Illinois Medical Malpractice Blog

A recent Center for Public Integrity study revealed that manufacturers of pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and other health products spent nearly $182 million on federal lobbying from January 2005 through June 2006. Much of the money has been spent to quell the antagonism the pharmaceutical companies face in the Democratically-controlled Congress. One effort by the lawmakers that drew heavy drug industry lobbying was to undo a provision of the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003. The drug industry also lobbied forcefully to halt legislation that would have allowed drugs to be imported from other countries and sold in the United States.

For the full report.

The Food and Drug Administration recently proposed tightening rules to minimize conflicts of interest among outside medical experts serving on agency advisory committees. The panels are extremely important because the FDA tends to follow their recommendations on key matters such as drug approval and emerging safety questions.

For the full article.

A family has sued the United States for medical malpractice and the wrongful death of a 42 year-old former sergeant. The medical malpractice occurred at the Eisenhower Army Medical Center at Fort Gordon when the 42 year-old woman went for a simple surgery to repair hernias. A surgical error occurred when the surgeon punctured the victim’s liver. The medical malpractice surgical error caused the woman to lose over half of her body’s blood supply and caused her to be in a coma for the next four months.

For the full article.

A Congressional committee recently began an inquiry into the marketing and regulation of widely used anemia drugs that have raised safety concerns. The anemia drugs may cause patients to suffer complications and die earlier. The House has sent letters to the drugs’ marketers, requesting information about what they knew of the possible risks and their promotional methods. The letters also request the pharmaceutical companies to suspend any consumer advertising or incentive programs for doctors until the FDA has time to determine whether further safety precautions are necessary.

For the full article.

As we know, legislation has been passed throughout the country attempting to limit the justice that victims of medical malpractice can receive through so-called “tort reform.” HB 1798 amends the Wrongful Death Act so that juries may provide award damages for grief, sorrow, and mental suffering to surviving spouses and next of kin. It also deletes the language that limits the amount of damages.

For more information on the bill.

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SB 1296 recently passed the Senate and is now in the House. The bill would amend the Code of Civil Procedure so that the apportionment of fault under the joint liability Section only applies to the parties remaining in the case at the time a final determination is made by the trier of fact and does not apply to defendants that have been dismissed or settled.

For more information on the bill.

To find your representative.

Time is running out to register for The Illinois Trial Lawyers Association Education Fund’s seminar on March 31, 2007 entitled “Top Ten Things Every Lawyer Should Know.” Steven M. Levin of Levin & Perconti will be presenting on skills and strategies in deposition-taking.

To register, call 217-789-0810.
For more information, call 800-252-8501.

Another study suggests that a common surgery may be unnecessary. More than half a million people a year with chest pain are getting a procedure that may be unnecessary to unclog their arties. A recent landmark study suggests that most angioplasties are unneeded because drugs are just as effective. The results of the study found that angioplasty did not save lives or prevent heart attacks. Moreover, angioplasty only gave slight and temporary relief from chest pain. So why are doctors recommending this unnecessary surgery? While we do not have a definitive answer, it is known that an angioplasty costs roughly $40,000 while the drugs used in the study are all available in generic form.

For the full article.

The Food and Drug Administration recently issued guidelines for food processors, aimed at cutting down on food-borne-illness outbreaks. In the past 10 years, the FDA stated that there have been 72 outbreaks of food-borne illnesses from produce contaminated with E.coli and other bacteria.

For the full article.

Conflicts of interest between doctors and pharmaceutical companies may be more widespread that we thought. Dr. Allan Collins acts as president of the National Kidney Foundation and is the director of a government-financed research center on kidney disease. In 2004, the pharmaceutical company Amgen, underwrote more than $1.9 million worth of research and education programs led by Dr. Collins. In 2005, Amgen paid Dr. Collins at least $25,800, mostly in consulting and speaking fees.

Continue reading "Doctors’ ties to drug makers under scrutiny " »

A state judge recently decided to allow a couple to file a medical malpractice lawsuit against a fertility clinic accused of mistakenly inseminating the woman with sperm other than her husband’s. The couple has had three DNA tests which all confirmed that the husband is not the baby’s biological father.

