Chicago Injury Attorney Blog

A woman who says that a well-known surgeon at Northwestern Memorial Hospital placed the wrong device in her heart valve has filed a Chicago, Illinois medical malpractice complaint. Toni Vlahoulis says that before undergoing open-heart surgery for a leaky valve, she was never informed that the Myxo Etlogix Ring, which was inserted into her heart, was not FDA approved.

She says that she thought another mitro valve ring was going to be used instead of the one that her cardiac surgeon, Dr. Patrick McCarthy had invented. Vlahoulis said it was never her intention to be used as a guinea pig for the device.

Since McCarthy performed the heart surgery, Vlahoulis has undergone another one to have the ring taken out. While the Chicago injury plaintiff isn’t saying that the medical device was defective or malfunctioned, she is claiming that she did not give her consent to have the experimental ring placed in her body.

The Chicago hospital and McCarthy disagree with Vlahoulis’s accusations that the Myxo Ring is an experimental device. The ring’s manufacturer, Edwards Lifesciences, says that it followed the FDA guidelines.

McCarthy performed over 150 surgeries using the ring before the FDA asked its manufacturer to pull the device from the market. Last year, the agency cleared the device under a different name.

Currently, a medical device doesn’t need FDA approval if it is only a little different from medical devices that already been approved. Manufacturers are the ones to determine whether any difference is enough to require approval.

Informed Consent
A doctor performing a medical procedure must obtain the patient’s informed consent. In addition to getting the patient’s permission to do the procedure, the doctor must explain the kind of treatment or procedure that is going to take place, any possible risks or benefits, whether there are alternative treatments and what they are, and what might happen if the patient decides not to undergo the procedure/treatment.

Lawsuit Claims Surgeon Inserted Wrong Device Into Woman’s Heart Valve, MyFOXChicago, March 10, 2010

Informed Consent, American Medical Association

FDA clears Myxo ETlogix valve ring under new name but disagrees with earlier decision by Edwards that device did not need 510(k), The Heart.org

Related Web Resources:
Edwards Lifesciences

US Food and Drug Administration

Continue reading "Chicago Medical Malpractice Lawsuit Accuses Cardiac Surgeon of Putting Wrong Device in Patient’s Heart Valve" »

James Coman, a Chicago dad, is suing Dr. Daniel Rossignol and Dr. Anjum Usman for Illinois medical malpractice. Coman contends that the doctors, who are involved in the Defeat Autism Now! Movement, caused more harm than good to his 7-year-old son because they gave him experimental treatments that were “dangerous and unnecessary.”

According to his Chicago, Illinois medical malpractice complaint involving injuries to a minor, Rossignol prescribed treatments for his son without seeing him in person. Coman’s Chicago injury lawsuit also points to a test for diagnosing whether kids with autism are suffering from metal poisoning. He says his son underwent the first of many of these tests when he was just two.

Chelation treatments, which can cause kidney failure, are supposed to make the body release any toxic metal. Test results are compared to a reference range for people who never took the chelation drug. Even though Conan's son did not have heavy metal poisoning, he was diagnosed as having high levels of aluminum, lead, mercury and tin.

Coman is also blaming Doctor’s Data Inc., the Illinois lab that conducts the tests that can determine whether chelation treatments are necessary, of using improper testing methods.

Unnecessary medical procedures, tests, and treatments—especially ones that come with possible medical risks—can cause serious injuries, illness, and even death. If you believe your child’s condition got worse and/or he/she experienced unnecessary pain and suffering because a doctor prescribed a treatment or test that was wrong or unnecessary, you may have sufficient grounds for filing a Cook County injuries to minor lawsuit alleging Chicago medical malpractice.

Autism Spectrum Disorder Facts:

• 1% of US kids in the 3 – 17 age range have ASD
• Early diagnosis and intervention can reduce lifelong care expenses significantly
• There are special services available to help your child learn to walk, talk, and socialize with other people

The sooner a child with autism gets the proper treatment, the greater the chances of your son or daughter overcoming certain challenges. The wrong treatment or procedures or delayed treatment can prove detrimental.

Doctors sued over ‘dangerous’ autism treatment, Chicago Tribune, March 4, 2010

Related Web Resources:
Autism Society of America

Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs), CDC

Ophthalmologist Nicholas Caro is no longer allowed to perform Lasik eye surgeries or any other procedures that would change a patient’s cornea in the state of Illinois. The decision was handed down by the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation.

Caro’s medical license has also been suspended for 30 days and he is on probation for three years. He also has been ordered to pay a $10,000 fine. In addition to the refractory procedure lifetime ban, Caro can no longer perform intraocular procedures, including refractive lens exchange, corneal transplantation, and cataract surgery.

Caro has come under scrutiny in the wake of reports that since the late 1990’s he has been sued nearly 50 times for Chicago, Illinois medical malpractice. Illinois’s top medical prosecutor had even recommended in 2008 that Caro’s medical license be taken away because he allegedly mishandled Lasik procedures and neglected to properly handle patients’ post-operative treatment and complications. Despite these concerns, Caro has kept performing eye procedures on patients.

Lasik Sugery
Also called laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis, this elective medical procedure is supposed to improve a person’s vision. A laser is used to change the cornea’s shape. 75% of eye doctors in the US that have performed this procedure in the last 25 years were sued under four times for medical malpractice during their careers. The Chicago Tribune says that out of over a dozen Chicago-area Lasik doctors, the most anyone had been sued for Cook County, Illinois ophthalmology malpractice was 12 times.

It goes without saying that severe eye injuries can drastically alter a person’s life. We need our eyes to do nearly everything. This is why it is so important that we have healthy eyes and that we let eye doctors examine them regularly. Unfortunately, eye care malpractice can happen, leading to vision loss, halos, double vision, eye infections, severe dry eye syndrome, retinal detachment, and other serious injuries.

State agency reprimands Chicago eye doctor, Chicago Tribune, February 19, 2010

Despite Chicago Medical Malpractice Lawsuits Over Botched Lasik Surgeries, Doctor Continues to Practice in Illinois, Chicago Injury Attorney Blog, July 8, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Lasik, FDA.gov

Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation

Continue reading "Chicago Medical Malpractice: Ophthalmologist Barred from Performing Lasik Eye Surgeries in Illinois" »

A Chicago couple is suing Evanston Hospital and NorthShore University HealthSystem for Cook County medical malpractice. Jennifer Spiegel is seeking at least $30,000 in Illinois personal injury damages after she was given the wrong newborn to breastfeed.

She says that a nurse woke her up at around 4am the day after delivery and told her that her “son” wanted her. While Spiegel breastfed him, a nurse walked in and saw the mix-up. Spiegel, 33, says the mistake made her feel “awful.” She also became worried that maybe her baby, Logan, had gone to someone else.

She asked for him immediately after the mistake was discovered, and he stayed in the room with her until they were discharged.

Fortunately, no one got hurt or fell ill. However, Spiegel contends that she never agreed to feed someone else’s baby. She also doesn’t know how the mix-up occurred as she, her husband, and their baby all were required to wear matching bracelets and identification numbers.

The birth of a baby is such a precious time for a family. It is the responsibility of doctors, nurses, and hospitals to make sure that the experience is free of any medical mistakes that can cause any type of injury to mother or child. Giving a child to the wrong parent to bring home is another example of a medical mix-up that can be traumatic for everyone involved. Some other kinds of medical errors that can be grounds for an Illinois medical malpractice lawsuit include delayed cesarean birth, failure to monitor the mother or child’s vitals, gynecological errors, forceps errors, and failing to deliver the infant in a timely manner.

Couple sues over being given wrong baby, Sun-Times, February 13, 2010

Related Web Resources:
Evanston Hospital, NorthShore

Medical Malpractice Overview, Justia

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

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

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

The executor of Lori Elizabeth Plumb’s estate is suing Dr. Tibor Kopjas, physician’s assistant Natalie Redmond Menossi, pharmacist Richard Sprehe. and Medicine Express for her Illinois wrongful death. Ronald Plumb says Lori Plumb died from polypharmacy overdose on December 19, 2007.

He claims Kopjas and Menossi prescribed multiple medicines for Lori, including Lexapro, Levothyroxine, Fluoxetine, Mirtazapine, Triamterene, Bumetanide, Alprazolam, Cytomel, Busiprone, Azithromycin, Protax , Remeron, Tramadoland, and Darvocet, and that some prescriptions and refills were made without the medical team actually seeing the patient. Ronald says that Medicine Express and Sprehe failed to properly fill some of Lori’s prescriptions and failed to follow the doctor's directions when filling one prescription order.

