Illinois Medical Malpractice Blog

A woman whose feet and fingers were amputated as the result of complications with her tummy-tuck surgery was awarded $30,000,000 by a jury in the personal injury lawsuit. The woman had the tummy-tuck to correct muscle damage due to three caesarean sections, and 20 days later blood and fluid began collecting in her wound, causing her extremities to turn blue. The emergency room “spent too little time treating [the woman] and left the hospital at one point to change his pants.” The hospital staff also failed to administer and analyze tests in a timely fashion. The woman’s feet and fingers were ultimately amputated as a result of medical malpractice and gross negligence.

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A hospital and attending anesthesiologists have recently settled a malpractice lawsuit regarding gross negligence during a face-lift procedure for $3.1 million dollars. A 56 year-old-woman died of cardiac failure caused by an overdose of local anesthetic. Alarms that monitored the woman’s blood oxygen “were turned down so that they were inaudible”. That same year, author Olivia Goldsmith died during cosmetic surgery at that hospital as a result of medical malpractice. Another woman suffered brain damage after a face-lift and settled for $7 million.

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A lawsuit was recently filed by a man who was seriously injured in a bus accident. He broke both legs and lost three teeth; his right leg was eventually amputated. The personal injury lawsuit seeks $27 million dollars in damages, lost wages, and pain-and-suffering. The driver of the bus had been banned years earlier from driving for the public transit agency and had been involved in multiple traffic accidents in the 20 months prior to the accident.

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The parents of an 18-year-old have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the driver of a car that struck their daughter while she was riding her motorcycle. The motorcycle accident led to the teenager’s death eight days later. Her parents believe the driver of the car was negligent and in violation of traffic laws. The driver was cited for failure to yield while entering a highway.

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The American Association of Justice recently published a report entitled, “No Basis for High Insurance Rates”. The report illustrates the ways insurers are gouging doctors, padding their pockets with excessive premiums, and driving up the cost of health care. The alarmingly high medical malpractice insurance rates are the results of insurance companies' policies. Insurance reform is what is needed to ameliorate rates and lower the cost of health care without infringing on victim's rights.

The study cites the 2006 financial statements recently filed by medical malpractice insurers. The statements reveal that while the amount they paid out in claims has declined, their surplus is at an all time high. One example of an inconsistency in the claims of insurance companies is paid losses vs. written premiums. The net paid claims and losses have decreased substantially in the last few years even though these carriers have raised their rates considerably. This is only one example of the discrepancies in the reasoning of insurance companies regarding rising rates.

This is a further illustration of the ways insurance companies cause harm to doctors and victims, and blame medical malpractice lawsuits in order to cash in.

To view the full study, click here

A 63-year-old combat veteran wounded in Vietnam recently died as a result of medical malpractice and negligence. After admitting himself to the psychiatric unit at Hampton Veterans Affairs Medical Center, he soon complained of difficulty breathing. Nurses and doctors repeatedly gave him anti-anxiety medication to treat what they perceived to be an anxiety attack. The patient was only given a physical examination on five of his last thirteen days at the center. Physical examinations should be performed at least daily, especially when the patient is having trouble breathing. This missed diagnosis and hospital error ultimately led to the veteran’s death.

The veteran eventually died due to massive blood clots in his lungs. The failure of the hospital staff to perform routine physical examinations resulted in the death of a patient. This tragedy and wrongful death could have been prevented if the nurses and doctors on staff would have properly performed their jobs.

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Avandia, a medication used to fight type 2 diabetes, has been identified as a heart risk. The risks were reported in a study last week and confirmed by the government’s preliminary evaluation. The FDA would like to wait for the results of a study that will not conclude for two years, which could put millions more at risk. Critics of the FDA and Avandia complain that two years is too long to wait when lives are at risk. The initial study suggests that as many as 60,000 to 10,000 heart attacks might be linked to the use of Avandia from the time it appeared on the market eight years ago. Diabetics are especially susceptible to heart complication; two-thirds of diabetics die from heart problems. The FDA and diabetes experts are advising users of the drug to talk to their doctors before discontinuing the drug to prevent losing control of blood-sugar levels. Product liability law provides compensation for those who may have been affected by the use of this drug.

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Patients in other states have recently been required to waive their rights to a jury trial in case of medical malpractice by a group of obstetricians and gynecologists. Although the enforceability of these waivers is in question, it is unsettling that victims of medical malpractice may be forced to settle their cases through binding arbitration in without the right to present their case to a jury of their peers. Adding insult to injury, the agreement purports to cap pain-and-suffering compensation at $250,000, no matter how egregious the malpractice or serious the injury.

Although states that have instituted tort reform have not seen a decrease in insurance rates, this group of Ob-Gyns are attempting to carve out a special exception for them enjoyed by no other profession or ordinary citizen. These doctors are under the mistaken belief that tort reform will reduce malpractice insurance premiums. However, the real solution to the problem is much needed insurance reform.

