed by moms of kids burned in acid attack, Chicago Breaking News, August 27, 2010

Logan Square acid attack victim sues suspects, Chicago Tribune, July 26, 2010

Acid Attack Injures Two, NBC Chicago, June 15, 2010

Related Web Resource:
Premises Liability, Nolo

A $5.3 million DuPage County, Illinois wrongful death settlement has been reached between the husband of Samantha Medina and Central DuPage Hospital, Winfield Radiology Consultants, Dr. Mark Kelly, Dr. Henry Echiverri, and Neuromed Clinic, LLC. Medina died on December 27, 2006 a little over two weeks after she was admitted to the Winfield, Illinois hospital.

The 24-year-old Carol Stream woman was admitted to the hospital after she complained of numbness on her right side and a sudden headache. Her husband, Chris Medina, accused doctors at the hospital of DuPage County medical malpractice due to their alleged failure to properly evaluate and treat his wife.

Carol and Chris’s son is now 6.

DuPage County, Illinois Medical Malpractice
Patients rely on their physician to diagnose injuries or illnesses, provide medical care, which can—depending on the type of doctor—include diagnosing the patient, prescribing medication, ordering tests, referring the patient to a specialist, scheduling follow up visits, performing surgery, recommending physical therapy, and providing post-operative consultations. Failure to properly evaluate a resident can prevent him/her from getting the care needed to recover.

Medical professionals must provide patients with a certain standard of medical care while prevent medical errors from happening. Just one mistake can prove catastrophic.

$5.3 million settlement in death of Carol Stream woman, Chicago Breaking News, August 26, 2007

Related Web Resources:
Central DuPage Hospital

Continue reading "$5.3 Million DuPage County Medical Malpractice Settlement Reached in Carol Stream Woman’s Wrongful Death" »

According to a recent Insurance Information Institute study, dog-bite insurance claims cost $412 million last year—a definite jump from the $387.2 million in homeowners' insurance liability claims that were paid in 2008. The average dog bite claim cost $24,840.

Institute vice president Loreta Worters says that the increase in dog bite claims over the past seven years can be credited to high medical costs, and larger judgments, jury awards, and settlements. While the number of dog bite claims since 2003 has gone down 2% to 16,586, the cost of the claims has gone up 30%. Most standard renters and homeowners’ policies cover dog-bite liability with about $100,000 - $300,000 in coverage.

Chicago Dog Bite Cases
Chicago dog bite injuries can cause serious and permanent physical, psychological, and emotional injuries. Not only can a dog’s bite be incredibly painful, but also an injured person may have to undergo extensive surgery to repair the damage and even this may not be enough to eliminate permanent disfigurement and scarring.

In Illinois, if the dog bite victim does not provoke the animal that attacked, the injured party is entitled to damages. You can also seek Chicago personal injury compensation if you got hurt while running away from an aggressive dog. Even if you are the dog’s first bite victim and the animal does not have a prior history of violence, you can still file a Chicago dog attack claim.

Dog-Bite Claims Exceeded $400 Million in 2009 on Higher Medical Costs, Insurancenews.net, August 23, 2010

Fido puts bite on homeowners claims, Chicago Tribune, August 17, 2010

Related Web Resources:
Dog Bites: When Is an Owner Liable?, Nolo

West's Smith-Hurd Illinois Compiled Statutes Annotated Currentness. Chapter 510. Animals. Act 5. Animal Control Act. 5/13. Dog or other animal bites; observation of animal, Animal Legal and Historical Center

Continue reading "Dog Bite Cases Made Up $412 Million in Homeowners' Insurance Liability Claims Paid in 2009, Says Insurance Information Institute" »

Amy Leichtenberg’s $10 million Illinois wrongful death lawsuit against LeRoy police and several of its officers has gone to federal court in Peoria. The attorneys for the defendants had requested the change because some of the allegations of wrongdoing are federal issues.

Leichtenberg sons, 9-year-old Duncan and 7-year-old, were killed by their father, Michael Connolly, in March 2009. Connolly did not bring the boys back after a weekend visit.

LeRoy police requested that Bloomington police look in on the boys at Connolly’s apartment, which is in Bloomington. After failing to find the boys, the Bloomington police asked state police to issue an Amber Alert. LeRoy police then asked that the nationwide alert be recalled. It wasn't until 26 hours after the boys were reported missing and Leichtenberg's lawyer contacted the McLean County State's Attorney and the McLean County Sheriff's Department that the Amber Alert was issued again.

The boys' bodies were found in Connolly’s car several weeks later. He had fatally drugged his sons before committing suicide.

