Illinois Medical Malpractice Blog

A recent study suggests that a common pre-term labor drug, magnesium sulfate, is more likely to cause serious side effects compared to other pre-term labor drugs, such as nifedipine. Magnesium sulfate is the more commonly prescribed drug out of industry custom, even though both drugs achieve the same benefits. The study indicated that magnesium sulfate caused side effects including shortness of breath and fluid build-up in the lungs. In addition, the study noted a trend that mothers who received magnesium sulfate were more likely to be admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit than mothers receiving the alternative.

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The family of the woman who died while waiting in a hospital emergency room has indicated its intent to file a wrongful death suit against the hospital. The 43 year old woman died of a perforated bowel, vomiting blood and suffering pain for 45 minutes in the hospital's emergency room without ever getting treated. The woman's boyfriend even called 911 in an attempt to get immediate medical attention. A subsequent 911 call then tried unsuccessfully to get an ambulance to take the woman to another hotel. The 911 tapes further show that the staff at the emergency room did nothing but watch as the woman slowly bled to death. The hospital had a record of failing to provide care and was under investigation at the time of the incident.

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A recent study indicates that psychiatrists have been receiving more money from drug companies than the doctors of any medical specialty. Drug companies have recently made efforts to increase the amount of money they spend on marketing fees and expenses targeted to psychiatrists. Their efforts have been largely successful. The amount of drugs that psychiatrists have been prescribing doubled last year, with most of the increase attributable to antipsychotic medications for children. The report mirrors accounts from other states that have observed similar increases in drugs being prescribed by psychiatrists.

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Joint ventures between store-based health clinics and pharmacy chains have been touted as providing convenient and affording health care, but the American Medical Association has expressed concerns over possible conflicts of interest. Retailers have been using the joint ventures as a way to increase in-store sales of prescription as well as non-health related items. The AMA has announced that it will begin calling for states to begin looking into these types of arrangements. Their concern was spurned by informal reports stating that these clnic members earn more money or get promotions based on the number of prescriptions that they write. While the AMA believes that most of the store-based health clinics will improve patients' access to health care overall, the call for state oversight aims to ensure that any potential conflicts of interest get resolved in the patients' favor.

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Since 2003, the American Medical Association has been pushing for the creation of specialty courts that would hear only medical malpractice cases. These alternative courts proposed by the AMA would consist of judges with special training in medical standards. In addition, the health courts proposed by the AMA would cap non-economic damages according to a predetermined schedule, following the model of the caps on non-economic damages in California. The AMA's report states that medical liability insurance premiums have remained low in California and touts the state's recovery caps as a success. However, the report does not indicate whether patients in California are receiving a level of care equivalent to other states that do not have statutory caps.

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The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation suspended both the physician and surgeon license of Gerald Saul Kane, M.D., of Chicago suburb Highland Park. Three patients treated by Dr. Kane received a surplus of multiple prescriptions in a short period of time. This included more than 20,000 doses of OxyContin and other pain killers and controlled substances. Two patients died of drug overdoses shortly after receiving their last prescriptions from Dr. Kane. The department alleges that the doctor did not appropriately treat these patients by failing to prescribe medically appropriate amounts of controlled substances and failed to monitor the patients for signs of dependence on these drugs, leading to the wrongful death of the two patients. The department issued his summary claiming that allowing Dr. Kane to continue to practice medicine after this medical malpractice would put the safety of the public in danger. His license has been suspended and his license to prescribe controlled substances has been revoked.

Pharmaceutical companies and device manufacturers have access to information regarding which medications doctors prescribe for the reason that they are able to buy the information from the American Medical Association (AMA), and from companies that match the AMA’s data with pharmacy records. The AMA is holding its annual meeting in Chicago, where this topic is sure to be raised as an important issue. Some groups are planning to protest during the meeting in front of the Hilton Chicago. The information is being used to increase the sales of newer, more expensive drugs whereas it could be used to improve quality, safety of care, and lower drug prices. Many states, including Illinois, are proposing bills after noticing the correlation between the release of such information and the rising health care costs consumers face. Doctors that are not members of the AMA, about two thirds, are unaware that this information is being released. The AMA is planning to publish ads in medical journals to spread the information to doctors unaware of the fact that they can opt out of this practice.

