Illinois Medical Malpractice Blog

Without giving it much thought, you’d expect a surgeon to wash his or her hands before starting an operation. Unfortunately, however, that isn’t always the case.

According to the Hartford Courant, the World Health Organization estimates that more than 50 percent of acquired infections could be prevented if health care workers cleaned their hands with soap and water or an alcohol-based handrub before treating patients.

World Health Organization statistics show that each year in the United States alone, approximately 1.7 million infections are acquired from contaminated hospital settings; of those, 100,000 deaths occur across the country from infections acquired in U.S. hospitals. Health care has the potential to be an extremely risky process given that it often occurs in a setting rife with contagious individuals, but despite the potential situational hazard, many of these infections could have been avoided.

Illinois medical malpractice lawsuits arise when health care professionals, by way of an act or omission, violate the standard of care owed to their patients. By failing to maintain a safe environment in which to treat patients, doctors, hospitals, and other providers become liable when their medical negligence leads to a patient’s illness, injury, or death.

There are numerous occasions that arise during which we have no choice but to go to a hospital for treatment. So how do we keep ourselves safe?

Fortunately the World Health Organization has taken strides to reduce the likelihood of infections acquired from disease-ridden hospital settings. The WHO has published a surgical safety checklist, the use of which has become mandatory in more than 100,000 hospitals worldwide. Representatives on behalf of the World Health Organization have said that the program has been proven to reduce surgical complications by one-third (33%), and related deaths by 50%. With risks so grave, it’s a statistic we can’t afford to ignore. As a result, choosing a hospital that follows WHO procedures may be a matter of life and death.

According to former English Chief Medical Examiner Liam Donaldson, approximately 500,000 deaths could have been prevented each year if more hospitals had instituted the WHO’s infection prevention guidelines.

When millions of people die each year in cases of medical malpractice worldwide, it’s even more devastating to hear that these losses could have been avoided. Our Chicago medical malpractice attorneys understand the physical and emotional difficulties associated with Illinois medical negligence cases. Our attorneys fought vigorously to win a $2.25 million medical malpractice settlement for failure to diagnose an infection in a 5 year-old boy who became contaminated after a bone-marrow transplant, and died as a result of the infection. If you or a loved one have been the victim of medical malpractice, including acquiring a disease from a health care provider’s failure to maintain a safe and clean environment, an attorney may be able to help you determine your rights.

A medical malpractice attorney has filed a lawsuit on behalf of the husband of a woman who died as a result of an obstetrical error during the birth of her child, reports the Mount Airy News. According to the report, the defendant obstetrician-gynecologist cut her small bowel while performing a cesarean section to deliver the victim’s first child.

After the surgery, the doctor closed her up without properly examining her. In the following days, she complained on nausea, abdominal pains and not being able to have a bowel movement, but her physician and hospital staff ignored these complaints. She was released home where her problems continued, until she returned to the hospital where lab tests revealed that her kidneys had stopped functioning. She was transferred to a larger hospital, but unfortunately died soon after transfer. According to the lawsuit, the woman was most likely suffering from sepsis as a result of the doctor’s surgical mistakes.

When the woman’s small bowel was severed during the cesarean, the doctor did not realize the mistake or take action to remedy it. When tears or perforations to the small bowel occur, the contents of the bowel can leak into a person’s abdominal cavity which can lead to a sepsis infection. When left untreated, sepsis infections can be fatal such as in this woman’s case.

Our attorneys see a number of cases where preventable medical errors and mistakes go unnoticed, untreated, and lead to further injury or death. One of the goals of a medical malpractice lawsuit is to hold all wrongdoers responsible for lapses in care that cause someone else to suffer serious injuries or death. In this particular lawsuit, the victim’s family’s lawyer not only named the physician, but also the hospital and physician’s practice group as defendants, alleging that the doctor released the victim without properly examining her, the hospital failed to attend to her complaints of abdominal pain, and the practice group is negligent for lack of informed consent.

Wrongful death lawsuits also work to recover economic and non-economic damages for injured victims or the families of those wrongfully killed. In this particular case, the family will seek damages for funeral expenses and pain and suffering. The family can also seek damages to receive compensation for the victim’s lost future income.