As a result of all the medicines she was ingesting, Lori sustained injuries to her immune, nervous, respiratory, and cardiovascular systems. Ronald also says that she experienced low potassium levels and suffered extended and acute mental and physical pain prior to her death. Lori leaves behind two minor children who must now grow up without their mother’s guidance, financial support, companionship, and love.

Ronald is accusing Menossi and Kopjas of Illinois medical malpractice, including failure to properly treat Lori and prescribing medications that were unsafe for her. He claims that Medicine Express and Sprehe committed pharmaceutical malpractice that contributed to her Illinois wrongful death.

Ronald is seeking over $550,000, in addition to costs, other relief, and interest.

Medication Mistakes and Pharmacy Errors
Prescribing drugs to a patient is an important step in treatment, and doctors cannot afford to make prescription mistakes, which can lead to adverse reactions, dangerous side effects, illness, and death. Meantime, pharmacists are responsible for making sure that they fill prescriptions correctly and notify customers of any risks associated with taking a particular medication. If a doctor’s handwriting is difficult to read on a prescription, the pharmacy must make sure that they don’t incorrectly decipher the writing and end up giving the patient the wrong medication or the wrong dosage. Medical mistakes and pharmacy errors can kill people.

Woman taking 14 different drugs suffers polypharmacy overdose, suit claims, The Recorder, December 23, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Pharmacists and medical malpractice, Wrong Diagnosis

Medical malpractice: Illinois Supreme Court delays ruling on damages cap case, Chicago Tribune, December 18, 2009

The Illinois Supreme Court has delayed issue a decision over whether medical malpractice caps for hospitals and doctors are constitutional. The Supreme Court had indicated that it might issue a ruling this week.

The Illinois medical malpractice caps for noneconomic damages, $1 million against hospitals and $500,000 against doctors, was signed into law in 2005. The lack of a medical malpractice cap before that was cited by doctors as the reason why many physicians chose to leave the state and practice elsewhere.

This is not the first time the Illinois Supreme Court has been asked to rule on adopted caps. On two other occasions, the high court ruled against them.

The case before the Illinois Supreme Court involves a Cook County Circuit Court case. In 2007, Judge Diane Larsen said that placing a cap on medical malpractice awards is a violation of the Illinois Constitution. She decided that lawmakers are not allowed to interfere with judges and juries' right to figure out the amount of damages that is fair.

Illinois Medical Malpractice
Medical mistakes can be costly and tragic for its victims. Errors by doctors, nurses, surgeons, anesthesiologists, obstetricians, primary care doctors, optometrists, and other medical providers are usually not simple mistakes that can easily be remedied. The pain and suffering, loss, additional medical costs, and other damages can be too much for the victim and family members to bear. Obtaining Chicago medical malpractice recovery can help relieve some of this burden.

Medical malpractice: Illinois Supreme Court delays ruling on damages cap case, Chicago Tribune, December 18, 2009

Ill. high court delays rule on medical malpractice, Google/AP, December 17, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Welcome to Illinois Courts

Damages in Medical Malpractice Cases, Nolo

Continue reading "Illinois Supreme Court Delays Medical Malpractice Damages Cap Ruling" »

Yesterday, a Cook County jury awarded the parents of Jake Tinman $22.3 million for Chicago medical malpractice involving injuries to a minor. Doctors amputated Jake's leg a couple of weeks after his birth because it wasn't properly dressed following a surgical procedure.

Jake, now 10, was born with a congenital heart defect on May 15, 1999. His condition required that he undergo a shunt procedure. Two weeks after he was sent home from the hospital, he was rushed to an emergency room. According to the Chicago injury lawsuit, the negligent care he received, including the alleged failure to properly dress his leg in the operating room, resulted in injuries that required that the amputation of his left leg. Cardiac catheterization and delayed treatment reportedly resulted in developmental delays and cognitive deficiencies.

The jury found that Advocate Christ Medical Center/Hope Children's Hospital and its staff neglected to diagnose Jake’s shunt problem in a timely manner, did not properly apply and remove in a timely manner a pressure dressing on Jake’s leg, improperly made him undergo cardiac catheterization, improperly destroyed his echocardiogram, and did not monitor his pulse.

Medical Malpractice
Medical negligence can cause serious injury and death. Infants are especially vulnerable to serious infections, health complications, and injuries when subjected to medical neglect or errors. The physical or developmental injuries that can result can alter the course of a child’s life forever. Not only can they end up depriving the child of the ability to experience a “normal” life, but he or she may require special, costly medical care into adulthood. Birthing malpractice, failure to diagnose birth defects or conditions, hospital injuries, surgical errors, giving a baby the wrong medication, and accidentally switching infants at birth or the eggs during fertilization are some of the many reasons why parents of newborns may have grounds for suing for Chicago medical malpractice.

Boy's parents awarded $22.3M from Christ hospital, Sun-Times Media, November 24, 2009

Jury Awards $22.3 Mil. In Medical Negligence Suit, CBS2 Chicago, November 24, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Damages in Medical Malpractice Cases, Nolo

Advocate Christ Medical Center/Hope Children's Hospital

In Illinois, a federal judge has upheld an $8.2 million wrongful death award. The defendants in the case are St. Louis University and the United States.

The plaintiffs are Ronald Arpin’s family members. Arpin was a patient who died from abscess complications while under the care of a program run by the United States and St. Louis University doctors at Scott Air Force Base. The plaintiffs had accused the doctors that ran the program of failing to diagnose and treat his condition.

After finding the defendants negligent, the federal court awarded the plaintiffs $7 million for loss of consortium, $150,000 for medical expenses, $750,000 for pain and suffering, $2,200 for funeral costs, and $354,000 for lost wages.

Arpin’s wife Jeannine had been totally dependent on him before he died. One of Arpins’s sons says he became an alcoholic because of his father’s death. Another son says he can’t attend family dinners anymore because the loss of his father is too painful for him.

The defendants appealed the judgment and the award for loss of consortium. The 7th Circuit vacated the loss of consortium award and sent the case back to the federal court where Chief Judge David Herndon said a ratio approach was not possible and that the effect of losing Arpin was obviously so devastating to this family to have the kind of impact that until this case he had never seen before.

Judge Upholds $8.2M Wrongful Death Award, Courthouse News, November 20, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Medical Malpractice, Justia

Illinois Wrongful Death Act

Continue reading "In Illinois Federal Judge Upholds $8.2 Million Wrongful Death Award Over Medical Malpractice" »

A man who says he sustained ilioinguinal neuralgia and experienced blood clotting and swelling in his left testicle is suing St. Elizabeth's Hospital of the Hospital Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis, Lincoln Surgical Group, and Dr. Scott Crouch for Illinois medical malpractice.

Joseph Niebruegge says Lincoln Surgical Group and Dr. Crouch treated him for left inguinal hernia between October 26, 2007 until July 21, 2008. In November 2007, Crouch used mesh during surgery to repair the condition.

Niebruegge says that because of the medical procedure, he experienced numbness and burning pain in his lower abdomen, which is a condition known as illoinguinal neuralgia. He says that he fell because he wasn't given adequate support as he was moving, and, as a result, he experienced blood clotting and swelling in his testicle.

Niebruegge is seeking over $200,000 for permanent and severe injuries and disabilities, lost wages, and medical expenses.

Illinois Medical Malpractice
Doctors, nurses, surgeons, and other medical workers are supposed to provide all patients with a certain level of care. When failure to provide that care, medical errors, or other negligent acts causes injury, health complications, infection, a worse prognosis, allergic reactions, or death, the medical provider can be held liable for Chicago medical malpractice.

In many instances of medical malpractice, these medical errors are not simple mistakes that can be reversed easily. It is important that you work with a Chicago medical malpractice lawyer who knows how to investigate these kinds of cases and who pursue your financial recovery.

Man claims swelling and blood clotting in med mal suit, The Record, November 19, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Ilioinguinal neuralgia, International Pain Medical Group

Medical Malpractice Overview, Justia

In Cook County Circuit Court, the family of Karen Graham is suing Northwestern Memorial Hospital for Chicago wrongful death. Graham committed suicide while under the hospital’s care.

In their Chicago medical malpractice complaint, the family contends that since Graham had tried killing herself before being admitted into Northwestern Memorial Hospital’s care on August 5, 2004, the hospital should have known that Graham was at risk of committing suicide and self-injury.

According to the Illinois wrongful death lawsuit, even though the patient had expressed disappointment that her attempt to kill herself didn’t work the hospital workers left her alone in a room without supervision. This gave Graham the opportunity she needed to commit suicide.

Chicago hospitals and nursing homes must properly supervise patient so that they don’t hurt themselves or others. Each patient’s situation is different, which means that medical workers must determine and adapt to each patient’s particular needs. Patients who are a suicide risk, mentally disabled, a fall risk, a wander risk, at risk of self-injury, or have a violent streak should be closely monitored.

