Illinois Medical Malpractice Blog

A hospital recently settled a medical malpractice lawsuit regarding the death of a 17 year-old who died following surgery in 2004. The medical malpractice victim was an active teenager who underwent surgery in December 2004 to upgrade a device implanted in her brain when she was an infant to prevent fluid from building up. The medical malpractice lawsuit claimed that she died after surgery because nurses failed to monitor her vital signs as ordered by the attending physician and notify when her condition began to change.

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An Illinois medical malpractice lawsuit trial recently began where a Springfield, Illinois pathologist misdiagnosed an infection in the medical malpractice victim’s back as cancer in 1998. This misdiagnosis caused preventable spine damage that required several surgeries and left the victim unable to work. Both the Illinois medical malpractice victim and the defendant hospital agree that a medical technician mistakenly included a biopsy sample from another patient among the nine samples that the doctor thought were from the Illinois medical malpractice victim. The other patient’s sample led to the doctor making a diagnosis that prompted the hospital to give him useless radiation treatment.

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A former doctor facing more than 120 medical malpractice lawsuits filed for bankruptcy. The bankruptcy filing could delay the medical malpractice lawsuits, but several plaintiffs have asked the bankruptcy court to allow those cases to move forward.

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Stroger Hospital in Chicago, Illinois and other Cook County medical clinics face Illinois medical malpractice lawsuits over faulty mammograms in two separate cases. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of an Illinois medical malpractice victim who passed away from breast cancer. The Illinois medical malpractice lawsuit claims that the victim was not told about her cancer soon enough to save her life. The lawsuit claims that the victim went to a Chicago Clinic in early 2005 and was told that the abnormal appearance of her breasts was just because she was “just old.” A mammogram just a few months later showed stage 3 breast cancer.

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A woman who was prescribed a regimen of powerful drugs for several years after being misdiagnosed with HIV recently received a $2.5 million jury award in a medical malpractice lawsuit. The 45 year-old brought the medical malpractice lawsuit against one of the doctors who treated her after being misdiagnosed with HIV in 1994. Due to the combination of medications prescribed for her by the treating physician, the medical malpractice victim suffered depression, fatigue, weight loss, and intestinal problems.

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In 1999, a 52 year-old woman had serious back pain and drove with her husband to the busy clinic of a doctor, whom they immediately liked because of his concern for the woman. Thirteen months later, that woman died from aggressive lymphoma that her husband now believes could have been the cause of the terrible back pain. Seven years after that, the doctor accused in a lawsuit of disregarding a sonogram that should have raised alarms about Joan’s cancer, settled with her estate for $925,000. The medical malpractice lawsuit settled six months before the state Health Department revealed that the doctor may have exposed thousands to hepatitis C and other bloodborne diseases by reusing syringes from multi-dose medicine vials.

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The medical malpractice lawsuit seeks unspecified damages and calls the victim’s wife’s death “totally preventable.” The medical malpractice lawsuit alleges that the victim mother essentially bled to death over the birth of her second child. The complaint charges that the physician did not follow hospital procedure by failing to call a maternal hemorrhage code. Over the course of 15 hours, the mother lost about four quarts of blood (out of about five quarts in a pregnant woman) before going into shock and expiring.

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A multimillion-dollar medical malpractice lawsuit judgment has been awarded against an obstetrician found negligent in not treating a newborn for herpes. In a 150-page written decision released last week, a Justice stated that the obstetrician was negligent in not suspecting the then 17 year-old mother had herpes and not referring her newborn child to an infectious disease specialist or neonatologist. Because of the doctor’s negligence, the now 14 year-old child has been left profoundly mentally delayed and is functioning at the level of a year-old child.

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The debate surrounding “tort reform” and medical malpractice caps is heating up again after a Cook County judge declared capping certain damages for patients unconstitutional. In 2005, an Illinois state law was enacted that narrowly limited medical malpractice lawsuit awards for non-economic damages for pain and suffering. The law limited the damages to $1 million for hospitals and $500,000 for physicians. There is no ceiling for damages regarding medical care and lost wages, which typically make up the highest part of the award.

