Illinois Medical Malpractice Blog

Medical malpractice lawsuits against therapists are on the rise. In one recent case, a jury awarded a psychiatric patient who was injured while trying to escape from a mental facility $1 million. The patient suffered permanent disability during his fall and the jury found that the staff was inattentive.

In 2002, the National Quality Forum created a list of adverse medical malpractice issues and in 2006, they updated it. This list contains serious medical malpractice events that are easily preventable and have dire consequences.

1. Switching donor eggs or sperm, resulting in paternity mixups.
2. Leaving of sponges or instruments inside a surgery patient.
3. Disappearance of a patient from a facility.
4. Medication errors (wrong drug, wrong patient, wrong dose, etc.)
5. Giving wrong blood type.
6. Electric shock to a patient.
7. Fall of a patient.
8. Surgery on wrong body part of body.
9. Surgery performed on wrong patient.
10. Wrong surgery performed on patient.
11. Death during or after surgery on a healthy patient under anesthesia.
12. Contaminated drugs or medical devices.
13. Medical device malfunction or improper use.
14. Air embolisms.
15. Babies discharged to wrong parents.
16. Patient suicide.
17. Death or injury of a mother during low-risk pregnancy.
18. A patient developing hypoglycemia.
19. Failing to identify high bilirubin in infants, leading to death.
20. Advanced pressure sores.
21. Death or injury in spine manipulative therapy.
22. Oxygen or other gas lines being switched or contaminated.
23. Burn of a patient.
24. Injury or death from restraints or bed rails.
25. Impersonation of a health care working
26. Kidnapping of a patient.
27. Sexual assault of a patient.
28. Assault or battery between staffers.

For more information about the list.

In 2005, spending on health care rose at twice the rate of general inflation. Consumers faced increased deductibles and co-pays. Health care spending increased 6.9% with the total amount spent by individuals, insurers, and the government hitting almost $2 trillion. This equals roughly $6,697 per person. Both in-hospital care and outpatient service spending accounted for a main factor in the spending growth, growing at nearly 8%.

For the full article.

We have already discussed the discrimination faced by patients with Medicaid, but issues also exist for patients without any insurance. On January 1, 2007, a new state law took effect prohibiting hospitals from overbilling low to middle-income patients who are uninsured or have limited insurance. Under the new law, hospital charges for those patients can be no more than the highest rates charged by Medicare, workers compensation or other government programs. This legislation ended a five-year legislative battle between consumer advocates and the hospital industry.

For the full article.

Another case of illegal kickbacks where doctors receive illegal payments for steering their patients in a certain direction has struck close to home. Illinois Attorney General recently intervened in a lawsuit against multiple Chicago radiology centers alleging illegal kickbacks to referring doctors. The complaint states that the radiology centers entered into sham agreements with Chicago doctors where the doctors would pay less for radiological services but charge the patient’s insurance a higher rate. The Chicago doctors would then keep the difference. The lawsuit asks the court to order the defendants to stop paying the illegal kickbacks and seeks monetary damages, restitution, and penalties.

For the full article.

A company that manages government health plans for the poor must pay at least $144 million in damages for wrongfully denying coverage to pregnant women eligible for Medicaid. The plaintiffs, which included the federal and Illinois governments, were awarded a total of $48 million by the jury. The company may also be liable for a total of as much as $199 million in penalties for more than 18,000 instances of fraud found by the Chicago jury.

For the full article.

A couple has sued a OB-GYN in a medical malpractice lawsuit alleging negligent care in a surgical error after childbirth. During the doctor’s efforts to repair an episiotomy (an incision made to enlarge the birth canal and ease delivery) the mother was left permanently incontinent.

For the full article.

An FDA official recently told reps of 65 companies that sell unapproved drugs that the agency plans to step up efforts to remove such products from the market. The agency states that many doctors, patients, pharmacists, and consumers are unaware that some medications on the market (including 2% of prescription drugs) have never been scrutinized by the FDA.

For the full article.

Pharmaceutical company Lilly moved to settle almost 18,000 claims alleging that it failed to adequately warn consumers that its multi-million dollar antipsychotic drug can cause diabetes. Lilly still faces an additional 1,200 holdouts and additional suits brought by insurers and state governments.

For the full article.

Learn innovative ways to overcome defense arguments and develop themes for your birth injury cases at AAJ’s Litigating Catastrophically Injured Infant Cases seminar. The seminar will be at the Westin La Paloma Resort & Spa in Tucson, AZ from February 2-3, 2007.

