Illinois Medical Malpractice Blog

An Illinois jury recently awarded $1.6 million to a man who suffered medical malpractice when his doctor failed to diagnose bladder cancer. The man went to his doctor, complaining of frequent urination and other issues. A mass in the man’s bladder was obstructing his kidneys, which led to renal failure. When the man went to see another doctor, that is when his condition was correctly diagnosed as bladder cancer. However, by that point, the cancer had already progressed to stage-four bladder cancer, which severely limited the man’s treatment options.

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Experts state that because there are so many different treatment options for varicose veins, it is best to get a second opinion when a doctor recommends it. A recent CNN article recommended going to a doctor who does multiple types of interventions because an individual who only performs one may be biased in their recommendations.

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A recent CNN article addressed certain diagnoses which call for immediate second opinions. One such diagnosis was a pregnancy termination for fetal abnormality. One doctor stated that he often gets referrals for one diagnosis and it turns out to be something different. Parents should be completely informed in making such a severe diagnosis.

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A woman who had to have a quadruple amputation after contracting a flesh-eating bacteria in a hospital suffered a legal setback last week. A judge ruled that hospital records are protected by work product and attorney-client privilege. The victim’s attorneys said that they will appeal the ruling, which is separate from a pending medical malpractice lawsuit.

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In a recent CNN article, experts suggested that a recommendation for a hysterectomy should be quickly followed by a second opinion. Sometimes doctors misdiagnose and recommend surgical removal of the uterus for bleeding orpelvic pain when the uterus is not the problem at all. One doctor stated that on almost a monthly basis, he sees patients whose doctors have misdiagnosed them, telling them to get a hysterectomy when they actually have myofascial pain. Myofascial pain can be treated with icing, stretching, and anesthesia injections.

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A leading medical malpractice insurance carrier says it will lower its costs by an average of 11 percent next year. This further demonstrates that the medical malpractice “crisis” does not exist and tort reform is unnecessary.

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A recent CNN article highlighted five common diagnoses thin which patients should automatically seek a second opinion. One such diagnosis was heart bypass surgery. Heart bypass surgery carries serious risks including death, stroke, and severe infection due to medical malpractice. Additionally, alternatives now exist to the severe surgery.

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A medical malpractice lawsuit filed by the estate of a woman alleges a surgical complication caused the woman to lose her right leg. The woman underwent a left heart catheterization via the right groin artery June 13, 2005. During the procedure, she began to exhibit symptoms including inadequate perfusion after the procedure. The lawsuit alleges negligence in that the doctor failed to act in a timely manner in diagnosing the inadequate perfusion and failed to remove the intra-aortic balloon pump in a timely manner.

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A judge recently denied a motion by an insurance company requesting a new trial in the case of a young girl who died tragically due to medical malpractice. In 1996, a high-school girl went to the hospital, complaining of severe abdominal pain.

A 15 hour delay in surgery caused the girl to lose her bowel and suffer 89 surgeries and three organ transplants for the next two years until she met her untimely death in 1998 due to an infection. In 2004 a jury awarded the family $17.4 million which was appealed by the insurance company. Since 2004 the award has been collecting interest. With the denial of the insurance company’s motion, the family stands to collect nearly $23 million from the insurance company, $2.5 million of which will go to reimburse the county for medical expenses.

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Illnesses, injuries and infections caused by medical mistakes or negligence in hospitals will no longer be covered by Medicare, the government health insurance program for senior citizens. This new initiative can save the lives and wellbeing of patients because it will make doctors and hospitals more accountable for preventable errors and force them to adhere more closely to policies and procedures. Private insurers are considering implementing a similar policy, which could save Americans money.

The preventable conditions that will not be covered by Medicare include surgical tools left inside patients after surgery, incompatible blood or air embolisms, bedsores or pressure ulcers developed during a hospital stay, injuries resulting from falls in the hospital, and infections caused by extended use of catheters in blood vessels or the bladder and infections at a surgical site after coronary artery bypass surgery. Some hospital spokesmen have expressed concerns that, for instance, bedsores are sometimes unpreventable. The conditions that have been chosen to be excluded from Medicare coverage are not arbitrary, however. They have been chosen by experts that believe they can be reasonably prevented. Levin & Perconti, for example, settled a case for $1 million recently when a nursing home claimed that a patient’s severe pressure sores were not avoidable. The patient, however, was able to completely recover when moved to a different facility. The included injuries were chosen by experts and stand as federal recognition that they are avoidable and can be prevented by stronger adherence to policies and procedures.