Often, we report on lawsuits involving injuries to babies at birth. However, as with any medical procedure, labor and delivery also bring significant risks to the mother, and our Chicago medical malpractice attorneys have experience in these types of cases. We represented the family of a mother who died two weeks after her daughter’s birth because her doctor failed to diagnose or treat her abnormal bleeding after a cesarean. Our wrongful death lawyers received a $7 million jury verdict for the woman’s husband and child. We pride ourselves in our extensive experience handling cases involving complex medical issues, including those involving the injuries or death of a mother during childbirth, and work to help others achieve justice for the harms caused.

In August of 2010, DePuy Orthopedics, a division of Johnson & Johnson, issued a recall for two of its widely used hip replacement products, ASR™ XL Acetabular Hip System and the DePuy ASR™ Hip Resurfacing System, after it was determined that the metal-on-metal design of the prosthetic hip could be harmful to the individual recipients. The metal-on-metal devices have caused issues for thousands of recipients because of the deterioration of the metal once implanted in a patient’s body. The metal-on-metal design can lead to the release of small metal particles into the recipient’s body. This can lead to a slew of health problems including infection, necrosis, allergic problems or even heart and neurological system problems.

The company estimated that between 2003 and 2009 over 90,000 patients received one of the now recalled DePuy hip replacement systems. Research has shown that nearly one in eight recipients of a DePuy Hip Replacement required a revision surgery to correct the issues associated with the faulty hip replacements.

With approximately 90,000 faulty hip replacements used and a one in eight chance of issues occurring, it is safe to assume that well over 11,000 patients will require a revision surgery to correct the problems suffered because of the faulty metal-on-metal design. “Anyone who received a recalled DePuy hip implant may be eligible to receive compensation for these defective products, even if they have not yet experienced pain or symptoms,” said attorney Steven Levin of Levin & Perconti.

With the large number of potential claimants DePuy is expected to face an increased amount of litigation.

The Chicago hip implant attorneys at Levin and Perconti believe that the number of claims already filed against DePuy may only be the tip of the iceberg. It is impossible to know whether the tens of thousands DePuy hip replacement recipients that have not yet incurred problems will in the future.

Medical malpractice takes many forms, but one of the most common is hospital acquired infections—also known as Healthcare-Associated Infections (HAIs). These represent infections that a patient contracts while undergoing medical treatment. It represents a medical problem that they did not have before they began seeking treatment for some other ailment. Patients contract the infections in a number of medical settings, including during surgeries, while on ventilators, or any time there is contact from one person/equipment to another.

The scope of the problem is much larger than most suspect, according to HAI Watch. The World Health Organization reports that at any given time 1.4 million people are suffering from an infection they received because of their effort to receive medical treatment. The severity of the infections is also startling. The Centers for Disease Control claims that over 98,000 people die each year in the United States alone from infections they acquired while at hospitals. This is not a problem that anyone can afford to ignore.

Medical safety experts have worked hard at identifying the root cause of these infections and the best ways to snuff them out. Research is clear that to minimize the problem medical professionals must pay particular attention to the best infection management strategies. These strategies are varied, but typically involve simple checklist style requirements like hand washing and proper equipment sterilization.

Continue reading "Raising Awareness About Vital Illinois Medical Malpractice Issue—Hospital Acquired Infections" »

Blog readers are well aware of the dangerous infections that many patients develop during hospitals stay. These hospital inquired infections can be extremely harmful and in almost all cases are preventable if proper steps are taken by medical staff.

Similarly, a disturbing new study explored last week in Consumer Health Today explained that anesthesiologists often pass on germs to patients during medical operations. Researchers examined over 164 operating room procedures and found that in 11.5% of cases bacteria was transmitted to the intravenous line valves. Even when not reaching that line, in over 90% of cases bacteria reached the operating room in one way or another.

The research went further in determining the major source of the problem. Half of those cases of bacteria transfer were caused by germs that originated on the hands of anesthesiologists who were involved in the operation. One researcher explained, ‘Contamination of provider hands before patient care…represents an important modifiable risk factor for bacterial cross-contamination.”

The solution is simple: hand washing.

As it now stands not enough anesthesiologists are properly disinfecting themselves before operations. There are few excuses to be made for the poor hand-washing compliance, because the need for the process is well-known.