Late last month, the daughter of Alice Davis filed an wrongful death lawsuit against St. Joseph’s Hospital of Highland after a fatal Illinois fall accident from a hospital bed. Davis fell on June 18, 2008 while trying to get out of bed. She sustained injuries and died seven days later.

Roberta Cruthis’s Illinois wrongful death lawsuit accuses hospital workers of knowing that Davis was a fall risk. They had attached a close call clip to her hospital gown that should have notified them whenever she tried to get out of bed. Cruthis is accusing the workers of neglecting to properly inspect the alarm, which did not work, and failing to implement the necessary safety measures to keep her mother safe.

Family sues Northwestern hospital for alleged neglect that led to suicide, WBBM, November 4, 2009

Daughter files wrongful death suit against hospital, The Record, November 2, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Medical Malpractice, Justia

Illinois Wrongful Death Act

The family of a former jail inmate is suing McHenry County, the county jail, two of its medical employees, and medical provider Correct Care Solutions for Illinois wrongful death and medical negligence. 35-year-old Steven Crook died from heart disease on May 29. His family claims that he is no longer alive because of the substandard medical care he was given while he was incarcerated last year. They are seeking over $50,000 in damages.

The Illinois wrongful death complaint contends that while in jail Crook was administered Haldol, an antipsychotic drug that is not recommended for people suffering from blood sugar conditions. The family says that Crook, who had diabetes, suffered a serious drug reaction, perhaps even neuropletic malignant syndrome, which led to his death.

The plaintiffs also say that jail employees neglected to monitor the 35-year-old’s blood sugar and improperly put him in isolation when they should have been monitoring him. They lawsuit also accuses the jail of improperly sending Crook to a prison facility.

Just because you or your loved one was an inmate in jail or in prison doesn’t mean that you no longer have civil rights. Prisoners and suspects also are entitled to proper medical care. This means that medical staffers must treat any illnesses or injuries or other health conditions, as well as (if warranted) monitor inmates with preexisting conditions.

If an inmate gets hurt, becomes sick, or dies because of negligent medical care, police brutality, or because law enforcement officers or the government was negligent or careless in any other way, the victim and his or her family may be entitled to Chicago injury or wrongful death compensation.

Inmate’s mom sues jail, Northwest Herald, October 28, 2009

Suit blames medical care in jail for McHenry man's death, Daily Herald, October 27, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Correct Care Solutions

National Commission on Correctional Healthcare

In Illinois, the family of Bernardica Saric was awarded a $4.5 million Chicago medical malpractice settlement in a case against Northwestern Memorial Hospital. Her widower, Andjelko Saric, and her five adult children are the recipients of the settlement.

According to the family’s Chicago medical malpractice attorney, Saric, a Bartlett woman, was first treated in 2000 when a polyp was removed from her colon. Following the surgery, she developed an infection and was readmitted to the Chicago hospital.

Doctors diagnosed Saric’s infection as E. coli. The family’s Chicago medical malpractice lawyer claims that the hospital chose to give her antibiotics that the bacteria is resistant to before sending her home.

Saric’s infection became sepsis. She then had a heart attack and suffered from multi-organ failure before dying earlier this year. The family’s Illinois medical malpractice lawyer says she suffered a great deal during the last nine years.

The Bartlett family still has a Chicago medical malpractice lawsuit pending against Saric’s doctor.

Medication Errors
Giving a patient the wrong medication can prove catastrophic and result in health complications, including nerve damage, blindness, brain damage, hearing loss, paralysis, a heart attack, infections, respiratory problems, infection, hemorrhage, coma, and death. Other common types of medication mix-ups include giving a patient the wrong dose or administering the medication in the wrong way. Medicine.net reports that seniors make up nearly 50% of deadly medication mistakes.

Medical providers are supposed to make you feel better. They are not supposed to make mistakes that can cause injury, health complications, or lead to wrongful death.

Bartlett family awarded millions in malpractice settlement, Daily Herald, September 22, 2009

Related Web Resources:
The Most Common Medication Errors, Medicine.net

Northwestern Memorial Hospital

The family of Janice McCall is reeling following news that the 65-year-old woman died from thermal burn injuries. What is even more upsetting is that McCall sustained her burns during a surgical fire that broke out while she was undergoing surgery. The medical examiner’s office is calling her death an accident.

The Marion, Illinois hospital where the fire broke out, Heartland Regional Medical Center, says that the accidental flash fire was extinguished immediately after it broke out. The family’s Chicago wrongful death lawyer says that McCall was her family’s anchor and they are devastated by this unexpected loss.

Surgical fires can cause great pain and suffering, physical scarring, disfigurement, and other injuries and health complications for the victim and they can be grounds for a Chicago medical malpractice lawsuit. Unfortunately, surgical fires are not as uncommon as we would like to think. It is usually the person on the operating table who suffers when a fire accidentally breaks out during surgery.

About 550-600 surgical fires take place every year. These fires usually occur when oxygen has built up below surgical drapes and they can be sparked by electrical surgical tools. About 1 or 2 fatalities occur every year as a result of a surgical fire.

Surgical fires can be prevented. Surgeons and nurses already know what kinds of materials can spark a surgical fire so it is very important that the proper precautions are exercised so that the patient doesn’t accidentally catch fire. It is important to point out, however, that with electrosurgical devices now used more frequently in the operating room, and more-flammable, synthetic fabric replacing cloth hospital drapes, there is growing concern that the risk of surgical fires is rising.

Mark Bruley, of the ECRI Institute, is even recommending that anesthesiologists no longer use 100% oxygen and that they dilute the concentration of oxygen with room air when electronic surgical tools are in use.

Illinois woman dies following surgical fire, AP/MSNBC, September 17, 2009

Illinois woman Janice McCall dies after fire in OR during surgery at Vanderbilt University hospital, NY Daily News, September 18, 2009

Related Web Resources:
SurgicalFire.Org

Preventing surgical fires

A jury has awarded Sharon Virginelli $5 million for Chicago medical malpractice because of an unnecessary hysterectomy she underwent 10 years ago. Virginelli had planned on having a large family, but that dream was lost in 1999 when she went to Northwestern Memorial Hospital to give birth to her daughter.

Following the C-section delivery, Dr. Pamela Liu, Virginelli’s obstetrician, decided to perform a hysterectomy because of post-operative bleeding that she considered life-threatening. The new mother was dismayed to discover that her uterus had been removed and she would not be able to have another baby.

Virginelli sued the Chicago hospital for medical malpractice. According to her Chicago personal injury lawyer, the doctor’s decision to perform the hysterectomy was an act of medical misconduct. Experts have noted that Liu could have conducted other, less severe medical procedures that would have stopped the bleeding.

Virginelli says her loss of the ability to have more children continues to haunt her to this day.

Liu works for The Women’s Group of Northwestern. Virginelli lost a previous Chicago medical malpractice lawsuit she had filed against the group but that verdict was overturned.

Hysterectomy
A hysterectomy is a procedure that removes a woman’s womb. Hysterectomies are not reversible, and therefore serious consideration must be made when electing to have this procedure done. A doctor can be held liable for medical malpractice if he or she botches the hysterectomy or, during an emergency situation, performs the procedure without the patient’s consent when other, less permanent procedures could have been conducted.

Generally, doctors are supposed to obtain a patient’s informed consent for any type of treatment. Failure to obtain informed consent can also be grounds for a Chicago medical malpractice lawsuit.

Woman Gives Birth, Loses Uterus To Hysterectomy, CBS2, September 17, 2009

Woman Awarded $5 Million After "Unnecessary" Hysterectomy, NBC, September 17, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Hysterectomy, Women'sHealth

Call for fewer hysterectomy ops, BBC News, September 11, 2009

During a televised interview with NBC that aired on the TODAY show this morning, Joe Jackson, the 80-year-old father of singer Michael Jackson, announced that not just someone but “all of ‘em” who may have contributed to his son’s untimely death at age 50 should pay. When asked if he meant the doctors who may have enabled the pop star’s prescription drug abuse over the years that eventually lead to his fatal drug overdose death, Joe Jackson said “I didn’t say doctors. Everybody else that’s involved.”

Michael Jackson, then 50, suffered a fatal cardiac arrest on June 25. Autopsy results were withheld and the singer’s personal physician, Dr. Conrad Murray has come under close scrutiny as investigators try to determine whether criminal charges should be filed against him.

A law enforcement official has informed the Associated Press that the Los Angeles Coroner has ruled the singer’s death a homicide. Calling the singer’s death a homicide doesn’t mean a crime occurred, but it does mean that officials believe that Jackson died at someone else’s hands.