For more information, call 800-622-1791 x. 612 or visit the website.

Public Citizen recently released an analysis which concluded that there is no medical malpractice lawsuit crisis. Rather, there is a problem with a small group of doctors who make serious mistakes. The report, entitled “The Great Medical Malpractice Hoax” dispels myths of dwindling docs and insurmountable insurance premiums that proponents of “tort reform” use to bolster their arguments. According to Public Citizen, the real problems are a lack of attention to patient safety, the high incidence of preventable medical error, and a lack of accountability for the small set of doctors who account for a majority of the medical malpractice payments.

Continue reading "Public Citizen urges the medical industry to remove dangerous docs" »

An Illinois man recently filed a medical malpractice lawsuit alleging surgical error in his knee replacement surgery. He claims that the surgeon failed to take appropriate x-rays to diagnose his conditions, failed to employ proper surgical procedures, failed to obtain proper alignment of the replacement device, and failed to furnish him with appropriate care following the knee surgery. The surgery was unsuccessful and required numerous additional surgeries. This is the fourth medical malpractice lawsuit against the former surgeon since his abrupt retirement.

For the full article.

An Illinois judge recently dismissed the unusual legal tactic by Illinois’s hospital lobbying group about the constitutionality of Illinois’s 1-million limit on medical malpractice lawsuit jury awards for pain and suffering. The case involves a family of a 71 year-old man who suffered severe bed sores that eventually contributed to his death. Attorney Steven M. Levin of Levin & Perconti represents the family of the 71 year-old man and stated: “The judge correctly ruled that no constitutional challenge was being made in our case.”

For the full article.

An Illinois singer has filed a dental medical malpractice lawsuit against three dentists alleging that their negligence resulted in damaging his ability to sing. He states that he is unable to change notes with the speed and sharpness demanded of a professional singer. During the dental surgery, the singer sustained a horizontal fracture in a tooth and a vertical fracture in a different tooth. He claims that the bridge placed in by one of the dentists did not fit properly.

For the full article.

A recent article placed the spotlight on a hospital with a different and friendly approach to health care. The hospital's president has made it his goal to rescue the embattled image of modern medicine by emphasizing human compassion. He says that compassion is often absent from a today's health care culture. Today's health care culture's focus on the "bottom line" leads to medical malpractice.

At this hospital, doctors, and the hospital president himself, personally visit patients' besides. Additionally, the hospital insists that nurses memorize the names of all of their patients and each patient's family members.

For the full article.

The family of a man who was killed when his lawnmower unexpectedly exploded was recently awarded $6 million in a wrongful death lawsuit. The riding lawnmower exploded while the 36 year-old victim was cutting grass at his father’s business in 2003. The product liability lawsuit alleged that the lawnmower was dangerous and defective.

For the full article.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has opened an investigation into reports of fires in some Ford SUVs and Mazda Tribute SUVs. The vehicles involved in the product liability investigation are from model years 2001 to 2003. The fires originated in or near the anti-lock breaking system control module.

For the full article.

A jury recently awarded a woman almost $8 million after she lost the use of her only kidney when a local drugstore gave her five times the amount of medication that she was supposed to receive. The pharmacy malpractice occurred when there was a miscommunication between two drug stores resulted in the woman being told to take 1250 milligrams of an anti-rejection drug for her kidney transplant instead of 250 milligrams. The pharmacy computer system flagged the prescription, but a worker filled it using a manual override.

For the full article.

A jury recently awarded $15 million to the parents of a teenager who died in a crash of a 1995 Ford Explorer Sport in a wrongful death lawsuit. Their 18 year-old son was killed in a single-vehicle rollover crash that occurred back in 2003. The product liability lawsuit alleged that the defective vehicle had an inadequate roof-crush tolerance.

For the full article.

The widow of a police officer who was murdered while wearing a defective bullet-proof vest settled her product liability lawsuit for $2.27 million. The settlement came after nearly three years of litigation. The 27 year-old police officer was killed in 2003 during an exchange of gunfire with a felon. The product liability lawsuit alleged the maker of the vest of making a defective product that allowed a bullet to penetrate the soft-body armor and fatally wound the officer.

FDA recently proposed new warning labels for over-the-counter painkillers, such as Tylenol or Advil. The FDA last week called for new labeling to warn patients about the risk of liver damage when taken in high doses or with alcohol. Experts state that consumers should not shy from the drugs; rather, they should only use the painkillers in the lowest doses necessary.

For the full article.