Continue reading "Failure to Wash Hands Continues to Spread Germs to Patients" »

Far too often patients enter a hospital because of one ailment and then contract an infection after they are admitted because of conditions at the hospital. These hospital-acquired infections pose potentially deadly problems for many—especially the most vulnerable patients. We have often posted on the need for hospitals to provide data to prospective patients on their rates of infection. In that way, these facilities will be held accountable for rates that are above the average and that should be improved.

The Seattle Times reports that hospitals in that state have taken the positive step of providing post surgery infection data to patients. A new state law requires medical facilities in the state to post that data online at a hospital specific level. The data allows close, easy comparison of hospitals, and officials in that state noted that some facilities stuck out immediately for their high numbers. For example, the overall infection rate average is .76 per 100 procedures, but one facility had a staggering 12.99 per 100 rate.

There may be explanations for certain figures, especially related to hospital size and unique care provided. The hospitals will always have an opportunity to explain certain figures that they believe to be misleading. However, that step can never be reached if the figures are never presented to patients in a meaningful way.

In Illinois, our hospitals post a “report card” that includes some hospital generated infections, but not many. As it now stands only bloodstream infection rates are accessible to patients in these reports. More information is planned to be released, however.

Continue reading "Hospital Begins Reporting Post Surgery Infection Rates" »

Several new lawsuits have been filed against Columbia St. Mary’s Hospital following cost-cutting measures taken by the facility which led to an increase in patient infections. The victims claim that while building a new $400 million hospital, the facility cut its infection control staff, leading to the problems.

Specifically, five suits were filed by women who underwent surgery at the medical facility and suffered infection complications afterward. One victim nearly died after a 2008 hip replacement. She suffered an invasive infection while at the facility leading to kidney failure, oxygen deprivation, and heart problems. She still has movement problems, and spends most of her time in a wheelchair.

Several other patients suffered similar infections at the facility, including staph infections and the MRSA super-bug—the infection immune to most common antibiotics. The hospital has faced infection lawsuits in the past, a fact which has spurred one of its own doctors to warn potential patients about the facility’s susceptibility to the problem. The facility beefed up its infection control program following those past problems. However, the control measures stopped when the new hospital construction began. As a result, these victims (and perhaps others) may have suffered.

Our Chicago medical malpractice lawyers at Levin & Perconti continue to rail against the practices of many medical facilities that place profits above care. It is simply inexcusable for patients and their families to suffer debilitating, painful injuries and complications because their medical provider cuts corners when providing care. Of course it is also obviously that patients should not acquire a sickness while at a hospital while being treated for something else. If you or someone you know may have fallen victim to this money-driven medical mistake, please seek legal advice to learn about the options available to ensure that future residents do not suffer similar problems.

Click Here to learn more about this example of negligent medical care.

The Miami Herald reported on troubling news out of the local Mayo Clinic. Late last week the hospital began alerting patients of a terrible medical breach that may have exposed them to a deadly virus.

More than 4500 patients at the clinic may have been exposed to Hepatitis C following the abusive practice of a radiology technologist at the facility. Apparently, the employee admitted to stealing an injectable painkiller from the hospital medication stock. The employee was infected with a particular strain of Hepatitis C. Negligent actions by the employees ultimately exposed the thousands of patients to his own deadly infection. So far Mayo Clinic staff members discovered that three other patients have been infected with a strain of the virus similar to the technologist’s strain.

All the other patients who were exposed to the virus are being contacted and are being asked to be tested to ensure that they were also not infected.

Breaches of trust that put patient lives at risk are all too common occurrence at hospitals across the country. Our Chicago medical malpractice attorneys at Levin & Perconti have been involved in many cases where misconduct by employees has caused severe injury to the patients in their care. It is vital that hospitals take every step possible to ensure that the people they hire to care for patients possess the integrity, skill, and professionalism necessary for the important job. There is often no room for medical error in hospital settings, and it is absolutely unacceptable for employees to break the law in a way that may harm or kill the innocent patients at the hospital.