Forensic evidence shows that propofol and at least two other sedatives caused the singer’s death. Per a search warrant affidavit that was unsealed last week, Murray has admitted to giving the drugs to Jackson to help the star deal with his insomnia. Murray reportedly tried to wean Jackson off propofol but gave in to the singer’s demands for the drug on the morning that he died.

An attorney for Katherine Jackson, Michael Jackson’s mother, says she is debating whether to file a wrongful death lawsuit against those who contributed to Jackson’s death. Possible defendants include Murray (a doctor can be held liable for medical malpractice if he fails to give the patient the quality of care required to protect him from injury , health complications, or death), concert promoter AEG Live, and others.

Rumors have long circulated that Jackson was suffering from a prescription drug addiction. In order to continue taking the medication that enabled his dependency, there may be multiple parties over the years that wrote the prescriptions and supplied him with the drugs.

Michael Jackson’s father: ‘Someone should pay', Today, August 31, 2009

Coroner rules Jackson’s death a homicide, MSNBC, August 24, 2009

Jackson's mother considering wrongful death suit, AP/Google, August 17, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Michael Jackson Dies, TMZ, June 25, 2009

Celebrities and Prescription Drug Addiction, Michael's House

Continue reading "Michael Jackson’s Wrongful Death?: Coroner Says King of Pop’s Fatal Cardiac Arrest was Homicide" »

A Naperville woman is accusing an obstetrician-gynecologist at Rush-Copley Medical Center of sterilizing her without her consent. Nada Dollah is suing the Aurora hospital, Women’s Health Physicians S.C. of Aurora, and Dr. Nizar F. Olabi for Illinois medical malpractice.

In her Cook County obstetrician malpractice complaint, Dollah claims that Olabi performed a bitubal ligation on her without her consent and against her will. The procedure took place while Dollah was having her baby by cesarean section in May 2008.

Dollah is seeking at least $2 million in Illinois medical malpractice damages.

Obtaining a Patient's Informed Consent
Healthcare providers are supposed to obtain a patient’s consent before performing any medical procedure or another course of treatment. The patient must also be notified of the risks of any procedure beforehand so that he or she can make an informed decision about whether to provide that consent. Failure to obtain informed consent can be grounds for a Chicago medical malpractice lawsuit regardless of whether or not any medical complications or injuries arose from the procedure.

Tubal Ligation
Tubal ligation involves tying or cutting the fallopian tubes to prevent the woman’s egg from traveling from the uterus. It also blocks the sperm from being able to enter the fallopian tube to fertilize the egg.

If a doctor performed any medical procedure on you or initiated any type of medical care plan without your informed consent, we know how frustrated and violated you must feel that your right to make decisions about your body was taken away from you. We understand the need to hold any liable parties liable for the harm that you have suffered.

Woman accuses doctor of sterilizing her, Naperville Sun, August 16, 2009

Naperville woman sues ob-gyn for unauthorized sterilization, Chicago Now, August 7 2009

Related Web Resource:
Rush Copley Medical Center

A man who says he suffered a permanent injury because doctors at a Berwyn hospital operated on the wrong knee has filed a Chicago orthopedic surgery lawsuit. The plaintiff is Krzysztof Kordes. His Illinois medical malpractice complaint, filed in Cook County Circuit Court against Dr. Scott A. Seymore, the Orthopaedic Associates of Riverside, and surgical assistant Lukasz Sidorowicz, is seeking over $50,000 in damages.

Kordes went to McNeal Hospital on May 6, 2008. He was scheduled to undergo a right knee partial lateral meniscectomy, right knee arthroscopy, and right knee ACL reconstruction.

In his Chicago medical malpractice complaint, Kordes claims that Seymore and Sidorowicz made a mistake when they began performing the replacement surgery on his left knee. They operated on the correct knee after they realized that they were performing the procedure on the wrong knee.

Kordes later received a diagnosis of chondromalacia patella on his left knee, which indicates that cartilage under his kneecap was damaged. His Chicago medical malpractice lawsuit is seeking over $50,000 in damages.

Kordes contends that the defendants should have known that they were operating on the wrong knee and that they failed to take steps to prevent the wrong-site error from happening. He claims that the doctor and surgical assistant did not properly document the fact that they started operating on the wrong knee.

Wrong-Site Surgeries
Operating on the wrong organ or limb is considered a wrong-site surgery. According to a study published in 2006 in the Archives of Surgery, out of every 112,994 surgeries that occur (not counting those involving the spine), 1 operation is a wrong-site procedure.

Wrong site surgeries can cause additional pain and suffering for the patient, as well as lead to possible infection and medical complications. There are steps that doctors and other members of the surgical team are supposed to follow to make sure that wrong-site surgeries don’t happen.

Man sues after doctors perform surgery on wrong knee, WBBM, July 29, 2009

'Wrong site' surgeries on the rise, USA Today, April 17, 2009

Related Web Resources:
chondromalacia patella, Mayo Clinic

Wrong-Site Surgery, American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons

The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation has placed obstetrician-gynecologist Dr. Scott Pierce on probation for one year and fined him $500. Pierce is accused of mistreating a pregnant woman while she was in labor with her fifth child.

The patient, Catherine Skol, sued Pierce for Chicago medical malpractice in Cook County last December. Skol delivered her baby at Rush University Medical Center in March 2008.

According to her Chicago medical malpractice complaint, Pierce, who was filling in for Skol’s doctor, arrived at the hospital four hours after she got there, scolded her for not calling first, and wouldn't give her any pain medicine. He is accused of telling a nurse that the patient deserved to feel pain for failing to let them know that she was coming to the hospital.

Skol also contends that Pierce performed a painful vaginal exam while she was experiencing a contraction and told her to push even though she wasn’t fully dilated. She says he told her to shut up, keep her mouth shut, and push. She says she and her husband became afraid to complain after Pierce allegedly told her she could hemorrhage and the baby could die.

Skol says that while she was in labor, Pierce made hostile cell phone calls to other people and then used a very large needle to give her unnecessary stitches after the birth.

Following an investigation into the incident, Rush University Medical Center suspended Pierce’s privileges there. Pierce has is own private in Melrose Park.

If you or your child suffered injuries during delivery, you may have grounds for filing a Chicago medical malpractice lawsuit. Your obstetrician-gynecologist is supposed to provide you with a certain standard of care. Failure to provide that level of care can be grounds for a Chicago medical malpractice lawsuit if you or your child suffered physical or emotional harm as a result.

Doctor disciplined for allegedly chastising Chicago-area woman in labor and denying her pain medication, Chicago Tribune, July 22, 2009

Woman: Doctor Told Me to "Shut Up and Push," NBC Chicago, January 6, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Medical Malpractice and Childbirth, Wrong Diagnosis

Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation

In Illinois, nationally syndicated columnist Georgie Anne Geyer filed her Chicago dental malpractice lawsuit against Dr. Daniel I. Chin, Jr. and Dr. Jeffrey Taugner. In her Cook County Circuit Court complaint, Geyer claims that the two Chicago dentists failed to diagnose that she had cancer of the tongue and mouth

Geyer claims that in 2006, she went to Dr. Taugner because there was a white lesion on her tongue that hurt. She then went to see Dr. Chin, who performed a biopsy.

Geyer’s pathology report noted that she was merely suffering from a common skin disease. However, by the fall of 2007, the lesions had spread to other areas in her mouth.

Geyer underwent a second biopsy, which confirmed that she had T3 squamous cell carcinoma and that they were now in her lymph nodes. The noted columnist had to undergo extensive surgery to remove the cancer, and she now has problems speaking.

Dental Malpractice
If you or someone you love was seriously injured or became ill due to dental malpractice, an experienced Chicago medical malpractice lawyer can determine whether you have grounds for filing an Illinois personal injury complaint.

Examples of Dental Malpractice:
• Failure to treat or diagnose an oral disease
• Failure to diagnose dangerous oral conditions
• Negligent dental work
• Botched dental procedures
• Botched oral surgery
• Faulty root canal
• Defective dental devices
• Unnecessary extractions
• Extraction-related injuries
• Extracting too many teeth or the wrong teeth
• Complications related to bridges and crowns
• Failure to treat gum disease
• Anesthesia-related errors

Illinois dental malpractice can cause infection or permanent injuries to the teeth, jaw, tongue, or lips. It can also cause nerve damage or the loss of the sense of taste.