The insurance company that offers incentives to Ob-Gyns in return for the patient waivers is planning to operate in other states, including Illinois. The enforceability of arbitration waivers and agreements on caps is questionable. These requirements hurt doctors, patients and victims while allowing insurance companies to profit. Doctors pay the same rates, patients lose their constitutional rights to a fair trial, and victims in need do not receive appropriate compensation. Make sure to carefully inspect any agreements your doctor may ask you to sign.

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Victims of Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) have recently filed a class action lawsuit against the state and the governor’s administration. The plaintiffs allege that the state has violated the Americans with Disabilities Act by failing to provide community-based care for brain injury patients. The plaintiffs maintain that “thousands of severely handicapped residents face a lifetime of nursing home confinement in violation of federal law.”

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of four plaintiffs and the Brain Injury Association of America. However, the lawsuit seeks to represent all Massachusetts brain injury patients residing in nursing homes, arguing that these patients have been denied their living rights. Instead of seeking monetary damages, the lawsuit insists that the state establish a policy to provide community-based care options for all brain injury patients.

Click here for the full article from the Boston Globe.

Please view this category at our other blog Illinois Nursing Home Abuse Blog

A State House narrowly rejected a medical malpractice bill that would have made it more difficult to successfully sue E.R. medical providers for alleged malpractice. The bill was the only major piece of medical malpractice legislation considered during the current session. The House voted 28-28 on the bill, with 31 “yes” votes needed for approval by the 60-member chamber. The bill would have raised the burden of proof for lawsuits over emergency care. The existing lower standard requires a “preponderance of the evidence” and the new standard would require the higher stand of “clear and convincing evidence.”

For the full article.

In a shocking report, more people die from medical malpractice each year than from highway accidents, breast cancer, or AIDS. In one state, a little known law called MICRA (Medical Injury Compensation Act) now puts a price tag on what your life is worth. Parents of a child who was a victim of medical malpractice were shocked to find that the state ornia had already put a price tag of $250,000 on their daughter’s life. Economists state that the $250,000 would be worth $1 million in updated dollars, yet the law remains unchanged.

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A State Supreme Court unanimously ruled last week that in response to discovery requests in medical malpractice lawsuits, hospitals must turn over lists of hospital privileges granted to physicians by the facilities’ credentials committees. Hospitals formerly stated that turning such documents over would compromise the confidentiality of the physician peer-review process. While the justices agreed that the process is confidential, the Court ruled that plaintiffs should be able to ascertain a list of privileges granted to a doctor through hospital records.

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The Illinois Senate passed HB 1798 on Thursday, May 17 by a vote of 31-23. The bill now heads to the Governor for signing. If passed, the bill would allow damages for grief, sorrow, and mental anguish for the wrongful death of a loved one.

A roll call on this vote can be found here.
For more information on the bill.

Physicians are now forcing patients to sign contracts promising not to sue for medical malpractice. Patient advocates and legal experts are troubled by the notion of asking patients to sacrifice their legal rights, forfeiting their right to a jury trial and agreeing to limit pain and suffering awards and punitive damages.

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An obstetrician was found liable in a medical malpractice lawsuit recently and was ordered by a city jury to pay $8.1 million to the parents of a baby boy he delivered in 2003. The jury found the doctor was responsible for the brain damage suffered by an infant during a difficult delivery. The damages would be limited to just over $2.1 million under Maryland law putting a cap on awards for pain and suffering. The victim baby died a year later from a respiratory illness related to his permanent brain damage caused by the medical malpractice.

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A State Supreme Court has blocked another part of the General Assembly’s tort reform law. Last week, the justices invalidated a state law that required medical malpractice lawsuit plaintiffs to release their medical information as a condition of filing suit. In the decision, the 6-1 majority held that the state law is preempted by the federal privacy provisions of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, or HIPAA.

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The Senate passed a bill on Wednesday by a vote of 93 to 1that would give the FDA more power to police pharmaceutical manufacturers. The bill allows the FDA to police drug safety, order changes in drug labels, regulate advertising and restrict the use and distribution of medicines found to pose serious risks to consumers. The bill aimed to fundamentally change the philosophy and operations of the FDA as an agency, requiring it to focus on the entire life cycle of a drug, not just the years before its approval. If passed, the bill requires the government to establish a surveillance system to track the adverse effects of prescription drugs.

For the full article.

The company that makes the painkiller OxyContin and three of its current and former executives pleaded guilty last week in federal court to criminal charges that it misled doctors and patients when it claimed the drug was less likely to be abused than traditional narcotics. The company agreed to pay $600 million in fines to resolve the criminal charge of “misbranding” the product. This settlement amount is one of the largest amounts ever paid by a drug company.

For the full article.