We have often mentioned on this blog the growing problem of hospital borne infections. These are illnesses that a patient contracts while they are at the hospital to be treated for another medical problem. These infections are almost always the result of medical errors and negligent conduct that can be prevented. Proper hand washing, sterilizations, and other cleanliness protocols have been shown to decrease these infections significantly.

As we reported last week, the problem is estimated to cost medical care consumers over $30 billion each year and take the lives of upwards of 100,000 patients.

Those staggering costs should obviously have translated into a concentrated effort to fix the problem. However, the remedial actions have fallen far short. In fact, even the basic task of compiling and making data available on the total number of these infections has taken years to accomplish.

Illinois has just recently begun the task of informing its citizens on hospital performance with regard to these infections. As reported in St. Louis Today, Illinois officials have finally posted their first hospital “report card” that includes initial data on some hospital generated infection rates. This initial reporting does not include the bulk of infections. Only central line associated bloodstream infection rates are available in the latest report. These are infections caused by catheters that deliver fluid and other medications into the body.

While the initial data is small, the information is clearly a step in the right direction. Any public reporting that shines a spotlight on medical errors is a good development. The Illinois General Assembly sought to address this reporting problem six years ago. However, drafting errors in the legislation and funding errors in later years delayed the implementation of the report until now. A spokeswoman for the Illinois Department of Health insists that even more hospital infection data will become available in the future. She explained, “We are in the process of trying to get some additional data. We’re hoping to have surgical-site infection data by the end of the year.”

Click here to check out the latest Illinois medical report card, including information on hospital infection rates. You can look up your own nearby hospital by name or zip code.

Our medical malpractice lawyers at Levin & Perconti encourage all patients to take advantage of this new information to help inform their healthcare decisions. Our decades in practice have made clear the risks associated with seeking medical care at a substandard facility. Personal health is too important to risk on any facility that consistently allows patients to get sicker while they are there than before they even arrived.

A new op-ed in the Lexington Herald-Leader discusses the vast consequences for patients of even simple mistakes by medical providers. Hand washing is known by all to be an important step in providing a clean, sterile environment at all hospitals in the country. However, most people are not aware that many healthcare providers fail to wash hands as frequently and properly as necessary, ultimately leading to patient complications and death cause by contractions of hospital acquired infections (HIAs).

Overall, this preventable doctor negligence kill a staggering 100,000 patients each year and increases medical costs by $30 billion per year. As these numbers indicate the problem is reaching near epidemic proportions. The scope and detail of the HAI problem is not well known because many hospitals have no reporting requirements. In other words, there is no way for any individual patients to learn about a particular hospitals infection-rate in making the decision to attend one facility over another.

MRSA has long been known as the most common and dangerous HIA, but that has recently changed. As the article discusses, clostridium difficile (C. diff) is now considered the most common hospital acquired infection. Clostridium difficile is a bacterium that often causes life-threatening diarrhea.

Hand washing has long been known to curb the problem drastically. Frequent use of alcohol based rubs are also sometimes claimed to have improved the cleanliness at many hospitals. However, alcohol does not kill C. diff because it is spread by sores. Old –fashioned scrubbing hands with soap and water is the only way to properly fend off its advance. Healthcare providers are still failing to do it sufficiently, however, leading to rising rates of C.diff and MRSA infections at many local hospitals.

Patients enter hospitals in order to improve their health. No one should contract a deadly and costly illness while seeking care because of preventable hospital mistakes. Our Chicago medical malpractice attorneys at Levin & Perconti remain constant advocates for all patients and their families who suffer at the hands of hospital negligence. Please contact a medical malpractice lawyer if you or someone you know was a victim of these deadly errors.

The Washington Post reported today on survey results that indicate thousands of lives could be saved each year if medical professionals paid closer attention to deadly hospital infections.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicates that each year approximately 80,000 patients develop catheter-related bloodstream infections (CRBSIs). Slightly less than 40% of those victims (about 30,000 total) ultimately die as a result of the infection. CRBSIs are caused by improper use of catheters- which are tubes inserted into the body to allow fluid drainage, access for surgical instruments, and insertion of fluids. The most common catheter errors occur when the nutrients are improperly prepared for the catheter or it is left inside that body for longer than necessary.