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A personal injury suit between a Chicago area dentist and a man who died while in the dentist's care was settled for $1,135,000. The wrongful death action alleged that the dentist administered intravenous sedation but failed to properly monitor the Chicago, Illinois man. When the dentist realized that the man had stopped breathing, he then administered the wrong drug in an attempt to resuscitate him. Paramedics were called, but they were unable to revive the man.

The Chicago area resident went to the dentist to have a tooth pulled.

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The parents of a child with spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy is suing the hospital for medical malpractice. The birth injury lawsuit alleges that the hospital failed to properly monitor for signs of fetal distress during delivery. Doctors had given the mother pitocin to induce labor. During delivery, fetal heatrate dropped into the 100s, a dangerously low level, for 80 seconds. The hospital continued to administer pitocin for the next hour and a half. According to the medical malpractice suit, the baby was born "blue, not breathing, had no heartbeat, and had a scalp hematoma with a laceration." Because of the lack of oxygen to the brain during delivery, the child now suffers from cerebral palsy.

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A jury awarded $11 million in a medical malpractice suit against an emergency room physician for failing to diagnose a condition that led to stroke and paralysis. The man went to the emergency room with a severe headache, and doctor's failed to diagnose an infection that had spread to his brain. While the emergency room technician ordered a CT scan that should have detected the infection, the treating physician sent the man home with a painkiller. Days later, the man suffered a stroke and slipped into a coma. Had the man been properly treated by the emergency room physician, the stroke and its debilitating repercussions could have been avoided.

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The third Judicial Circuit’s Medical-Legal Committee in Madison County, Illinois met with members of the legal and medical community, including doctors from the Illinois State Medical Society, and both plaintiff and defense lawyers who specialize in medical malpractice law. The preface to the rules states, “In order to alleviate the burden to the parties of protracted litigation in medical malpractice actions, to further the administration of justice, and to prevent unnecessary delay, the court hereby implements the... local rules.”

The first rule mandates mediation in medical malpractice cases. Mediation must occur within 90 days of the depositions of all Plaintiffs and Defendants, or their legal representatives. The court will also set a deadline for depositions at the Initial Case Management Conference, which will also address Certificates of Merit and early settlement possibilities. A circuit judge of Madison County, Illinois who is not assigned to the case and is a certified mediator will mediate the case. The second rule says that all medical malpractice cases will be reviewed by a panel of circuit judges, who will meet monthly, to enhance the advancement of the deposition of cases, and to refer all applicable cases to mediation. The third rule allows plaintiffs 45 days to file an amended Certificate of Merit to comply with new regulations.

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Chicago area drug company Advanced Life Sciences Holding Inc. has successfully completed primary trial goal for a new one dose drug for pneumonia treatment. A thirty day course of the drug was also 100% effective against a lethal dose of inhaled anthrax. The drug, cethromycin, met the trial goal set by another long-acting antibiotic, clarithromycin, with similar safety risks.

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Recently, judges in Madison County met with the Illinois State Medical Society and its insurance company (the largest medical malpractice insurer in the state), and included numerous lawyers. There were concerns, however, that judges may have been succumbing to political forces influenced by the insurance companies. The meeting ultimately resulted in the implementation of new tort rules, which were announced Monday, June 18, 2007. The rules include mandatory mediation for all malpractice lawsuits in an effort to encourage settlements out of court and required monthly meetings of a panel of judges to discuss pending medical malpractice lawsuits.

Plaintiffs will have the opportunity to amend complaints in order to comply with the Illinois state law requiring all cases to be reviewed by physicians prior to filing. Additionally, plaintiffs are not going to be forced into settlement agreements, and participating in the mediation will not imply guilt for defendants who deny liability. There is no harm for either side in promoting controlled mediation to encourage settlements over expensive and drawn-out trials if they are unnecessary. However, the impact of these new regulations could prove to be marginal at best.