Recently, the FDA proposed stronger warning labels to several commonly used over the counter painkillers. However, experts state that this should not scare consumers into avoiding the products completely. Rather, experts say that this proposal should act as a reminder to users to take the lowest dose needed for the shortest possible time. Users should also be cognizant of all of the ingredients in any medication they intake.

For the full article.

The FDA has added the new precaution to Tamiflu because of more than 100 recent cases of delirium, hallucinations, and other psychiatric behavior in Japanese patients treated with the drug. On the other hand, the FDA acknowledges that stopping Tamiflu treatment can actually harm influenza patients if the virus is the cause of hallucinations and other abnormal behavior. The number of reports of bizarre behavior is increasing.

For the full article.

A woman was recently awarded $5 million by a jury in a medical malpractice lawsuit brought over a gynecological surgical procedure performed in 1998. The victim was 27 years-old at the time of the tubal ligation surgery. During the surgery, the doctor discovered two large ovarian cysts and in removing the cysts, they ruptured. The material left in the woman’s body led to a serious infection that led to a hysterectomy and the removal of more than 3 feet of her large intestine.

For the full article.

A jury found that the negligence of a pediatrician and two physician assistants resulted in the death of a one year old. The child died of cardiac failure and severe myocarditis, a disorder that is usually caused by viral infections. The doctor and physician assistants failed to perform a complete evaluation of the child and failed to respond properly to the child’s symptoms upon admittance. The plaintiff’s medical malpractice attorney was quoted as stating that a majority of the jurors saw this case as warranting a $5 to $7 million reward case, but one juror was out of touch.

For the full article.

The new state Health Reform Law, passed and signed in April 2006, is intended to increase health coverage through a combination of individual coverage, employer responsibilities, and government assistance. It is scheduled to be fully implemented in July 2007. A recent report presented the results of a survey of state residents gauging the public sentiment regarding the new law. The survey found that the public is largely supportive of the new law, with support widespread across a variety of demographic groups.

For the full report.

In 2001, a neurosurgeon’s surgical drill slipped from his hands and sliced the exposed nerves in the patient’s lower back. Because of the medical malpractice, the patient was left with no control of her bladder, bowels, pain in her legs, numbness in her feet and no feeling in her vagina.

Like many other surgeons in some states, this doctor did not have medical malpractice lawsuit coverage. He found refuge from the lawsuit in filing for bankruptcy under Chapter 7, listing malpractice claims as his reason for filing. The U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Palm Beach County blocked this patient and another’s claims of malpractice against the doctor. Moreover, the doctor who committed the surgical error was able to keep almost all of his assets, including a $1.6 million oceanfront home and maintain his $400,000 annual salary. The doctor’s attorney was quoted as saying the doctor’s actions were not uncommon.

For the full article.

Although hospitals often argue that hospital-acquired infections are inevitable for seriously ill patients, recent studies refute this claim. One study found that age and severity of illness did not appear to be risk factors among 54 patients with varying ailments who contracted hospital-acquired infections during the three-year study period. A second study found that patients with hospital-acquired infections stayed in the hospital longer, were more likely to die, and faced higher costs than other patients with similar underlying illnesses. The severity of the effects of the infection could not be attributed to how sick the patient was on admission.

Experts recommend that health professionals do more to promote hand-washing among medical staff, take greater care in donning gowns and other infection-preventing clothing during medical procedures, use antibiotics more selectively, reduce traffic in and out of operating rooms, and isolate patients when necessary. Being proactive about hospital-acquired infections could not only prevent medical malpractice, but also save hospitals a lot of money.

For the full article.

Executives from two dozen drug companies met last month to assess what appears to them to be a harsh new political climate. In hopes of preventing Congress from letting the government negotiate lower drug prices for older Americans on Medicare, the pharmaceutical companies have been actively recruiting more Democratic lobbyists, lining up allies in the Bush administration and Congress, and renewing ties with organizations of patients who depend on brand-name drugs.

In its campaign contributions, pharmaceutical companies overwhelmingly favored Republicans over Democrats. Drug companies worked closely with Republicans to create the Medicare drug benefit, excluding Democrats. Democrats now plan to return the favor. Democrats want to investigate drug pricing and profits, drug advertising aimed at consumers, and the marketing of drugs to doctors for purposes not approved by the FDA . The interaction between drug companies, who have enjoyed prosperous years under the Republican-controlled Congress, and the new political climate will be interesting.

For the full article.

Happy New Year and Best wishes for a happy and healthy 2007 from Levin & Perconti.