With 30,000 patients dying each year due to these infections, you would expect medical professionals to take every step possible to limit CRBSIs. However, studies have indicated that the infections could nearly be eliminated if medical simple followed simple protocols to ensure the proper use of catheters.

Five simple steps are necessary to stamp out the problem;

1. Hand washing with soap
2. Cleaning patient skin with effective antiseptic
3. Covering patient with sterile drapes
4. Wearing sterile mask, hat, and gloves
5. Using sterile dressing over catheter site

Research consistently indicates that if each of these basic hygiene safety measures is followed, the infections drop drastically. However, medical professionals continually fail to adopt these basic practices in every case, leading to CRBSI-related deaths.

Besides those five steps, research has also indicated that special protocols requiring physicians to weigh the possible benefit of an extra day with the catheter to the potential risks ultimately results in lower CRBSIs. Also, having a response team prepared to deal with any infections quickly has similar effects on limiting the harm from the infections.

Together each of these procedures, as test programs in Michigan hospitals have demonstrated, could save tens of thousands of lives a year. But the majority of hospitals still fail to implement these tested practices.

Instead medical professionals often refuse to pay for the minimal costs of implanting the programs, even though the process actually saves millions of dollars in the long-term. Implementation of these processes typically costs a few thousand dollars to start. However, that pales in comparison to the $30-40,000 price tag to treat each new case of CRBSI.

Besides the skewed financial concern, experts indicate the other main impediment to these life-saving techniques is simply a lack of commitment to the process of behalf of medical professionals. With busy schedules and familiarity with old-fashioned models, many physicians and nurses are simply reluctant to make changes, even if those changes save lives.

No matter what the excuse, no patient should be placed at increased risk of deadly hospital infections. The tools exist to stop CRBSIs, and each medical professional should use them to save lives. Our medical malpractice attorneys at Levin & Perconti have fought legal battles on behalf of many patient-victims of catheter errors. We support all steps to ensure that no more victims suffer at the hands of medical device errors.

A recent study by the Center for Disease Control (CDC) found that ambulatory surgical centers failed to prevent hospital-borne infections in 46 of the 68 surgical centers that the study examined. Researchers reported lapses in infection control in hand hygiene, injection safety, medication and handling, equipment reprocessing, environmental cleaning, and handling of blood sugar monitoring equipment. The study found that 28% of the facilities used medications in single-dose vials for multiple patients and that 32% of the facilities performing blood glucose testing did not clean and disinfect the blood glucose meters after each use. Additionally, the study found that 6% of the facilities reused items that were packaged and labeled as single-use devices and 21% of the facilities used a single lancing penlet device for multiple patients in blood glucose testing.

Ambulatory surgical centers operate exclusively to provide surgical services to patients who do not require hospitalizations or admission lasting longer than 24 hours. Between 2001 and 2008, researchers found that there was a 50% increase in the number of Medicare certified ambulatory surgical centers in the United States. During that same period of time, researchers also found a significant rise in problems relating to hygiene and safety health procedures at the Centers.

Hospital-borne infections are a serious problem facing hospitals. When a patient suffers further injury or death because of a hospital’s failure to prevent infections, hospitals may be held liable. Hospitals can prevent infections among patients by making sure that both the hospital staff and visitors regularly clean their hands with an alcohol-based hand cleaner. Hospitals should also make sure that if a patient needs an IV that it is inserted and removed under clean conditions and changed every three to four days.

For more information about the Center for Disease Control study, visit WebMD.

If you believe that you or a loved one has been the victim of a healthcare provider error, such as an infection that could have been prevented, please consult our Chicago medical malpractice attorneys to discuss your possible claim.

The husband of a medical malpractice victim has filed a lawsuit against St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in Belleville, Illinois. The lawsuit claims that the victim was initially admitted to the hospital with a soft tissue infection in the fatty tissues of the upper leg. She informed hospital personnel that this occurred after she had pinched her left buttock in a toilet seat. The area had grown red, tender and swollen after this incident. The hospital then drained the pressure sore and stated that it was a successful surgery because there was no longer an infection.

