Chicago Injury Attorney Blog

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Medical Malpractice, Nolo

Rene Douglas, a former jockey, is suing Arlington Park, its parent company Churchill Downs Inc., Keeneland Association, and Martin Collins Surfaces and Footings for the catastrophic injuries he sustained during an accident at the horseracing track. Douglas, 43, is now paralyzed.

The tragic Cook County personal injury accident happened on May 23, 2009 when Douglas’s mount, Born to Be, was clipped by another horse, Sky Mom, during a race. Sky Mom’s rider, James Theriot, was suspended for 30 days following the accident.

In his Arlington Heights, Illinois injury complaint, Douglas and his wife Natalia are claiming that the surface of the track had ruts and was “uneven” and these deficiencies contributed to the catastrophic horse racing accident. The couple is claiming that negligence was involved in the installation and maintenance of the Polytrack. Martin Collins is the manufacturer of the artificial track surface.

The couple is seeking over $50,000 in damages. Prior to the accident, Douglas was the top jockey at the racetrack for six out of the last eight seasons. He was the leading winner when he got hurt.

Also last week, Arlington Park track worker Edward Seely filed his Cook County injury lawsuit against the same defendants over work injuries he sustained during a fall accident in May 2008. Seely, who trained and exercised race horses at the racetrack, claims that his work accident occurred because the track surface was “filled with ruts” and “uneven.”

Paralyzed jockey sues Arlington Park over injury, The Daily Herald, May 11, 2010

Douglas Files Suit Over 2009 Accident, Bloodhorse.com, May 14, 2010

Related Web Resources:

Arlington Park

Spinal Cord Injuries, Medline Plus

Continue reading "Former Jockey Files Cook County Personal Injury Lawsuit Over Arlington Park Horse Racing Accident that Left Him Paralyzed" »

The Chicago Board of Education and the Chicago Youth Centers have reached a nearly $14.7 million Chicago, Illinois personal injury settlement with Ryan Murray. The 30-year-old Chicago resident was just 13 when he got hurt during a tumbling class at a South Side elementary school in December 1992. A Chicago Youth Centers employee was supervising the class, and the trampoline belonged to the Chicago Public Schools.

After striking his head while jumping off a mini-trampoline, Murray became a paraplegic. He filed a Chicago personal injury complaint suing for damages.

His Chicago injury lawsuit has been making its way through the Illinois court system for years. The Illinois Supreme Court tossed out the complaint in 2006 after determining that Murray couldn’t sue a government entity. The state’s highest court says that in order to be considered an exception to the law that doesn’t allow injured parties to sue government bodies, the injury needed to have been intentional.

Murray’s Chicago personal injury lawyer, however, argued that the school and others involved were reckless in the way that they conducted the class, which was an extracurricular activity that took place at lunch. The Illinois Supreme Court agreed to hear the case again and in 2007, reversed itself, making way for the Illinois injury lawsuit to move forward.

The Cook County injury trial had been scheduled for this month.

Quadriplegia
This condition, which involves a spinal cord injury, leaves a person paralyzed from the neck down. Quadriplegics are generally unable to move their bodies and they may also suffer from digestion problems, respiratory issues, serious pain, sexual dysfunction, bowel issues, bladder problems, muscle spasms, and a shorter lifespan. The medical expenses for someone leaving with this type of SCI can be astronomical, which is one reason it is important to obtain the maximum financial recovery from all liable parties.

$14.7 million settlement in trampoline suit against CPS, Chicago Breaking News, February 25, 2010

17 years later, $14.6M settlement in trampoline injury suit, Chicago Sun Times, February 25, 2010

Related Web Resources:
Chicago Board of Education

Chicago Youth Centers

In Cook County, Illinois, a jury has awarded Don Duffy, an Irish immigrant, $8.1 million for the catastrophic injuries he sustained in a swimming pool accident. Because of the plaintiff’s assumption of risk, the award amount was reduced to $4 million.

Don Duffy was seriously injured when he dove into a pool at 4am on July 15, 2001. Duffy had never swam in a pool in the US but assumed that one end of the pool would be shallow while the other end would be deep. After stepping into what he thought was the shallow end of the pool, he got out and dove into what he assumed was the “deep” end of the pool that was, in fact, just 3 ½ feet deep. It turns out that both ends of the pool were “shallow” while the deep end of the pool was in the middle. As a result of the Cook County swimming pool accident, Duffy, who sustained a spinal cord injury, is now suffering from incomplete quadriplegia.