“Tort reform” advocates claim that medical malpractice caps encourage more doctors to practice in the State. However, as we know, high insurance premiums are driven by greedy insurance companies. The Illinois State Supreme Court will rule on the issue.

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A second nursing home abuse and neglect and medical malpractice lawsuit has been filed against a nursing home. The complaint alleges that the nursing home fails to supervise residents and allows them to fall. This lawsuit comes after a resident died after multiple falls. After the first fall, the nursing home was required to do the following: provide the resident with a bed or wheelchair alarm, provide the resident with well-fitting and skid-proof footwear, and provide physical assistance for the resident during each and every transfer. The nursing home failed to do all of the above in this case of nursing home abuse and neglect.

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A 52 year-old woman won an $800,000 judgment in a medical malpractice lawsuit following a jury trial. The woman was injured during a hysterectomy. The jury found that the woman’s injury was caused by the medical malpractice of two doctors who misused a surgical instrument during the operation. Three days after the surgery, the woman’s left leg was numb. She was never able to return to work and now requires a cane in order to walk.

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Although virtually all doctors think they should report impaired or incompetent colleagues or serious medical errors to the relevant authorities, nearly half don't, a study suggests Monday.
The authors say they are the first to try to broadly assess doctors' support for and adherence to professional standards. The researchers, whose findings appear in the Annals of Internal Medicine, surveyed a national random sample of 3,504 practicing doctors between November 2003 and June 2004. They received responses from 1,662.

While 96% of respondents said doctors should always report impaired or incompetent colleagues, only 55% of those with direct personal knowledge of such doctors in the past three years said they always did so.

And while 93% of respondents said doctors should always alert authorities when they observe serious medical errors, only 54% of those who had such information in the past three years said they always did so.

"I think human beings always fall short of their aspirations," senior author David Blumenthal says. "The intent of the paper was not to criticize but to … highlight the areas for improvement."

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Two months ago, Medtronic, the maker of electronic heart defibrillators, notified physicians and a quarter million patients that its products contained a potentially fatal defect. The Medtronic product is designed to regulate patients with irregular heart beats by delivering electric impulses to the heart. When the product becomes defective, it either fails to deliver these necessary impulses or worse; it could deliver painful and unnecessary electric shocks. Those with faulty Medtronic devices have had them replaced with an older, more stable version of the product. One group that is particularly at risk for the product failure is those patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. However, there are substantial risks for all patients having this replacement surgery.

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Like many state legislatures, the Illinois state legislature is being pressured to enact verdict caps on medical malpractice claims filed against doctors and hospitals. While there are examples of outrageous verdicts being granted by juries, most of these verdicts are dealt with within the judicial system by simple motions and orders of the court. Verdict caps, on the other hand, seek to silence juries on the issue of medical malpractice by mandating certain levels of awards no matter how egregious the act or consequences.

For a discussion on lobbying effort in other states, click here.

A Chicago medical malpractice lawsuit was filed today by John J. Perconti of Chicago medical malpractice law firm Levin & Perconti against St. Anthony Hospital and an emergency room physician. The lawsuit alleges that the hospital and doctor failed to diagnose meningitis in a 14-year old baby girl which caused her death.

The baby was evaluated and treated in the emergency room at St. Anthony on March 14, 2006. A blood culture test was ordered and Motrin, Tylenol, and IV fluids were prescribed. The child was sent home with her mother. At 7:00 p.m. that evening, the emergency room nurse was notified by the laboratory that Anna’s blood culture (test) showed the presence of gram positive cocci (multiple forms of bacteria).

Attorney John Perconti explained the medical error: “When the emergency room nurse and doctor learned the abnormal results of the blood culture they should have notified Elizabeth Nunez immediately and advised her to bring Anna back to the ER for further evaluation, hospitalization and antibiotic therapy. Instead, Dr. Lachica called Elizabeth at home to check on Anna’s condition and advised her to see her own pediatrician in the morning. St. Anthony’s nd Dr. Lachica failed to inform Elizabeth that Anna had tested positive for gram positive cocci, a life-threatening bacteria. They also failed to notify Anna’s pediatrician about this abnormal result. With this type of infection, you must err on the side of caution or face the risk of losing a life.”