According to Leichtenberg’s Illinois wrongful death complaint, the delay in issuing the alert allowed Connolly to freely travel through the state for several hours with his two sons. If the first alert had been allowed to go through, she contends that Connolly may have been apprehended. She also says that LeRoy police were aware of over 50 complaints regarding Connolly’s conduct and knew that he was potentially dangerous.

Mom's suit over sons' deaths moved to fed court, KWQC, August 17, 2010

Mother of slain LeRoy boys files $10M lawsuit against city, police, Pantagraph.com, March 10, 2010

Related Web Resources:
Illinois Amber Alert

Illinois Wrongful Death Act

Derrick Smith is suing the Village of Riverdale and four of is cops for Cook County personal injury. He contends that he was Tasered by police on August 6, 2009 because he was too big to fit into the back of a police vehicle.

According to Smith's Riverdale, Illinois police brutality complaint, police arrived at his home in response to a call. Smith and his wife told them that everything was fine, but police took him into custody, handcuffed and “paraded” this “rather large, heavy man,” in front of neighbors, and walked him to the police car. Smith says that was cooperative the entire time. However, when they couldn’t fit him into the backseat of the vehicle, the officers Tasered him on his back, buttock, thighs, and chest—even though Smith’s wife had warned them that her husband suffered from several medical conditions, including an irregular heart beat, congestive heart failure, and hypertension.

In his six-county Riverdale personal injury complaint, Smith is accusing the cops of excessive use of police force and of stunning him with a Taser several times even though he never provoked them. He claims that he sustained serious and painful physical injuries, permanent disfigurement, and emotional trauma.

Taser Use by Police
Tasering has been linked to serious injuries and health issues, which is why it is important that officers have just cause when opting to use this option to detain someone. However, no time is a cop ever justified to use of excessive force or police brutality.

Just recently, another man, who sustained a permanent traumatic brain injury after he was Tasered by a cop in 2006, reached a $2.85 million products liability settlement with Taser International for his injuries. The man, 49-year-old Steven Butler, was drunk and wouldn’t get off a bus in October 2006 when a police officer used a Taser X-26 electronic control device to apprehend him. Butler went into cardiac arrest and stopped breathing. Medical personal were not able to revive him for about 18 minutes. He sustained the TBI and suffered decreased motor skill, the loss of his short-term memory, as well as reduced mobility.

Suit: Police Taser ‘heavy man’ unable to fit into squad car, WBBM, CBS Local, August 5, 2010

Watsonville man shocked by Taser, injured in 2006 wins $2.85M lawsuit against stun-gun maker, Mercury News, August 12, 2010

Related Web Resources:
Taser International

Village of Riverdale, Illinois

William Sullivan is suing Steve’s Segway Tours LLC for Chicago personal injury. He is seeking over $50,000 plus costs.

According to his Cook County injury lawsuit, the Sullivan says that he was on a lakefront tour when he thrown from his rented Segway. The plaintiff contends that the tour guide told participants to operate their Segways off the paved surface and then “slalom” between the trees. Because Sullivan did not think he could do this, he tried to get his Segway back onto the paved surface. In the process, he struck a depression and he was "thrown" from the Segway. It was just last week that the Chicago Park District sent an e-mail ordering Segway tour companies to keep tour participants on the paved paths and off the gardens and grass.

Segway Injuries
Riding a Segway has been known to sometimes cause injuries. Designed to speed up when a rider leans forward or slow down when he/she leans back, people have gotten hurt as a result of rider inexperience, inadequate supervision or instruction, Segway malfunction, or a road defect.

Some injuries that can occur during a Segway accident:

• Spinal cord injuries
• Facial injuries
• Broken bones
• Disfiguration
• Broken wrists
• Head injuries

For example, the Consumer Product Safety Commission recalled $23,500 Segways in 2006 after six injury incidents were reported. A software glitch that could make the wheels unexpectedly move in reverse placed riders at risk of falling.

Depending on the circumstances surrounding your Chicago Segway accident, there may be more than one party who should be held liable.

Suit: Injured Segway Rider Told to 'Slalom' Between Trees, FoxChicago, August 10, 2010

Segway Recalls Scooters for Injury Risk, The Washington Post, September 15, 2006

Related Web Resources:
Steve’s Segway Tours LLC

Segway

Rhonda McCullough, the widow of the late comedian Bernie Mac, is suing his Southside dermatologist for Chicago wrongful death. She is seeking at least $50,000. McCullough contends that Dr. Rene M. Earles kept Mac at the clinic for hours on July 17, 2008 when he should have called an ambulance instead. As a result of the alleged Chicago medical malpractice, she claims that Mac developed a number of health complications that eventually lead to his death from pneumonia at age 50 on Aug. 9, 2008. Earles, a dermatologist, had been treating Mac's lesions from sarcoidosis for about 20 years.