Duffy filed an Illinois products liability lawsuit against pool liner maker Latham Plastic and pool installer Black Oak Pool & Supply. During the Cook County personal injury trial, the defendants argued that Duffy, who had just closed a bar prior to the tragic accident, was allegedly drunk and also assumed risk of injury when he dove into a pool without knowing how deep it was. The jury ruled in favor of the plaintiff against the pool installer. It ruled in favor of the pool liner. It found Duffy 50% liable.

Spinal Cord Injury (SCI): Incomplete Quadriplegia
Spinal cord injuries are serious injuries. With incomplete quadriplegia, recovery may vary depending on the seriousness of the SCI, the degree of damage sustained by the spinal cord, and what part of the spine was injured. Some people with incomplete quadriplegia may experience no significant motor function loss but other faculties may be impaired. Some SCI victims may experienced partial motor function loss and/or sensory impairment.

Spinal cord injuries, traumatic brain injuries, and other catastrophic injuries are costly and can be life shattering.

Incomplete Quadriplegia, Spinal Injury Network

Related Web Resources:
National Spinal Cord Injury Association

Water-Related Injuries, CDC

The family of Christopher Connolly is suing St. Ignatius College Prep student for his personal injury. In 2007, Connolly, then 15, sustained catastrophic injuries when he hit is head on the bottom of the school during water polo practice.

According to the Chicago injury lawsuit, an assistant coach told the other kids to throw snowballs at Connolly and called him “Flounder,” which is considered a derogatory nickname. To avoid the snowballs, buoys, kickboards, and other pool equipment that were thrown at him, the 15-year-old dove into the pool per another coach’s instructions.

The Chicago injuries to minor complaint, filed in Cook County, claims that Connolly “was forced to dive into the pool.” He struck the bottom of the pull and fractured his vertebrae during the alleged hazing incident. He was hospitalized for almost four months. Because of his spinal cord injury, Connolly is now a quadriplegic.

He requires the use of a wheelchair, and needs assistance bathing, getting dressed, and picking up objects off the ground. He needs full-time care. He also underwent intensive and lengthy therapy and has been able to regain some use of his hands and arms.

Connolly says that he also suffers physical trauma and embarrassment because he now has to use a wheelchair. After the accident, he enrolled in another school.

Connolly’s family is seeking undisclosed damages, as well recovery for medical costs.

Suing a Chicago School for Personal Injury
Schools and their staff members are supposed to make sure that students on the premise are not harmed and that there are no hazards on the premise that could cause personal injury or wrongful death. Failure to provide students with this safety can be grounds for an injuries to minor lawsuit.

Paralyzed teen's parents sue Chicago school over alleged hazing, Chicago Tribune, August 19, 2009

Read the Complaint (PDF)

Related Web Resources:
St. Ignatius College Prep

Quadriplegia Care Guide

In Chicago, a 32-year-old man is in intensive care and paralyzed from the neck down after getting hit by what he says was falling masonry. Rogelio Rodriguez says he pushed a woman out of the way so that a slab of falling concrete wouldn’t strike her. He was hit instead.

Rodriguez’s wife, Amelia, says the accident occurred on August 15 close to Cermak and Damen. Meantime, Chicago police confirm that an accident occurred close to Damen and 22nd next to a building under construction but did not issue specific details. Amelia says Rodriguez, the family’s main source of support, is in a great deal of pain and will have to undergo surgery.

If you were injured because you believe that another party was reckless or careless, you may be entitled to receive personal injury compensation for your injuries, medical and recovery costs, and other damages. Some personal injuries can be catastrophic, and the expenses incurred from treating and living with such a serious injury can be too much for one’s medical insurance to cover.

Construction Accidents
While construction workers are the ones most prone to serious injury in most construction accidents, there are accidents that occur when innocent bystanders or others that happen to be at or around the site are the ones that get hurt.

Some examples of constructions accidents:

• Falling debris
• Fall accidents
• Defective machinery
• Crane collapses
• Scaffolding accidents
• Site explosions

Hero paralyzed saving woman, Chicago Sun-Times, August 27, 2008

Man paralyzed by falling debris, ABClocal.go.com, August 25, 2008

Related Web Resources:

Spinal Cord Injuries, MedlinePlus.com

Construction Safety, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, CDC.gov

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