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A 72-year-old woman was awarded $1.27 million in a medical malpractice lawsuit against a hospital as a result of her leg being amputated to the knee when it became infected with maggots 18 days after surgery on her foot. A nursing home doctor discovered hundreds of maggots in her wound. The woman's lawyer alleged that the gauze for her wound was changed but that the wound was not cleaned. The woman said she was pleased with the verdict because the negligence of the nursing home and hospital caused her permanent disfigurement and that she needed the money because she became so completely dependent on others.

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Pharmaceuticals are continuing to put patients at risk. There have been instances of bad reaction to a common drug, Reglan, used to prevent post-operative nausea and vomiting. A woman has recently come forward alleging an instance of product liability, claiming that after she was injected with Reglan, she immediately began experiencing tremors. Her surgery was canceled, but the tremors have continued. Tardive Dyskinesia, a condition that causes involuntary movements, is one of the adverse effects of Reglan.

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"Sicko - Musings on Healthcare From an Insider" is a new blog that has proven to be informative, relevant and straightforward. Author and speaker Anthony Cirillo, a healthcare expert, advocates for elder adults, working to assure their dignity and respect. Recent postings have included information about healthcare reform and doctor fees.

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After winning $1.7 million jury verdict in a personal injury case, a man, who was rendered legally blind after medical malpractice occurring during a spine surgery, was able to withstand a separate challenge to that verdict. The defense attorneys filed a separate lawsuit, alleging that the blind man had defrauded the court and was not actually blind. As proof, the defense lawyers shot secret footage of the plaintiff working. However, in rejecting the fraud claims, the judge noted that the defense lawyers failed to realize that the plaintiff was using tools specially designed for the visually impaired. In addition, the judge stated that the defense lawyers’ footage failed to include any footage of the man as he went up or down stairs, an activity in which the man needed assistance from another person.

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A federal court has ruled that terminally ill patients do not have a right to experimental drugs that have not been FDA approved. The plaintiff asked that the FDA approve experimental medications that have passed safety trials but have not been sufficiently proven safe and effective. The plaintiffs based this inquiry off of what they believe to be the constitutional right of self preservation. Terminally ill patients might have no FDA approved treatment options and experimental medications could be their only chance at survival. The FDA said that the risks of harm of unapproved drugs is too great, even in cases of the terminally ill. The appeals court ruled in the FDA's favor and suggested that advocates of experimental drugs approach the legislature.

A 64-year-old woman has filed a medical malpractice lawsuit against the federal government as a result of the negligence of an Army surgeon. During a routine surgery, the doctor punctured her right hepatic duct, causing the contents to leak into her peritoneum. The surgeon failed to detect or diagnose the medical mistake and sent the woman home the next day. When she returned a few days later, as her condition was deteriorating, she stayed at the hospital for three more days until the doctor realized his mistake. The lawsuit alleges that the doctor was negligent before and after the surgery. In addition to medical bills and loss of wages, the woman suffers from pain, loss of quality of life, severe emotional distress, disfigurement and permanency of injury.

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For more information about the Federal Tort Claims Act click here

An obstetrician is claiming that a medical center retaliated against him for testifying against doctors in medical malpractice cases. His employer stripped him of his hospital privileges, and he is now unable to deliver babies or perform other operations. Hospital "peer reviews" all over the country are being criticized for similar retaliation. The federal Health Care Quality Improvement Act is a 1986 law intended to protect patients from irresponsible or negligent doctors. There are concerns that, instead, it helps negligent doctors weed out doctors who speak up about medical malpractice. This could discourage expert physicians all over the country from testifying about serious medical mistakes that cause injuries. The hospital claims that it revoked permission for the doctor to practice medicine in hospitals due to unrelated discrepancies.