In her Cook County wrongful death lawsuit, McCullough is accusing Earles of failing to recognize that her husband was suffering from cardiopulmonary instability. She also claims that the Chicago dermatologist did not identify and respond to the comedian’s “abnormal vital signs “and respiratory failure.

Earles, however, has told the Sun-Times that he gave Mac oxygen and allowed him to sleep for four hours because the actor looked unwell when he arrived for his treatment. The dermatologist says that it wasn’t until he gave the actor a physical later on that he was able to determine that Mac had a fever, a rash, and a rapid heart rate. Earles contends that these symptoms were a result of whatever medication another doctor had given him for the flu. Earles says that he then called the other doctor and found out that Mac had been diagnosed with bilateral pneumonia, which affects both lungs.

Chicago Medical Malpractice
Chicago medical malpractice involves negligence on the part of a medical provider that contributed to causing the victim’s injuries, illness, health complications, or death. Granted, most doctors, nurses, surgeons, anesthesiologists, obstetricians, dentists, dermatologists, psychiatrists, oncologists, radiologists, and other types of medical professionals likely never intended to harm anyone. However, medical errors are mistakes that can result in catastrophic consequences for patients.

Bernie Mac's Widow Sues Comedian's Longtime Dermatologist for Wrongful Death, CBS News, August 9, 2010

Bernie Mac's wife sues doctor, Chicago Sun-Times, August 6, 2010

Related Web Resources:
Bernie Mac Biography

Comedian Bernie Mac dead at 50, USA Today, August 10, 2010

According to the American Medical Association, for every 100 physicians, about 95 medical liability claims are filed. Nearly 61% of doctors who belong to the 55 and over age group have been sued for medical malpractice. These findings are based on a 2008 survey of 5,825 “non-federal patient care physicians.” Doctors from 42 specialties participated in the survey practice.

Among the other findings:
• The older a doctor is, the greater the chance that he/she will have been sued.
• 47.5% of male doctors had been sued.
• 26.3% of them were sued twice.
• 23% of female doctors had been sued.
• 9.4% were sued twice.
• General surgeons and obstetricians/gynecologists were the specialties that had been sued the most for medical malpractice.
• Psychiatrists were the ones with the lowest medical malpractice rate.
• 65% of medical malpractice claims were dismissed, dropped, or withdrawn.
• 27.5% of medical malpractice cases were settled.
• 4.5% were resolved using an alternative dispute mechanism.
• 5% of medical malpractice lawsuits went to a civil jury.
• Doctors in single specialty and solo practices had the highest claim frequency rates.

In another study, by the ISMIE Mutual Insurance Co. and the Illinois State Medical Society, about 1,100 Illinois doctors were surveyed between Jun 21 and July 2, 2010:

• 66% admitted that they had eliminated or reduced certain procedures and services because the risk of becoming the target of an Illinois medical malpractice claim was high.
• 89% say they order more tests than what is needed.
• 82% think of each patient as a liability risk.

Medical Liability Claim Frequency: A 2007-2008 Snapshot of Physicians, American Medical Association

Illinois Physician Survey Shows Huge Impact of Lawsuit Fears (PDF)

Related Web Resource:
Fear and Loathing in Illinois: Lawsuit Threat Leads to “Defensive Medicine” in Health Care

Continue reading "Chicago Medical Malpractice: American Medical Association Reports that for Every 100 US Doctors, 95 Medical Liability Claims Filed " »

A $500,000 Chicago wrongful death settlement has been reached between the City Council and the family of Ronald Hasse. The 45-year-old died in 2005 after a Chicago police sergeant Tasered him for 62 seconds when he resisted arrest. At the time, Hasse had crystal methamphetamine in his system. While the drugs were a factor, he died from Taser-related electrocution.

Police are not supposed to use force beyond what a situation warrants and they must take precautions so as not to inflict injury or kill a suspect or a prisoner. For example, considered a less lethal alternative to a gun, Tasers are extremely painful and have been linked to serious health complications, injuries, and even death. However, there are less painful ways to apprehend someone.

According to the Independent Police Authority, Chicago cops have nearly quadrupled their Taser use since earlier this year when every beat car was given an electric-shocks weapon. Tasers were discharged 285 times during the second quarter of 2010 alone. Already this year, men in Riverdale, Waukegan, and Melrose Park died after police stunned them with Tasers. The police say that one man was drunk and the other two had taken drugs.

Unfortunately, many people continue to suffer injuries or die because officers used too heavy a hand when doing their job. These victims of excessive police force and Chicago police brutality often do not realize that their rights have been violated and that they may have grounds for a Chicago personal injury case.