However, three days later the victim was complaining of extreme fatigue and a week feeling. Blood cultures showed that there was a high level of E coli in the victim’s body and she had degeneration around the surrounding tissue. The doctors released her and the remaining tissues appeared healthy. She was ordered to use a wound-vac in her infected area and to simply wash and clean the wound. After the hospital she went to a nursing home. A month later her wound had to still not heeled and she was still complaining of pain and discomfort. New blood cultures showed that she had MRSA. The MRSA infection was traced back to the pressure wound. She died a few months later from complications related to the MRSA infection. To read more about this medical malpractice lawsuit, please click the link.

Pressure ulcers and infections are a common form of death. It is important to know the signs and symptoms in order to properly diagnose them. One is that the blood from the body core is warmer than skin temperature. Also, you may be able to detect a small odor caused by the bacilli. To read more signs and symptoms of pressure ulcers, check out the link.

A Medical Center is investigating after a child wrongfully died in their care following an organ transplant. The two-year old’s death may have possibly been the result of an accidental overdose of the blood thinner heparin. They recently released a statement declaring that they were investigating the death after an apparent overdose of a blood thinner. According to Action 3 news, the patient was at the hospital for a multi-organ transplant. After she received the transplant she was readmitted to the hospital with an infection. The virus caused the victim’s kidneys to shut down, requiring her to receive dialysis. It was at the hospital where the 23-month girl died from an infection.

In reality the blood thinner that can be a life-saver during a hospital stay can turn deadly if this blood thinner is given in too high of a dose. According to Omaha.com heprin can cause immediate problems if given in too high of a concentration. This will cause internal bleeding, which can be life-threatening. No one is exactly sure how the overdose occurred. Many of the hospital staff believes the medical malpractice occurred when the setting on the IV pump was not checked properly.

The medical center has already arranged for travel for the family and funeral expenses. Also the medical center is trying to be proactive in sharing this information with other hospitals on what they are trying to do to prevent these occurrences. This hospital is taking important steps to reduce medical error. By sharing new safety implementations with other hospitals, fewer patients will die as a result of a heparin overdose.

The family of a victim who wrongfully died of sepsis at a hospital will receive $1.44 million after a jury determined that his doctor failed to provide him with proper care. The medical malpractice verdict was declared several weeks after this specific hospital notified almost 530 patients that they may have received unnecessary coronary stent implants. The Baltimore Sun is reporting that two physicians in addition to the hospital were named in the medical malpractice lawsuit.

The victim had endured several tests which included an X-ray and a CT scan to determine what was wrong. The doctor believed that the victim was suffering from some sort of infection but believed it to be pneumonia. Finally, a test determined that the victim was suffering from sepsis but the doctor was unaware of the source. He treated the victim with a broad-spectrum antibiotic and admitted him. To read more about the medical malpractice verdict, please click the link.

Reports have shown that nearly 48,000 patients die each year from pneumonia and blood-borne infections. This epidemic has become a widespread problem in hospitals throughout Illinois. Sepsis is a blood infection that can develop after surgery. Patients who developed sepsis after surgery will end up staying nearly 11 days extra in the hospital. This will cost an additionally $32,900 per patient. Most importantly, 20 percent of these people die of sepsis. If you have developed sepsis at a hospital, please contact a Chicago medical malpractice lawyer. To read more about sepsis statistics, check out this link.

The family of a medical malpractice victim who died at a hospital has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the doctors. The family states that the victim underwent surgery to remove a noncancerous mass and later died from peritonitis that was improperly diagnosed after the surgery. Peritonitis is caused by a spread of an infection from the blood and lymph nodes to the peritoneum. It is a very serious disease that becomes life threatening if not quickly treated. The Puget Business Journal has reported that the victim was complaining of thirst and pain for three days after the surgery. He later died what they referred to as an “agonizing” death. Their attorney stated that all patients undergoing invasive abdominal surgery are at risk for infection. The medical malpractice lawsuit claims that the doctor’s failure “to diagnose and treat the basic signs of a horrendous onset of peritonitis is astonishing.”

One of the legal issues in this case is whether or not the hospital can be held responsible for the doctor’s actions. Hospital officials claim that although the doctors have the credentials to practice at the hospital, they are not actual employees. This oftentimes occurs at hospitals that treat doctors as independent contractors.