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The medical malpractice of a doctor has resulted in criminal charges. The doctor lied to his patients, telling them that they had cancer when they did not actually have cancer. It is unclear why the doctor subjected his patients to these unnecessary procedures, but the doctor’s inexplicable behavior didn’t start with needless prostate surgeries. Further investigation has revealed that previous patients who were supposedly receiving hormone injections were responding as if they were being given placebos until other doctors noticed that the hormones weren’t effective. When another doctor asked if he had gotten a bad batch of hormones, the criminally accused doctor’s patients suddenly began responding to the hormones. The doctor is accused of fraud, battery, and elder abuse.

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A legal malpractice lawsuit was filed in St. Clair, Illinois recently by a man whose lawyer failed to file his medical malpractice claim within the necessary statute of limitation. The Illinois man was injured by a bullet wound and was treated by the hospital. He was discharged even though he was suffering from a high fever and severe pain at the wound site. A few days later, the man was diagnosed with gangrene and the delay in the diagnosis resulted in injuries to his bones, soft tissues, ligaments, tendons, muscles and blood vessels. The man alleges that his attorney's negligence caused significant financial damage and the loss of his medical malpractice claim.

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The widow of a sheriff’s deputy is suing a mental hospital for its role in the shooting death of her husband. In her lawsuit, she files a third party medical malpractice claim, alleging that the shooter, a man involuntarily committed in 2004, suffered medical malpractice at the hands of the mental hospital and its doctors. In turn, it was the shooter who suffered the medical malpractice that ultimately led to the death of her husband, a sheriff’s deputy who was responding to a call at the 74 year old shooter’s home. Lawyers for the widow acknowledge that their case is on shaky legal ground, as it would set precedent in Florida if it even made it to trial. But lawyers for the widow are confident and claim that the mental hospital had a duty to warn law enforcement officers and other first responders about the mental status of the shooter. Lawyers for the mental hospital respond that allowing the case to go to trial would be an unprecedented extension of a mental health professional’s duties.

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A jury has recently awarded $1.8M against a hospital for medical malpractice when an anesthesiologist failed to treat symptoms of paralysis that arose after surgery. The anesthesiologist initially decided that these symptoms, which included progressive weakness in the patient's arms and hands and involuntary movement of his right arm away from his body, did not warrant surgery. This failure to correctly diagnose central cord syndrome delayed the necessary surgery for 15 hours and led to personal injuries including paralysis. The man, who drove himself to the hospital for bladder surgery, now needs full-time, round the clock care for all his hygiene needs, as well as ongoing treatment for permanent kidney damage. Unfortunately, Michigan's caps on non-economic damages in medical malpractice cases will limit the amount the man will be able to recover from the hospital to an amount that is less than what the jury believed was appropriate for this man's pain and suffering.

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A transplant surgeon was recently charged with purposely advancing the death of a patient in order to recover his organs. A medical malpractice and wrongful death lawsuit was filed. The transplant community is extremely worried that this allegation could steer people away from offering their organs for donation. When people are deciding whether or not to donate their organs, one of the biggest fears and deterrents is that doctors will hasten their death. The transplant community has been working hard to reverse this mentality and this recent charge is a serious setback. There are about 97,000 people nationally are currently awaiting a transplant.

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The mother of a 26-year-old man has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the doctor and others she alleges prescribed overdoses of medication to speed up his death. The claim alleges that the doctor prescribed overdoses of morphine and Ativan and injected a topical antiseptic into the man's stomach. As a result of the alleged medical malpractice, the man had suffered irreversible brain damage and was put on a respirator. When his mother gave approval to donate his organs, the California Transplant Donor Network sent a surgical team to handle the transplant. In California, however, it is illegal for transplant doctors to treat potential organ donors before they are declared dead. The doctor is charged with felony counts of dependent adult abuse, administering a harmful substance and unlawful prescription of a controlled substance.

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A jury has recently awarded $2.5 million dollars in a medical malpractice verdict against a surgeon who botched a routine cyst removal. The cyst was on the patient’s buttock, and as a result of the surgical error, the patient’s sphincter muscle was cut, resulting in permanent loss of bowel control and requiring that the patient wear a diaper. The 43 year old man sued for personal injuries sustained by the surgeon’s medical malpractice, including the costs of his medical care, the pain of his injuries, and the embarrassment and emotional pain that the man will have to suffer for the rest of his life.

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