Illinois Medical Malpractice Blog

A west coast man has settled his medical malpractice lawsuit against a hospital. The $5 million settlement will help to compensate him for a lifetime of 24 hour care that he now needs. When he entered the hospital with a fever and cough, doctors diagnosed him with acute renal failure. He was given increasing doses of sedatives and claims that he was not monitored by the hospital staff, leading him to suffer cardio-respiratory failure and be down for nine minutes. The man suffered an anoxic brain injury, meaning that his brain was deprived of oxygen, which causes severe brain damage.

Read more here.

The Illinois Supreme Court handed down a new decision recently on its interpretation of Rule 103(b): in determining whether plaintiff was reasonably diligent under Rule 103(b), the trial court is not to consider the time when the case is voluntarily dismissed. Lawyers are advised to avoid taking any action that might seem like a delay, such as withholding summons upon filing a lawsuit. In the context of medical malpractice lawsuits, this means that medical malpractice lawyers should be careful to plan their litigation schedule and pay close attention to the length of time each phase of medical malpractice litigation requires. Additionally, medical malpractice lawyers should explain to their clients how timeliness is very important to their medical malpractice lawsuit.

Read more here.

A woman is suing Deerfield-based Walgreen’s in a wrongful death and medical malpractice lawsuit after losing her child. The Walgreen’s Pharmacy filled her prescription for prenatal vitamins with a drug intended for chemotherapy use. After using the drug for an extended period of time, the woman lost her baby. The drug, not intended for prenatal use, interferes with cell production, DNA development, and cell growth. Additionally the drug may increase the woman’s risk of developing tumors and other complications. The drug could make it difficult for the woman to conceive in the future.

Read more about the lawsuit here.

The State of Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, Division of Professional Regulation has just released a new website allows users to enter complaints about doctors and health professionals with ease. This website makes it much easier to file a state complaint in the event you have been a victim of medical malpractice or nursing errors. If you believe you are the victim of medical malpractice or nursing malpractice it is important for you to file a complaint with the Department of Professional Regulation to make sure that the state also takes its own necessary steps to investigate the problem and review the practitioner’s licensing.

Click to see the Department’s complaint site.

Army Hospitals have a growing problem with drug overdoses and patient deaths due to drug overdoses and interactions. Since June of last year, there has been an increase in the number of incidents of accidental drug overdoses to patients in Army hospitals. Additionally, some patients have died from drug interactions. In one recent patient death from drug interactions, the Sergeant actually told his doctors he was feeling disoriented as a result of the medication and that he could not function. The doctors did not alter the medication or determine if there was an interaction and the Sergeant later died. Patients and their families can help to alert doctors to side effects and possible drug interactions and should be certain to follow up with their doctor immediately. Patients of government-run, Army, and Veterans' Administration hospitals may have recourse under the Federal Tort Claims Act if they are injured.

Read more here.

A recent article calls into question whether Lasik eye surgery is as safe and successful as previously thought. According to some data sources, as many as 5% of all Lasik patients suffer adverse events or are displeased with their surgery. However, according to the FDA, only a handful of adverse events or complaints about Lasik have been reported. Patients who have suffered from adverse events or problems with their vision after a Lasik surgery should report their problems to the FDA. The FDA plans a new study of Lasik’s safety next year.

Read more about Lasik and how to report problems here.

A study in the May issue of the Journal of Vascular Surgery shows that the rate of limb amputation is higher in Chicago’s black communities than in suburban white communities. The data showed that blacks in Chicago are five times more likely to have a limb amputated than suburban whites. Notably, many amputations are preventable. Limb amputations can often be the product of low quality health care and doctor errors, poor access to health care resources, and a doctor's failure to give information about procedures and treatments. One of the more common causes of amputations is untreated pressure sores that may result from diabetes and heart disease.

Read the news story here.

As many medical schools don’t have conflict of interest policies that are as strong as hospitals’, drug companies often market directly to young doctors and students to gain an advantage. Many drug companies spend billions in marketing to doctors and students which is more than they spend on research or marketing. The Association of American Medical Colleges hopes that by limiting drug companies’ access to students to help cure conflicts of interest, bias, and curb the reciprocal benefit exchange between doctors and drug companies. Hopefully, medical schools following this program might help to curb medical malpractice and conflicts of interest in the future.

Read the full article here.

One of the greatest organizational problems facing hospitals today is the battle over medical records. Many patients find that it can take months or years to get a hold of their own medical records after treatment. Even worse, some families of victims of medical malpractice or wrongful death have waited for years to obtain their loved one’s medical records from hospitals. Often, lost or missing records are simply part of hospital error and not a deliberate attempt to delay, but on some occasions hospitals may frustrate a patient’s records request purposefully. Patients and victims’ families must be aware that statutes of limitation often require that medical malpractice lawsuits be filed within a certain period of time after the injury occurs or is discovered. This means that patients and victims’ families must decide to file a medical malpractice lawsuit and contact their medical malpractice attorney as soon as possible and begin the medical records request process.

Read more here.

The case of Heparin contaminated with unknown toxins and imported from China continues to claim lives. To date, more than 81 deaths are linked to contaminated Heparin in the US and more may be discovered soon. The FDA says that the deaths from contaminated Heparin are a direct result of an allergic reaction to the toxin in some patients. The Chinese government denies that the contamination caused any deaths, though they do acknowledge that large batches of Heparin were contaminated. The Double lesson here is not just that drugs can be easily contaminated from foreign sources, but that two congressional hearings have highlighted just how under-funded and under-prepared the FDA is currently.

Read more on this story here.