Click here for the press release

A court of appeals upheld a jury verdict that awarded $8,000,000 in a medical malpractice case. The woman sued for medical malpractice when a surgery in 2000 paralyzed her inner organs, rendering her stomach and intestines unable to function.

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A December 8, 2007 editorial depicts the importance of an accurate way for consumers to rate their physicians and the possible flaws with current systems. As it currently stands, most insurers rate doctors based on the cost of care, not the quality of the care received. From the onset, this is a biased system as the insurers are likely to rate doctors with lost costs higher than those with higher costs. However, there is surely no indication that low cost doctors provide better care. In fact, some may argue the exact opposite is true. Regardless, a better alternative to the current system would likely include factors other than physician cost – hopefully factors more indicative of the quality of care each doctor provides.

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In the December 4, 2007 issue of the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin, correspondent wrote about the ability for patients to sue the makers of federally approved and regulated medical devices under state law. The main issue to decide was whether federal law would preempt state law and prevent injured victims from bringing a state law claim. One of the major issues which such a policy would be that the Food and Drug Administration could basically shield medical device manufacturers from state law liability simply by approving use of the device. This is turn could result in the companies providing less safe products because they are satisfied with their legal protection. Such a implication can certainly have large ramifications that must not go unaddressed.

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Actor, Dennis Quaid recently suited Baxter Healthcare Corporation in a products liability lawsuit. The complaint alleges negligent packaging of different doses of a production in similar vials with blue backgrounds. The drug, a blood thinner called Heparin, was given to Mr. Quaid’s new born twins and they were inadvertently given massive doses at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center on November 18. The lawsuit was filed in the Illinois courts as Baxter Healthcare is based in Deerfield, IL.

In February of this year, Baxter had issued a letter to all health care workers cautioning them about the possible mix-up. According to Dennis and his wife, Kimberly, this was not enough.

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In a December 3, 2007 article posted on MSNBC.com it was reported that physicians are very reluctant to report mistakes by other physicians even though they knew such had occurred. A survey conducted by Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School wound that only 46% of physicians surveyed have told authorities when they knew of a serious medical error committed by a colleague. This low percentage is despite the fact that 85% of doctors typically indicated that they anyone in their profession should tell patients and relatives about significant errors. Why does this no translate into practice?

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Chicago, Illinois attorneys Steve Levin and Michael Bonamarte of the law firm of Levin & Perconti have filed a medical malpractice lawsuit against doctors at Provena St. Joseph Medical Center of behalf of a 47 year old woman who underwent surgery on the lower portion of her spine.

The Illinois lawsuit alleges that the doctors who performed the surgery were negligent in that they failed to use appropriate technique during the surgery including misalignment of the spine, excessive manipulation of the spinal membrane, improper placement of surgical hardware and inappropriately prolonged the surgery.

As a result of the negligently performed surgery the Illinois Plaintiff suffered considerable pain and suffering, spinal deformity, excessive scarring, joint impingement, inflammation of the spinal membranes, excessive blood loss and other post-operative complications.

The law firm of Levin & Perconti filed a medical malpractice lawsuit on behalf of the family of a 44 year old man. The lawsuit was filed against doctors and healthcare providers at Hinsdale Hospital. The lawsuit alleges that the doctors were negligent in permitting the 44 year old man to undergo surgery despite his poor medical condition at the time. Steve Levin and Michael Bonamarte from Levin & Perconti are the attorneys representing the Plaintiff.

An appellate court has recently upheld an $800,000 jury verdict in favor of a woman’s surgical malpractice lawsuit. During the woman’s hysterectomy, doctors incorrectly placed a retractor, a tool that is used to expand the abdominal cavity during surgery. The retractor put pressure on her femoral nerve, resulting in damage to the nerve. The damage was revealed when the woman complained of numbness in her leg. To date, the woman is unable to work and can only walk with the aid of a cane.

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