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President Bush has vetoed a measure promoting embryonic stem cell research for the second time. This time, however, he simultaneously announced a related and symbolic executive order. The order, a new scientific initiative, will have three parts: allowing research involving other stem cells to be eligible for federal financing if they have the same properties as embryonic stem cells, ordering the Secretary of Health and Human Services to support alternate techniques and the exploration of new scientific theories involving stem cells obtained from amniotic fluid or cells that have been deemed “clinically dead”. The initiative appears to be symbolic because there is no money attached. Also, Bush’s initiative pushes for the National Institute of Health to focus on a recent study involving possible reassignment of the skin cells of mice. Leading scientific researchers contend that this alternative has not been replicated in humans and is not a sufficient substitute to research and progress made with embryonic stem cell research. Embryonic stem cells can develop into any type of tissue in the body, possibly resulting in the discovery of new treatments and cures for the sick and injured. Researchers, advocates and politicians, including many from the President’s own party, will inevitably be questioning and criticizing Bush’s veto and virtually symbolic initiative.

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As the country transitions to a more electronic world, hospitals and healthcare providers are implementing electronic record-keeping systems. Electronic healthcare records (EHRs), would allow healthcare practitioners and hospitals to provide higher quality care because records would be kept and recorded more accurately in an electronic record world. Medical malpractice lawsuits may decrease and medical malpractice cases against hospitals will be easier to prosecute as the country’s healthcare system transitions to EHRs. If patients are receiving higher quality of care, fewer errors and incidents of malpractice will occur and lawsuits will decrease. On the other hand, medical malpractice lawsuits that are sometimes hindered by inaccurate or incomplete record-keeping, will become easier to prosecute if all records pertaining to the patient are centralized and accessible in an electronic world. Further, many records or documents claimed to be “lost” by hospitals and doctors may be easier to recover during the discovery process.

Of course, EHRs are not without risks. Hospitals will need to implement polices and procedures to ensure that address the risks of EHRs are addressed. These risks include doctors spending more time in front of computer screens than with patients, inaccurate data entry, and unauthorized access and errors related to problems that arise during the transition to EHRs.

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States are beginning to make information regarding quality and costs of medical services at different hospitals in the state available to the public. And the information shows that there is no correlation between cost and quality of care. In the study, it was shown that the two highest paid hospitals in the state actually had death rates that were higher than expected. The study also illuminated the problem that good care can go unrewarded; one hospital with a high success rate in a large number of bypass surgeries, for instance, was paid an average payment less than half the amount of the state average.

Insurance providers are aware of the fact that their payment policies and practices do nothing to promote better care in hospitals. Medicare, for example, pays a relatively flat fee depending on location and type of hospital rather than outcome or quality of care. Medicare pays for the services hospitals provide, even if those services are only necessary because of medical mistakes or avoidable hospital infections. This study may put more pressure on insurance carriers and hospitals to be more transparent regarding quality of care, and may give insurance companies a reason to consider distinctions in the care provided.

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The State has announced that it would pay $1.25 million to the family of a 14 year-old girl who died while in the State's care. The girl in the wrongful death suit was a patient in a state mental hospital. When she vomitted several times during the middle of the night, a doctor was called to the check on her condition. However, the doctor failed to perform a physical evaluation and failed to diagnose the intestinal blockage that ultimately led to the girl's death. In addition, even though the doctor ordered that the girl be checked on periodically throughout the night, neglect by the hospital staff left the girl unmonitored for as long as four hours.

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Doctors argued to a State Supreme Court that they could not be sued by the family of a deceased woman, even though it was their medical malpractice and failure to diagnose cancer that contributed to her death. They said that, when the woman died, her medical malpractice suit "evaporated" and her surviving sons did not have standing to pursue the claims. Fortunately, the irony of this argument was not lost on the high court, and the sons' victory will provide them with the opportunity to present their mother's case before a jury.

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