For the full article.

One state has medical malpractice lawsuit payouts that are lower than in all but seven other states. What may surprise you is that this state eliminated its medical malpractice lawsuit damages cap on such awards in 1999. A recent study tried to measure the effects of various malpractice changes and were surprised on how little the changes in Oregon recovery limits effected the amount and frequency of malpractice awards.

For the full article.

Anemia-fighting drugs calling erythropoietins, which totaled more than $10 billion sales in the U.S. last year, may harm some patients. Recent studies showed that physicians using the hormone-like drugs to “cure” the anemia seen in cancer and kidney-failure patients may cause patients to suffer complications and possibly die earlier. The studies showed that physicians are using the drugs at doses beyond those recommended by the FDA.

For the full article.

A jury recently awarded a widow $1 million in a medical malpractice lawsuit. The woman’s husband died following a gastric bypass surgery about four years ago. He was 44 at the time of his death. An autopsy revealed that the surgeon committed surgical error in mistakenly connecting the wrong body parts.

For the full article.

“Tort reform” advocates like to use scare tactics, stating that medical malpractice lawsuits are causing physicians to leave the field. To the contrary, statistics from the American Medical Association show that the number of physicians is up nearly 90%, from 467,679 in 1980 to 884,974 in 2004. Additionally, the number of E.R. doctors has increased from 5,699 in 1980 to 27,864 in 2004, an increase of 388%. The number of ob-gyns has also increased at a rate of nearly 60%, from 26,305 in 1980 to 42,059 in 2004.

You may not really have to turn your cell phone off when entering a hospital. Recent data suggests that the dangers of radio wave interference with implanted medical devices are real but modest, and that cellphones in hospitals present no danger at all. Both studies received research financing from manufacturers of medical equipment. In 300 tests of ringing, making calls, talking on the phone and receiving data, there was not a single instance of interference with a medical apparatus.

For the full article.

The Oklahoma Supreme Court recently threw out an affidavit requirement in medical malpractice lawsuits. The affidavit required had to be from an expert witness stating that the case was valid. The OK Supreme Court noted in its opinion that the requirement, applicable only to medical malpractice lawsuits, violated the State’s Constitution. The Court stated that the law “immediately divides toward victims alleging negligence into two classes: those who pursue a cause of action in negligence generally and those who name medical professionals as defendants.” Additionally, the law created an unconstitutional monetary barrier to court access, having the effect of producing a substantial and disproportionate reduction in the number of claims filed by low-income plaintiffs. Furthermore, the Court noted “Tort reform statutes aimed at curbing medical malpractice legislation generally have not led to reduced malpractice insurance rates for doctors.” Finally, a Court sees the truth behind the false claims "tort reform" advocates make!

For the full article.

Chiropractors are not subject to the same medical malpractice regulations as physicians; however, one state's lawmakers are considering legislation that would require chiropractors to inform patients, both in writing and verbally, of the risks and possible side effects of their treatments. Former victims do not see the danger or difficulty in requiring chiropractors to disclose risks of treatment; however, state chiropractors call the legislation unnecessary and unfairly punitive.

For the full article.

In a recent medical malpractice lawsuit, a jury voted to award $360,000 to the 76 year-old medical malpractice victim and $40,000 to his wife. The 76 year-old was injured when a nurse at the hospital punctured a nerve in his arm with a needle. The man who operates a heavy-equipment garage cannot effectively feed himself or manage paperwork or other duties related to his work.

For the full article.

When you fulfill your civic duty of serving on a jury, you are safeguarding American democracy. Statistics have shown that civil juries are competent, rational, and responsible in their decision-making. Their decisions reflect continually changing community attitudes about big business accountability and government responsibility.

Continue reading "American juries are true safeguards of democracy" »

Another popular myth has been debunked: juries rarely award punitive damages. Punitive damages, which are imposed in cases of serious misconduct, are awarded in less than 1% of all civil cases. According to the U.S. Justice Department, punitive damages were awarded in only 5.3% of tort cases, including medical malpractice lawsuits.

For more information.