This victim is one of the 98,000 people that die annually as a result of medical error. Doctors must properly diagnose post surgery infections in order to avoid wrongful deaths. It is important to closely monitor patients after any surgical procedure. To read more about the medical malpractice lawsuit, please click the link.

According to a recent article in the Chicago Tribune, a woman who battled against malaria has filed a medical malpractice lawsuit against the first hospital where she received treatment. The lawsuit contends that the hospital allowed her condition to deteriorate so thoroughly that her arms and legs had to be amputated. The 34-year old victim had traveled to Ghana in February of 2008 and was bitten by a mosquito carrying the malaria parasite. At the time, she was not taking anti-malarial medication and when she returned to Chicago, she suffered increasingly severe headaches and fatigue.

This prompted her to visit the emergency room at Chicago’s Northwestern Memorial Hospital. While the hospital did diagnose the victim with malaria, they did not treat it aggressively enough in the early stages. Instead they treated her as if she had non-complicated malaria, despite evidence that it was far more advanced. Her condition continued to worsen and she lost circulation to her extremities. After six days at Northwestern Memorial, she was transferred to the burn unit at the University of Chicago Medical Center where a surgeon had to amputate her arms and legs. The medical malpractice lawsuit has since been filed in Cook County Circuit Court.

Doctors have a duty to aggressively treat all diseases to their best ability. If diseases are not properly diagnosed, drastic effects may ensue such as the amputation in this case. If you believe that you did not receive adequate treatment at a Chicago hospital, contact a Chicago medical malpractice lawyer. To read the article on the medical malpractice case, please click the link.

Congressman Murtha’s recent death has raised questions about the complications of gallbladder surgery. Many are left wondering if the influential lawmaker was among nearly 100,000 people who die in U.S. hospitals annually because of medical errors. While Congressmen debate health care on the hill, it is time that they reflect on the death of one of their own. Instead of focusing on issues such as tort reform, it is necessary that they look more closely at how to prevent medical error.

The Washington Post found reported that Murtha had elective laparoscopic gallbladder surgery preformed at the Bethesda Naval Hospital and fell ill shortly afterwards from an infection that has been related to the procedure. Studies have found that the mortality rates for gallbladder surgery is quite low, ranging from .7-2% even in the elderly. So we are left with the question of whether Murtha was an unlucky patient or whether he is yet another victim of medical error. Some argue that a two minute checklist could decrease the death rate. Since Bethesda Naval Hospital is a government institution, organizations that work to prevent medical mistakes cannot confirm whether they do use such a checklist.

The Chicago medical malpractice attorneys at Levin & Perconti support the use of checklists to promote communication between hospital staffers. They believe that this is one step that a hospital can take in lower the death toll that occurs every year from medical error. If you believe that you are a victim of such a medical error, please consult a Chicago medical malpractice attorney. To read more about the devastating lost of Congressman Murtha, please click the link.

Healthcare-associated infections are a global crisis affecting both patients and healthcare workers. According to the World Health Organization, at any point in time, 1.4 million people worldwide suffer from hospital-borne infections. This is why Kimberly Clarke has started a website designed to prevent hospital infection. It releases news stories regarding the infections and discusses prevention measures. This website will be critical to the fight of ending medical error. To check out the infection website, please click the link.

There is a low-tech way to cut down on a deadly infection that strikes roughly 80,000 intensive-care patients in the U.S. every year. Michigan hospitals dramatically lowered rates of bloodstream infections in their patients by following a five-step checklist. However, nearly three years after the study appeared meaningful use of the checklist remains limited. The list prescribed steps that doctors and nurses in the intensive-care unit should take when performing a common procedure. The procedure is inserting a catheter into a vein just outside the patient’s heart, to allow easy delivery of intravenous drugs and fluids. The steps are quite simple and the Michigan study found that putting the checklist in place lowered the rate of bloodstream infections related to catheter use by 66%. Experts believe that despite the checklists low cost and practical steps, hospitals are slow to implement them simply because it’s a culture piece. Nurses are afraid of backlashes from their physicians. This culture clash is allowing between 30,000 and 60,000 people per year to die, and hospitals are ignoring the need for such checklists. It is time for hospitals to require the checklists to ensure that people do not die from preventable hospital-borne infections. To read more about the checklists, please click the link.