Journalist Georgie Anne Geyer sues over cancer, Daily Herald, July 8, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Dental malpractice suit shows gaps in information, Health Journalism, May 27, 2009

Jury awards $11M to Woodbridge family in oral surgery malpractice case, NJ.com, Friday March 6, 2009

According to the Chicago Tribune, Dr. Nicholas Caro, a Chicago eye doctor, has been sued for Illinois medical malpractice in Cook County nearly 50 times since the early 90's—29 of the Chicago personal injury complaints were filed within the last 10 years. Yet he is still allowed to practice medicine in the state. This, even though Illinois’s chief medical prosecutor recommended over a year ago that the state suspend or revoke Caro’s medical license or discipline him in another manner.

To date, no disciplinary measures have been taken against Caro, who still performs eye operations on patients. In the last 25 years, the ophthalmologist has performed about 25,000 eye procedures. Caro says that because he is a high-volume surgeon and we live in a litigious society, it is inevitable that some patients will sue him for medical malpractice.

The Ophthalmic Mutual Insurance Company, however, says that about 75% of eye specialists that have been practicing for at least 25 years have had no more than three medical malpractice cases filed against them. The Chicago Tribune says that when it checked the medical records of more than 12 other Chicago Lasik doctors, none of them had been named as defendants in more than 12 lawsuits.

The state’s division of professional regulation has been criticized for being too slow when it comes to dealing with doctors that have been called dangerous or incompetent. Monitoring deficiencies, inadequate staffing, and poor disciplinary measures are some of the problems cited in the Illinois auditor general’s 2006 report about the division.

The outcomes of a few of the Chicago medical malpractice cases against Caro:

An Illinois jury awarded Nicholas Pucek over $800,000 for his botched Lasik procedure. Within a six week-period following the surgery, he sought medical attention over a dozen times to treat medical complications. Pucek eventually had to get a cornea transplant.

Karen Thiel’s botched eye surgery left her with eye infections, permanent pain loss, and vision problems. She also had to retire early because it became hard for her to do her clerical job. A jury awarded her $500,000.

61-year-old Joseph Smith says that because Caro botched his Chicago Lasik surgery, he has an irregular, scarred cornea. He also had to undergo lens implantation and removal. He filed his Chicago lasik malpractice lawsuit last year.

Lasik Surgeries
Lasik surgery is supposed to correct a person’s vision. Yet, according to Surgical Eyes Foundation, 3% of Lasik patients—30,000 patients in 2001—will experience lasting side effects that could actually impair their vision, affect their ability to engage in ordinary activities, or cause serious eye injuries.

Lasik lawsuits: Disciplinary proceedings lag against Chicago doctor, Chicago Tribune, July 8, 2009

LASIK Risks, Complications, Side Effects, Problems, LasikComplications

Related Web Resources:
St. George Corrective Vision Center

The Dangers Of Laser Surgery, CBS News, June 4, 2002

In Illinois, Noel Mabe named Dr. Vidya Deshpande, Dr. Yogendra Shah, Dr. Stephen C. Arny, and the Medical Diagnostic Laboratory in her civil complaint over her mother’s wrongful death. Eutha Ochoa died of invasive cervical cancer on January 23, 2008. Mabe contends that her mother’s life may have been saved if doctors had diagnosed her cancer sooner. Her 11-count civil suit alleging medical malpractice is seeking over $324,421.56.

Mabe is accusing Shah of failing to provide the proper history to accompany the Pap smear specimen and neglecting to obtain a repeat Pap smear in a timely manner. She contends that the Medical Diagnostic Laboratory failed to take into consideration previous cervical pathology when reviewing her mother’s Pap smear.

Deshpande and Arny are respondents in discovery. Mabe has six months to present evidence against the two doctors to name them as Illinois wrongful death defendants.

Mabe says that before she died, Eutha Ochoa experienced severe pain and suffering, emotional distress, and mental trauma. Her illness resulted in medical costs as well as more than $8,000 in burial and funeral expenses.

Cervical Cancer
Cervical cancer takes time to develop, which means that it can be treated if detected early. It often starts as dysplasia, a precancerous condition that can be identified with a simple pap smear—that is, of course, unless a pap smear is misread and a doctor fails to diagnose the early stages of cancer.

Early signs of cervical cancer:
• Abnormal vaginal bleeding
• Bleeding after intercourse
• Bleeding after menopause
• Heavy, unusually lengthy periods
• Ongoing vaginal discharge

The sooner that cervical cancer is detected, the easier it is to treat and the less invasive the necessary procedures to treat this condition. It is the delayed diagnosis of cervical cancer that can cause a patient to have to endure more painful and invasive procedures, such as radiation therapy, chemotherapy, and hysterectomies. Delayed diagnosis or misdiagnosing or failure to diagnose cervical cancer can lead to a decreased chance of recovery and may even lead to death.

Cervical cancer not timely diagnosed, daughter claims, The Record, July 6, 2009

Facts About Cervical Cancer, Illinois Department of Public Health

Related Web Resources:
Cervical Cancer, National Cancer Institute

Cervical Cancer Diagnosis, WrongDiagnosis.com

The wife of a man whose leg had to be amputated because a fracture wasn’t treated for over two months has filed an Illinois medical malpractice lawsuit against Mobilex USA, Covenant Care, and two doctors. Myrna Ambuehl is the attorney-in-fact for her husband Roland Ambuehl.

According to her Illinois medical malpractice lawsuit, Roland fell from his bed and sustained a femoral fracture to his left leg on June 3, 2007. He reportedly told workers at Highland Health Care Center that he was experiencing pain in his left knee and leg following the fall accident. Highland retained Mobilex USA to conduct x-rays of Roland’s knee and pelvis.

Mobilex USA doctors Elliot Wagner and Donald Lanese examined the X-rays and said that there were no fractures. After their diagnoses, Roland still felt pain in his left knee, which started to swell. Myrna’s medical malpractice lawsuit contends that despite his symptoms, workers at the center still made him undergo physical therapy and take part in other physical activities, including exercise.

Highland asked Mobilex to take more images of Roland’s leg on June 21, 2007. Lanese examined the images and didn’t see a fracture. Roland continued with the care and rehabilitation plan the center had designed for him despite the pain and swelling. In August, Myrna asked for an orthopedic surgeon to look at her husband’s knee. Instead, Highland asked Mobilex to take more X-rays. Lanese again looked at the images and didn’t see a fracture.

It was at this time that Dr. Scott Halvorson, who is Roland’s treating physician, examined him and determined that the patient’s left femur was fractured. The condition of his leg was so bad because it had gone untreated for so long that Roland had to have his knee amputated in August 2007. Myrna’s Illinois medical malpractice lawsuit seeks a judgment of over $250,000 plus other costs and relief.

Delayed Diagnosis
Delayed diagnosis or wrong diagnosis can be detrimental to a patient’s condition and can lead to medical procedures and treatments that could otherwise have been avoided if a physician had made the correct diagnosis sooner. Delayed/wrong diagnosis is a breach of the medical provider’s care responsibilities to a patient.

Fractured leg untreated for three months had to be amputated, suit claims, The Record, June 3, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Delayed Diagnosis, WrongDiagnosis.com

Mobilex USA

In Winnebago County, Illinois, the family of 4-year-old Jeremy Law has agreed to settle its birthing malpractice lawsuit with a Rockford hospital for $12 million. This is the largest personal injury settlement to ever be issued in this county. Jeremy now has Cerebral palsy.

Patricia Law was admitted to St. Anthony Medical Center's labor and delivery area on November 7, 2004. A nurse gave her Pitocin to induce labor. Dr. Fernando has stated under oath that he gave Patricia the drug because nursing workers had told him that the baby was positioned heads-down and ready to be delivered. He says he would have performed a Caesarian birth if he had been notified that the baby was in breech position.

Even though the baby’s fetal heart beat became irregular, the nurse administered more Pitocin and did not conduct a vaginal exam to check the baby’s position. Some 15 minutes later, the baby experienced bradycardia and there was not enough oxygen traveling to his brain. It wasn’t until 20 minutes later that Jeremy was delivered by emergency Caesarean.

According to the Illinois medical malpractice lawsuit , hospital staffers neglected to identify that Jeremy was positioned in his mother’s womb for a breech delivery, neglected to detect signs of fetal distress, and neglected to deliver him by Caesarean procedure in a timely manner. Because of their medical negligence, the complaint contends that Jeremy sustained major brain damage because he did not receive enough oxygen during his delivery.

Pediatric neurologists have told the Laws that Jeremy’s developmental age will not go beyond what is now—that of a 2-month-old infant. He will continue to physically develop but he won’t be able to roll over, hold his head up, crawl, sit, stand, or grasp.

Illinois Cerebral Palsy Lawsuits
In order to prove that your child was the victim of birthing malpractice that caused his or her Cerebral palsy, you will need the help of an experienced Chicago birthing malpractice lawyer that understands the complexities involved in these kinds of Illinois medical malpractice cases. In many cases, a child with Cerebral palsy will require specialized medical attention and nursing care for life. The financial toll is generally too much for a family to carry without obtaining obtaining damages from all negligent parties.