Just this week, in Peoria, 35-year-old Terrrance D. Jackson sued City Hall because he claims he was the victim of “excessive force” involving repeated Taser use. He is seeking unspecified damages.

Officers detained Jackson on January 26, 2009 after they saw him drive away from an alleged drug house. He says that his seatbelt was stuck but that the officers thought that he either had drugs in his mouth or was resisting arrest. They Tasered him repeatedly. According to Jackson’s Illinois police brutality lawsuit, he was treated at a hospital for a dislocated shoulder, Taser burns, and unspecified injuries.

Police Taser use increases sharply, Chicago Sun-Times, August 5, 2010

$500,000 to family of man Tasered to death by Chicago police, Chicago Tribune, July 28, 2010

Lawsuit: Police used 'excessive force', Pjstar.com, July 26, 2010

Related Web Resources:
City of Chicago: Police

Independent Police Authority, City of Chicago

E. Marlene Summers is suing Good Samaritan Hospital, Kevin Claffey, and Waqqas Kahn for Illinois medical malpractice. She claims she became a quadriplegic after undergoing surgery at the Mt. Vernon hospital. She is seeking $150,000 plus costs for the medical error that caused her to sustain a spinal cord injury.

According to her Illinois medical malpractice complaint, Dr. Kahn recommended that she use a trial dorsal column stimulator. The medical device is supposed to use electrical impulses to stimulate nerves. It is implanted in patients that suffer from severe and chronic pain.

Summers says that Kahn and Claffey did not give her any antibiotics before the procedure, which occurred on September 26, 2008. On October 1 of that year, she went back to the hospital because she was suffering from an infection in the area of the body where the surgery was performed. Doctors had to take out the stimulator.

Summers says that she was back at the hospital three weeks later because she was experiencing uneasiness and fatigue. Doctors performed an MRI, revealing osteomyelitis with an epidural abscess that was creating severe central cranal stenosis. She had to be flown to another hospital and was later moved to a residential care facility.

Summers says she needs 100% assistance now and has no feeling in her body below the chest. She is now only able to slightly move her shoulders and arms.

She contends that the defendants failed to perform a proper pre-operative workup, did not give her the correct antibiotic regimen, did not order a cervical MRI, failed to properly treat her infection, and did not diagnose her surgical abscess in a timely manner. She also claims that doctors that did not have the right credentials were allowed to perform certain procedures.

Some Examples of Chicago, Illinois Surgical Malpractice:
• Wrong site surgery
• Improper post-operative care
• Anesthesia errors
• Accidentally puncturing an organ
• Leaving a surgical instrument in the body

Woman claims she became quadriplegic after surgery at Mount Vernon hospital, The Record, July 22, 2010

Related Web Resources:
Medical Malpractice and Surgical errors/complications, Wrong Diagnosis

Medical Malpractice, Nolo

After spending 23 years in jail for a murder and rape he did not commit, Michael Tillman wants his day in civil court. Tillman has filed a federal lawsuit against the City of Chicago and several police officers for Chicago police brutality.

He is accusing former Chicago Police Commander Jon Burge and Sergeant John Byrne “sadistically tortured” him and his girlfriend Princess Williams after they voluntarily went to police for questioning about the murder of Betty Howard. Tillman and Howard lived in the same apartment building and her body was found in a vacant unit on July 21, 1986.

Tillman claims that he was physically assaulted, 7-up was poured into his nose, a plastic bag was placed over his head, and cigarette lighter flames were waved under his arm. His Chicago police brutality lawsuit contends that Steven Bell was brought in for questioning and tortured until he agreed to implicate Tillman and himself by making false statements.

In 1986, Tillman was sentenced to life in prison. This year, he was released from jail and a new trial was granted. He was found innocent in February.

Tillman’s Chicago police torture lawsuit claims that he suffered physical, emotional, and psychological injuries, as well as depression, boredom, despair, loneliness, range, anxiety, and fear from the police torture and the more than two decades he spent behind bars. He is also seeking damages for wrongful conviction, deprivation of a fair trial, false arrest, wrongful conviction, and other claims against Cook County, the City of Chicago, Mayor Daley, the Cook County State’s Attorney’s office, Burge, Byrne, and other Chicago cops.

Michael Tillman Suing Chicago Over Alleged Police Torture, MyFoxChicago, July 22, 2010

Alleged torture victim sues Daley, Burge, Chicago Tribune, July 22, 2010

Related Web Resources:
Innocent Burge Torture Victim Freed From Prison, CBS2, January 14, 2010

Jon Burge GUILTY: Jury Convicts Alleged Police Torturer Of Lying Under Oath, Huffington Post, June 28, 2010