Contrary to popular belief, few injured Americans actually file lawsuits. According to Rand’s Institute for Civil Justice, only 10% of injured Americans ever file a claim for compensation and only 2% file lawsuits. In the area of medical malpractice, between 44,000 and 98,000 Americans die each year due to medical errors in hospitals alone, according to the Institute of Medicine. Roughly 300,000 Americans are injured. Professors David A. Hyman and Charles Silver summed it up in a recent article: With about ten times as many injuries as malpractice claims, the only conclusion possible is that injured patients rarely file lawsuits.

For more information.

A significant body of empirical evidence shows the “exploding” tort cases are actually declining. Very few who are injured actually sue and of the few who do file cases, very few end up in court. According to data from Court Statistics Project, the State Justice Institute, and the Bureau of Justice Statistics from the Department of Justice, tort filings have been declining since 1990.

On the other hand, contract suits, usually between business are increasing. In 2004, tort cases accounted for only 5% of general civil cases in unified courts in six states reporting while contract cases comprised 27%. Moreover, only 4% of the tort cases were for medical malpractice lawsuits.

For more information.

A recent editorial discussed the advantages to so-called “apology laws.” Apology laws act as an alternative to "tort reform" and give doctors the opportunity to express sympathy and compassion after medical malpractice occurs without fear that their words will be used against them in a civil suit. Florida was one of the first states to pass an apology law, which also required hospitals to inform patients of incidents that caused serious harm.

Although the laws are enacted, doctors and hospitals have not taken the lead in developing or implementing apology programs. Although the public expects physicians to be honest and forthcoming and the American Medical Association Code of Ethics requires disclosure when significant medical malpractice occurs, only in about 30% of cases are medical mishaps disclosed to the patient.

For the full article.

The state House approved legislation recently that would repeal a law that shields drug companies from product liability lawsuits involving drugs that have been approved by the FDA. The Democratic-backed bill, which passed 70-39, now heads to the Republican-led Senate, where it may face a cooler reception. The law in question dates back to 1996 and deprives Michigan residents of justice while it shields drug companies against product liability lawsuits from state residents seeking damages from side effects of prescription drugs.

For the full article.

Indiana is poised to become the second state in the U.S. to create a hospital-specific reporting system designed to prevent medical errors. Early this month, a website will debut, disclosing information about medical errors and medical malpractice, including the name of the hospital where the error occurred, the type of error, and roughly when the error happened. Only one other state, Minnesota, has a comprehensive monitoring system.

For the full article.

Reminder: On March 8, American Association for Justice (AAJ) is hosting a telephone seminar regarding Heart Device Litigation. The seminar will feature tips and strategies from recent cases in medical malpractice lawsuits regarding heart devices. For more information or to register, call 1-800-622-1791 or 1-202-965-3500, ext. 612.

Women who feared the risky hormone pills are hoping that a recently published French study is correct. Hormone skin patches and gels seem to be far less likely than pills to cause dangerous blood clots. Patches and gels are known to be effective for relieving the hot flashes and sleep-interrupting night sweats that plague many women. No one knows whether they will also prove safer than the pills in terms of breast cancer, heart attack, or stroke risk.

For the full article.

Recent studies are raising concerns about whether drugs that have been used by millions of cancer patients might actually be harming them. The popularly used drugs, sold by Amgen, Roche, and Johnson & Johnson, are used to treat anemia caused by chemotherapy and meant to reduce the need for blood transfusions in addition to giving patients more energy. The new studies, however, suggest that the drugs may make the cancer itself worse. The FDA is planning an advisory committee meeting to review the products.

For the full article.

A Madison County, Illinois jury awarded $450,000 in an Illinois medical malpractice lawsuit on Thursday to an Illinois man hurt during a spinal x-ray in which the doctor, hospital, and clinic admitted they botched the test. The doctor injected the wrong chemical dye into the 81 year-old Illinois victim’s spine and the victim suffered tremendous muscle spasms and suffered from breathing difficulty that left him in the hospital for over two weeks. The Illinois jury deliberated for about 4 hours before giving their decision to the judge.

For the full article.