You and your child may be entitled to Illinois birthing malpractice damages for the devastating harm, pain, and suffering that all of you must now endure.

$12 Million Settlement in Birth Injury Lawsuit Against OSF Healthcare, Business Wire, May 20, 2009

Related Web Resources:
NINDS Cerebral Palsy Information Page

Cerebral Palsy Program/Guide

In Illinois, a woman is suing a number medical care providers for medical malpractice. Anastasia Parker claims that because she was injected with radioactive iodine while she was pregnant, her daughter Taelor Hannah was born with hypothyroidism and will have to undergo medical treatment for the condition for the duration of her life. Parker is seeking a judgment over $500,000 plus costs.

In 2006, Parker underwent a thyroidectomy. She then had to be administered radioactive iodine on more than one occasion. Dr. Wael Girgis and Dr. Mohamed Megahy, however, failed to make sure that she wasn’t pregnant before administering the radioactive iodine injections.

Parker’s Illinois medical malpractice lawsuit contends that as a result, her daughter, who was born on August 3, 2007, was soon after diagnosed with hypothyroidism. The complaint says that because Parker was injected with radioactive iodine while pregnant with Taelor Hannah, the toddler is at higher risk of cognitive deficits, developmental delays, mental retardation, and cancer. Parker also blames the defendants for failing to tell her about the risks of taking radioactive iodine and of not talking to the proper doctors before administering the injections to her.

The defendants in Parker’s Illinois civil lawsuit are Dr. Megahy, Dr. Girgis, Belleville Oncology, Maryville Oncology, and Memorial Hospital.

Doctors are supposed to make sure that anything that they administer to a patient will not cause injury or other harm to him or her. They owe it to all of their patients to provide no less than a certain standard of care, and failure to provide that care can be grounds for a medical malpractice lawsuit if a patient gets hurt, even more sick, or dies.

If your son or daughter is born with an illness, injury, or condition that occurred because your doctor or another medical provider was negligent, careless, reckless, or made a mistake, you also may have grounds to file an Illinois birthing malpractice lawsuit.

Woman treated for thyroid condition sues doctors for not administering pregnancy test, The Record, March 31, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Hypothyroidism in Children, EHealthMD.com

Hypothyroidism, MayoClinic.com

In Chicago, two Roseland Community Hospital intensive care patients died after becoming infected with acinetobacter, a bacterium that sometimes can be found in ICU’s. The two victims, who lived at the same Chicago nursing home, were both elderly and had a number of serious medical conditions. It is unclear whether the bacterial infection contributed to their deaths.

The outbreak, however, did infect 7 out of 10 patients at the intensive-care unit before it was contained. Officials at the Roseland Community Hospital and at the Chicago Department of Public Health are conducting an investigation to determine how to prevent future outbreaks.

According to Tim Hadac, the department’s spokesperson, acinetobacter infections are not uncommon in healthcare settings because it is a common bacterium known to appear around people with compromised immune systems—especially in places where there are very sick patients. Acinetobacter can be spread through contaminated surfaces, environmental exposures, and person-to-person contact. It can also be found on people’s skin and in soil and water.

Dr. Brad Spellberg, who is a member of the Antimicrobial Availability Task Force of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, says that Acinetobacter, which reportedly can become resistant to every existing antibiotic, is a growing problem in US hospitals.

Acinetobacter
While Acinetobacter does not pose a serious health risk to healthy people, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that an infection can lead to serious health complications for people who have weakened immune systems, chronic lung disease, diabetes, are on a ventilator, have open wounds, or are staying in hospitals for extended periods of time. An acinetobacter infection can lead to serious wound or blood infections, pneumonia, and may become a cause or death.

Chicago hospitals are supposed to make sure that hospitals are clean and sanitary and that there are no conditions at the facility that could cause a patient's health to deteriorate. Failure to exercise this duty of care could be grounds for a Chicago personal injury or wrongful death lawsuit.

2 Chicago hospital patients with bacterial infections die, Chicago Tribune, March 3, 2009

Overview of Drug-resistant Acinetobacter Infections in Healthcare Settings, CDC

Related Web Resources:
Roseland Community Hospital

Chicago Department of Public Health

Continue reading "Two Chicago Hospital Patients Die from Bacteria Infections " »

In Cook County Circuit Court, the mother of Joey Furio, a 15-year-old boy who died from a drug overdose in 2004, has filed another Illinois wrongful death lawsuit against the city of Park Ridge. Abruzzo had sued the Chicago suburb in 2005 but the circuit court ruled that because of Illinois’s Local Government and Governmental Employees Tort Immunity Act, the city was immune from the civil lawsuit and the paramedics involved in Joey’s care could not be held liable for failing to diagnose or evaluate his condition.

The Cook County Appellate Court upheld the lower court’s ruling. However, last October, the Illinois Supreme Court overturned the decision to dismiss the case.

Abruzzo’s wrongful death lawsuit accuses paramedics of failing to give her son life support or take him to the hospital when the family contacted 911 early in the morning on October 31, 2004 and told them the boy was unresponsive. Joey’s father, Lawrence Furio, administered CPR to his son but the paramedics that arrived left. The lawyer representing Park Ridge claims they left because Lawrence told them they should go and that his son didn’t need medical attention.

The complaint, however, says the paramedics either knew or should have known that someone who needed CPR was in a life threatening state and they should have provided Joey with advanced life support. Abruzzo also says that the paramedics were either told about or should have found out about Joey’s drug abuse history when they responded to the 911 call.

Paramedics were called back eight hours later and that is when they took the teenager to the hospital. He died the following day. The cause of his death was opiate and cocaine intoxication.

Paramedic Malpractice
Paramedics are supposed to provide patients with a certain duty of care. When medical mistakes happen, such as failure to administer the proper care, failure to diagnose, administering the wrong drug, delayed ambulance arrival, delay in taking someone to the hospital, or failure to follow the proper medical and safety procedures, the injured party and his or her family may have grounds for filing a Chicago medical malpractice claim.

Another lawsuit filed in 2004 Park Ridge death, Sun-Times News Group, February 16, 2009

Medical Malpractice, Justia

Related Web Resource:
Local Government and Governmental Employees Tort Immunity Act, Illinois General Assembly

Park Ridge, Illinois

In Illinois, the family of a woman who sustained catastrophic injuries after she tried to kill herself is suing Adventist Hinsdale Hospital for medical malpractice. The Chicago area hospital treated the woman prior to the attempted suicide incident, and her family is accusing the facility of failing to provide her with the proper treatment and dismissing her from the hospital too soon.

According to the Illinois medical malpractice complaint, which was filed in Cook County:
The woman, who had previously tried to commit suicide, was admitted as a patient to Adventist Hinsdale Hospital on August 26, 2007, where she remained for one week. While there, doctors suggested that she be transferred to Elgin Mental Health Center so she could receive constant supervision, but the center would not admit her because it did not feel it could provide her with the proper care. Adventist Hinsdale Hospital then discharged her.

Two weeks later, the woman was readmitted to the hospital for abdominal pain. Three days later, staffers discharged her again and said they could do nothing more to help her.

On September 25, 2007, the woman tried to kill herself again after jumping from her third floor balcony. She sustained massive internal bleeding and broken bones. Her mother says that because of the attempted suicide, her daughter is bed-ridden, can’t walk, experienced vision loss, and requires a feeding tube to eat.

The family’s medical malpractice lawsuit alleges negligence by Dr. Arun Kumar and Dr. Helena Muirragui. They say hospital staffers failed to address certain symptoms the woman was exhibiting, including psychosis and depression. The plaintiffs are seeking over $50,000 in damages.

Illinois Medical Malpractice
Doctors, nurses, and other medical providers are professionally and legally obligated to provide each patient with the appropriate, quality medical care that they need. When failure to provide that care causes a patient’s condition to deteriorate or complications to arise, the medical provide can be held liable for Illinois medical malpractice.

Family sues Hinsdale Hospital, Sun-Times News Group, February 5, 2009

Medical Malpractice, Justia

Related Web Resource:
Adventist Midwest Health

A $6.5 million Illinois medical malpractice settlement has been reached in a birthing injury case involving a now 7-year-old boy. The child, Roberto Morales Jr, allegedly suffers from cerebral palsy because the obstetrician and labor and delivery nurse at the Provena Mercy Medical Center failed to properly monitor his heart rate and deliver him hours before an emergency C-section finally took place. His mother had been given Pitocin to accelerate her contractions. Morales was born with hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy and metabolic acidosis.

After his birth, the he was flown to Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge so he could get the higher level of medical attention that he needed. Provena Mercy Medical Center was not equipped to deal with his brain injury. Because of the severity of Morales's birth injuries, the plaintiffs’ attorneys say he had to stay at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital for a month.

The settlement will pay for the ongoing medical care and attention that he needs. The birthing malpractice lawsuit’s plaintiffs are Morales’s mother Joann Williams and Park National Bank. They are the coguardians of the boy’s estate. The defendants in the case are Provena Mercy Medical Center, obstetrician Judson Jones, Advocate Health Care Network, Dreyer Medical Group Ltd., and Dreyer Clinic Inc.

Cerebral Palsy
If your child is suffering from cerebral palsy because medical mistakes or negligence was a factor during his delivery, you may have grounds to file an Illinois birthing malpractice lawsuit. There is no treatment or cure for cerebral palsy, which is a condition that lasts for life.

Cerebral palsy can lead to ataxia, spasticity, motility problems, muscular issues, and other problems. Caring for a child or adult with cerebral palsy can be a costly endeavor, which is why it is important that you explore your legal options for personal injury recovery.

$6.5M To Baby In Malpractice Suit Settlement, CBS2 Chicago, January 12, 2009

Aurora hospital settles $6.5 million brain damage baby lawsuit, Justice News Flash, January 15, 2009

Related Web Resources:
NINDS Cerebral Palsy Information Page, National Institute of Neurological Disorders

Provena Mercy Medical Center

Continue reading "Illinois Birthing Malpractice Lawsuit Settled for $6.5 Million " »

The family of a 12-year-old boy who died after he was given an antibiotic he was allergic to has won the second appeal in the Illinois medical malpractice case over his wrongful death. In 2006, a Lake County jury ordered Lake County Anesthesiologists, anesthesiologist Dale Gordon, and surgeon Andrew Kontrick to pay the family of Andrew Muno $7.5 million. Kontrick settled with the family but the two other defendants appealed the verdict twice.

This week, Lake County Judge Raymond McKoski upheld the original jury award plus interest. This means the family has been awarded over $9 million for Muno’s wrongful death.

In December 1999, Muno underwent surgery at Condell Medical Center to repair a cut tendon on his arm. He died after experiencing an allergic reaction to a specific antibiotic and started having problems breathing.

The family’s wrongful death lawyers accused the doctors of failing to recognize that Muno was experiencing respiratory distress and failing to treat his condition. Their Illinois wrongful death lawsuit contends that Kontrick and Gordon should have stopped the surgery as soon as Muno started having breathing problems.

Medication Errors
In 2006, the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies reported that 1.5 million people a year are injured because of medication errors. These types of medical mistakes can occur during all phases of treatment, from prescription through the monitoring of care.

More Medication Error Facts:

• 400,000 preventable injuries that are drug-related occur in hospitals annually.
• 800,000 medication errors occur each year in long-term care facilities.
• 530,000 outpatient, Medicare recipients each year are the victims of medication mistakes.

Side effects from a medication mistake may include allergic reactions, health complications, adverse reactions when combining one medication with another, and death.

Wildwood family wins lawsuit in death of son, Pioneerlocal.com, December 11, 2008

Family Wins 2nd Appeal In Wrongful Death Of Boy, CBS2Chicago, December 11, 2008

Medication Errors Injure 1.5 Million People and Cost Billions of Dollars Annually;
Report Offers Comprehensive Strategies for Reducing Drug-Related Mistakes, National Academies, July 20, 2006

Related Web Resource:
Read the June 20 Appeal (PDF)

The widow of Robert Shank III, a hospital patient who died after undergoing gallbladder surgery at the Marion VA Medical Center, has reached a wrongful death agreement with the US government for $975,000. Shank’s surgeon was Dr. Jose Veizaga-Mendez, who has come under investigation for at least 9 patient deaths and 34 patient injuries at the Illinois hospital. Veizaga-Mendez no longer has a license to practice medicine.

Katrina Shank had initially sought up to $12 million for Robert’s death. Her Illinois wrongful death lawyers say the settlement she received is an admission of the government’s role in her husband’s death.

An investigation by the Veterans Affairs Administrative Investigation Board had determined that the Marion VA failed to take proper action when questions arose about Veizaga-Mendez’s credentials. Katrina’s wrongful death lawsuit accused the VA of medical malpractice and negligence because of the hospital's failure to properly check Veizaga-Mendez’s medical background. Her complaint also contended that Veizaga-Mendez was negligent during Robert’s surgery and in the way that he handled the patient’s care after the operation.

Following surgery, Robert did not regain consciousness. He underwent a number of blood transfusions, which led to complications and further surgery. He died soon after. Surgical services at the VA hospital were temporarily suspended last year following the increase in patient deaths.

Veteran Administration (VA) Medical Malpractice
If you or someone you love received poor medical care at a VA medical hospital, you may have grounds to file file a medical malpractice lawsuit. Unsanitary conditions, inadequate staffing, poorly maintained medical devices, patient abuse and neglect, and medical errors can be grounds for a personal injury claim or wrongful death lawsuit if a patient suffers injuries or dies as a result.

Ky. widow settles lawsuit against VA for $975,000, Washington Post, November 25, 2008

Widow settles VA hospital suit, Chicago Tribune.com, November 25, 2008

Related Web Resources:

VA: 10 patients died under care of former surgeon at IL hospital, Boston.com/AP, October 19, 2008

Durbin, Obama, Costello Request Meeting with VA Secretary to Discuss Marion VA, Barack Obama, US Senator of Illinois, May 27, 2008

Continue reading "Widow to Receive $975,000 for Wrongful Death Lawsuit Alleging Negligence and Medical Malpractice at Marion, Illinois VA Hospital " »

In Chicago, a 33-year-old transplant patient is suing University of Chicago Medical Center and one of its surgeons for medical malpractice. The woman, identified in her Illinois personal injury lawsuit as Jane Doe, tested positive for Hepatitis C and HIV after she received an infected kidney while undergoing an organ transplant at the hospital.

The plaintiff is one of four patients who underwent transplant surgeries at Chicago-area hospitals in January 2007 and received infected organs from the same male donor. All four patients received Hepatitis C and HIV diagnoses following their transplants. One of the four patients has died.

According to “Jane Doe’s” medical malpractice lawsuit, members of the Chicago hospital’s transplant team, including Dr. J. Richard Thistlewaite, were notified by the Gift of Hope Organ and Tissue Donor Network that her donor, who died in a car crash, was gay. The team, however, failed to notify the woman, who was suffering from a non-life threatening condition, that her donor was a homosexual, which made the man a “high risk” organ donor.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines say that a recipient must be notified if a donor is gay prior to the transplant surgery. The CDC also recommends that all organ recipients with high-risk donors undergo HIV testing no more than three months after surgery.

The plaintiff claims that it wasn’t until November 2007, after another organ recipient tested positive for HIV, that the Chicago hospital asked her to take the test. She tested positive for HIV and hepatitis C.

Her lawsuit accuses the University of Chicago Medical Center and Dr. Thistlewaite of medical negligence for its failure to notify her that her donor engaged in high-risk behavior when he was alive and for failing to make her undergo an HIV test sooner. Jane Doe is on dialysis because her body rejected the infected kidney and she is also undergoing treatment for HIV.

Her Illinois personal injury attorney says that prior to her transplant surgery, she rejected a kidney from a heavy drinker who was sexually involved with prostitutes and kidney from another donor who had a criminal record. He says that Jane Doe would have rejected her donor’s kidney if she had known he was gay.

Lawsuit: Patient got HIV-infected transplant, Chicago Breaking News, November 17, 2008

Woman Sues After Organ Transplant Led To HIV, CBS2Chicago.com, November 17, 2008

Related Web Resources:

University of Chicago Medical Center

Gift of Hope Organ and Tissue Donor Network

A woman who may have to go a heart transplant after a new heart device was implanted inside her during surgery is suing prominent Chicago Dr. Patrick McCarthy for medical malpractice. McCarthy implanted the device, a Myxo ETlogix ring, in the body of Toni Vlahoulis during a surgery to repair a leaky heart valve in 2006. McCarthy did not, however, tell her that he was the inventor of the new device.

Vlahoulis, who experienced inflammation after the surgery, had to undergo a second surgery to have the device removed. She says that if she had known the device was experimental, she never would have agreed to have it placed inside her.

McCarthy denies that the device was experimental because an older model was available commercially over a month before he performed the surgery on the 41-year-old patient. Northwest Memorial Hospital claims it obtained the necessary consent from Vlahoulis for the implant procedure.

Vlahoulis, who filed her Illinois personal injury lawsuit in Cook County earlier this year, is seeking over $50,000 in damages from McCarthy, device manufacturer Edwards Lifesciences, and Northwestern Memorial Hospital.

McCarthy says that he doesn’t believe that the ring is the cause of Vlahoulis’s latest health issues. The Chicago doctor is a consultant for Edwards Lifesciences and he receives royalties for the three heart devices he invented. He donates the royalties to the Greater Chicago Food Depository.

According to medical ethics experts, surgeons should inform patients if royalties will be generated from any devices used in surgeries. Patients are also supposed to sign a consent form noting their agreement to take part in any medical research.

The US Food and Drug Administration is looking at whether it obtained proper notice regarding the Myxo ETlogix rings. McCarthy says he and his partners have implanted nearly 200 devices. He says that he only uses the device if it is the best fit for a patient. The FDA has received 10 reports complaining about adverse effects occurring after the device was implanted.

Failure to Obtain Informed Consent
Physicians, dentists, surgeons, and other medical provider must obtain a patient’s informed consent before conducting a procedure. An “informed consent” form notes any potential complications and risks that could arise from the treatment or procedure. The medical provider should also discuss the potential risks with the patient prior to the procedure.

If injury or death arises from a procedure in which a patient did not give his or her informed consent, the medical provider could be held liable for medical malpractice or wrongful death.

Patient sues over Chicago surgeon's new device, CNN.com, October 15, 2008

Questions raised about Northwestern use of valve device; prominent surgeon denies wrongdoing, TheHeart.org, October 7, 2008

Northwestern Memorial Hospital

Related Web Resources:

Edwards Lifesciences

Myxo ETlogix ring

Eva Liberato, the Chicago mother whose son Angel suffered serious brain damage at birth, has accepted a $5.5 million medical malpractice settlement offer from Westlake Hospital and two doctors. The malpractice incident occurred in 2002, after hospital staffers gave Liberato a drug to induce contractions.

The baby’s heart rape dropped and Dr. David Demorest, a family medicine doctor, attempted to deliver the baby using a vacuum retractor. When this method failed, he attempted the delivery using forceps. The forceps got stuck in Liberato’s uterine wall.

Another doctor, Dr. Laura Loya-Frank, ended up performing a C-section procedure to deliver Angel, who suffered brain damage because he was deprived of oxygen for too long. Angel is six years old and he cannot talk, walk, sit, or eat on his own.

On September 19, a Cook County jury ruled that only Demorest was liable for Angel’s birthing injuries. Westlake Hospital and Loya-Frank, however, also will have to contribute to the Illinois medical malpractice settlement.

Two of the signs indicating that a baby sustained brain damage from being deprived of oxygen during birth:

• The infant’s skin coloring during delivery is blue.
• The baby experiences seizures soon after delivery.

Brain damage can result when an obstetrician or another medical provider:

• Employs excessive or improper use of vacuum extraction.
• Does not perform a cesarean birth in a timely manner.
• Does not properly monitor the mother or baby before, during, or after delivery.
• Does not properly respond to the fetus’s sudden change in heart rate during labor.

Birthing errors that cause personal injury to the mother or baby can be grounds for a medical malpractice lawsuit.

Illinois woman accepts $5.5 million settlement in childbirth lawsuit, BND/Associated Press, September 22, 2008

$5.5M Settlement for Improper Drug Administered During Birth, WBBM 780/Sun-Times, September 21, 2008

Related Web Resources:

Vacuum Extraction: Is it Safe?, iVillage

Forceps delivery, Birth International

A medical malpractice lawsuit that will soon go before the Illinois Supreme Court could test the constitutionality of a state law limiting how much a plaintiff can receive for non-economic damages. The personal injury lawsuit, first filed in Cook County, involves a young girl who sustained a serious birth injury in October 2005. According to the lawsuit filed by the girl’s mother, Frances LeBron, Abigaile LeBron became mentally impaired and suffers from cerebral palsy due to the birthing malpractice incident. She will now will require 24-hour specialized care for life.

Illinois’s medical malpractice damage caps allows a medical malpractice plaintiff to be awarded no more than $1,000,000 in non-economic damages from hospitals and $500,000 maximum from doctors. There is no cap for the amount of economic damages that a plaintiff can be awarded.

Last year, however, the Cook County circuit court judge presiding over this case found Illinois's medical malpractice caps law to be invalid and unconstitutional. Judge Larsen also said the limits prevent juries from properly compensating injury victims.

There have been two times in the past that the Illinois Supreme Court has found that laws placing a limit on personal injury damages were unconstitutional. The latest law was enacted in 2005.

Cerebral Palsy
This medical condition is a result of permanent brain damage sustained by a baby before, during, or right after birth, and the lifetime costs of caring for a child, who will later become an adult diagnosed with cerebral palsy, can be astronomical. Birthing mistakes that can lead to cerebral palsy include:

• Improper forcep use.
• Failure to move the baby through the birth canal quickly enough.
• Failure to remove an umbilical wrapped around the baby’s neck in a timely manner.
• Failure to plan or perform cesarean birth in a timely fashion.

Illinois' med mal law on trial, StlToday.com, August 18, 2008

Illinois Malpractice Case May Shape Tort Reform, NPR.com, February 21, 2007

Related Web Resource:

Cerebral Palsy, National Institute of Neurological Disorders

The federal government wants a judge to toss out a wrongful death lawsuit filed by a woman who alleges that her husband died as a result of medical malpractice at the Marion VA Hospital in Illinois. The reason the government is citing for its request, filed in East St. Louis, Illinois last month, is that the widow, Katrina Shank, failed to file the necessary affidavit from an expert stating that Shank had reasonable cause to file the lawsuit.

Shank’s lawyer says that although the affidavit is necessary for medical malpractice cases filed in Illinois court, it is not necessary for cases filed in federal court. Her lawsuit accuses the hospital of negligence, which she says resulted in her husband Bob bleeding to death after undergoing gallbladder surgery at the VA hospital last year. She is seeking $12 million in wrongful death compensation.

Following the minimally invasive procedure, doctors were unable to wake Bob up. Bob’s surgeon, Dr. Jose Veizaga-Mendez, suggested that he might have had a stroke, a heart attack, or liver damage. Bob was given several blood transfusions, which Shank says eventually prevented his blood from clotting. He underwent another surgery to determine where the blood was going. Bob passed away the next day.

Shank says the doctor let her husband bleed to death and that someone that worked at the hospital suggested she contact a medical malpractice lawyer. The US Government is named as the only defendant in the lawsuit.

Dr. Jose Veizaga-Mendez is under investigation for at least nine deaths that occurred to patients under his care while he worked at the VA hospital in Marion. A Veterans Affairs Administrative Investigation Board investigation found that the Marion VA hospital’s management staff failed to take action when doubts arose about Veizaga-Mendez’s credentials.

Report says Marion VA leadership dismissed concerns, Marion Daily Republican, August 15, 2008

Government Wants VA Suit Thrown Out Malpractice Alleged in Deaths at Ill. Clinic, Redorbit.com, July 24, 2008

VA Probes Doctor's Role in Patient Deaths, NPR.org, November 5, 2007

Related Web Resources:

A Health Care System, Marion.va.gov

Military Medical Malpractice Overview, Justia

The mother of a 10-year-old girl who sustained a serious brain injury during her birthing delivery has reached a $9.7 million settlement with Northwestern Memorial Hospital. Rosa Lopez says she will use the money from the birthing malpractice lawsuit to provide her daughter Madeline Maturino with more therapy, as well as find ways to help her cope with her brain injury.

Madeline was born at Northwestern Memorial on July 17, 1998, a date that was past her due date. Hospital doctors induced Lopez’s labor using the drug Pitocin. Lopez’s personal injury lawyer, however, contends that the drug was administered aggressively, which resulted in contractions that came too closely after one another and caused stress to baby Madeline.

Madeline’s brain tissue became damaged after it was deprived of oxygen, and she sustained hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy. Madeline’s injury has left her with limited speech abilities and she is prone to angry outbursts. Lopez says her daughter has to fight to communicate daily.

Birthing Malpractice
Medical errors during childbirth can cause a baby to suffer catastrophic injuries, such as Cerebral palsy, Brachial palsy, facial paralysis, broken bones, bruising, and shoulder dystocia.

Common kinds of medical malpractice errors that can lead to birthing injuries:

• Wrong diagnosis
• Waiting too long to induce labor
• Neglecting to perform a c-section when required
• Incorrect forceps use

Botched delivery results in $9.75M settlement, Southtownstar.com, July 9, 2008

Birth Injuries, Health System Virginia.edu

Related Web Resources:

Pitocin FAQ, Childbirth.org

hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy, Medicine.net

Continue reading "Illinois Mother Settles Birthing Malpractice Case for $9.7 Million" »