Illinois Medical Malpractice Blog

A state medical board filed accusations of gross negligence and incompetence against two surgeons for surgical error. A patient claims one of the surgeons performed unwanted medical procedures of a facelift and liposuction on her when she only agreed to a tummy tuck. The doctor is also accused of medical unprofessionalism by borrowing a large sum of money from the woman and forcibly kissing her. A second patient claimed this same doctor negligently failed to remove her breast implant during surgery which resulted in hospital admittance.

Read more about the alleged medical negligence here.

According to federal officials, The University of Chicago Medical Center has violated the federal law of Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act by not following emergency room procedure. The Chicago hospital failed to provide a medical screening to a 78 year old man who died last month in their emergency room. The alleged violation could lead to loss of federal funding from the Medicare health insurance program for the elderly. The Joint Commission, which is given the power to accredit hospitals, is also going to investigate the alleged violation. The Illinois hospital said it has the correct policies and procedures in place and will take disciplinary action against its staff employees who may not have followed protocol.

Read more about the alleged hospital violation here.

A military officer’s skin cancer was overlooked and later misdiagnosed as a wart by two different military doctors. When seeking out a third opinion after his tour was over, he learned he had stage three skin cancer and died 18 months later. The medical misdiagnosis led to legislation introduced in the House. The legislation allows military personnel to sue the government for medical malpractice.

Read more about the medical malpractice legislation here.

A doctor at Scott Air Force Base in Illinois misdiagnosed an Air Force officer’s ex-wife’s rash on her arm. He told the woman to go home and take over-the-counter medication for her rash. The condition was not a rash but a flesh eating bacteria. The medical misdiagnosis caused the woman to lose the use of her arm. The woman was awarded $8.5 million for her medical malpractice claim.

Read more about the medical misdiagnosis here.

Crull v. Sriratana, M.D., No. 4-06-0952 (3/23/09) affirmed a previous opinion which found that the trial court did not err when it dismissed plaintiff's medical malpractice complaint with prejudice after trial court learned that plaintiff's attorney relied on report of medical consultant whose license of practice medicine had been suspended for felony narcotics conviction when he signed affidavit to extend time for filing 2-622 report. In addition, plaintiff's reply brief is stricken for failure to recite authority or contain recitation to the record; and for making statements of fact outside of, and inconsistent with, the record. This decision will impact medical malpractice cases.

According to the Crain’s Chicago, the University of Chicago Medical Center is under fire again, this time for the death of an elderly man who passed away on February 3 in the hospital’s emergency room. The article did not give specific details about this possible case of medical malpractice.

A spokesperson for the hospital acknowledged that the hospital may not have followed proper care procedures, “Our investigation found that proper policies and procedures were in place but staff members may not have followed the protocol. Appropriate disciplinary actions are being taken.” Recently, the University of Chicago Medical Center has come under criticism after announcing plans to redirect emergency room patients to different hospitals in a measure to decrease wait times.

Read the full article about the University of Chicago Medical Center.

Pharmacists are given equal notoriety under a state medical malpractice reform bill. A massive medical malpractice reform was passed a few years back in this state with pharmacists overlooked. The bill also includes a felony for practicing medicine without a license. Such instances of unlicensed practice that would spark this bill would be when a doctor caused serious bodily harm or even death.

Read more about the medical malpractice reform bill here.

A surgeon fled the country pursuant to his attorney’s advice in order to not be easily prosecuted for a medical malpractice case, according to the doctor. The plastic surgeon was claimed to have performed surgery on a man left disfigured who was now filing a medical negligence case against him. The medical malpractice defense attorney claims the professional misconduct allegations are not true.

Read more about the malpractice attorney here.

Surgeon Paul Christopher Francel is facing 14 complaints that have been filed against him for medical malpractice negligence. In 2006, the surgeon made headlines after he performed surgery on a Russian teen that left him brain dead. The parents of the teen have filed a wrongful death complaint which is just one of the numerous others against the surgeon. He is currently under investigation by the state medical board.

Read more about the medical malpractice complaints here.

A man was awarded $1.4 million dollars from a doctor and pain management center after he had a cervical epidural steroid procedure. The jury found the doctor failed to inform the patient of “appropriate alternative medical treatments available to him.” The doctor also “failed to provide the patient with information necessary to have informed consent to the procedure.” The steroid procedure caused him debilitating and permanent injuries to his right hand and arm and his left leg.

Read more about the medical information failure here.

Wierzbicki v. Gleason, No. 1-06-3756 (3-6-09) is a sixth court decision that found that the trial court lacked jurisdiction to enter order reversing previous order allowing plaintiff to reinstate her medical malpractice action, which had been dismissed for want of prosecution, while the reinstatement order was on appeal. Further, doctrine of revestment does not apply to give court jurisdiction to vacate its order. In addition, since it appears from the record that the trial court reversed its previous ruling in order to punish plaintiff's attorney for conduct which occurred outside of court's presence, case will be remanded to be heard by a different judge. This decision will have a great impact on medical malpractice cases.

With health care reform being a major topic in the new Obama administration, advisors are realizing this reform may include medical malpractice reform as well. Senator Ron Wyden thinks capping medical malpractice claims is key to reforming health care. Trial lawyers will most likely put up a fight against reforming malpractice awards.

Read more about medical malpractice reform here.

A jury has awarded a woman $38.3 million in a medical malpractice claim against a neurosurgeon and medication management company. She suffered severe injuries and chronic pain when the neurosurgeon injected her with a medication called Methylene Blue found in the medication management company’s medicine cabinet. The jury found the doctor negligent.

Read more about the huge jury award here.

A hospital’s misdiagnosis a boy’s cancer led to his death according to his family’s complaint filed against the hospital. The hospital originally diagnosed the son with bacterial meningitis and released him. The condition later was determined to be an aggressive form of anaplastic central nervous system T-cell lymphoma cancer that killed the boy. Two of the four patients that received the boy’s organs have died from the cancer. The lawsuit also claims doctor negligence.

Read more about the hospital’s misdiagnosis lawsuit here.

On March 16, a man filed a medical malpractice, naming a heart surgeon, hospital and six hospital employees as defendants. The negligence lawsuit alleges that after performing heart surgery on the plaintiff, the doctor failed to completely sew the incision shut on his chest. Two days later, he went into respiratory failure and was admitted to the hospital, where the doctor again failed to address his symptoms of “loss of consciousness, respiratory failure and possible bleeding postoperatively,” according to the article. The plaintiff will act as his own attorney in the medical malpractice lawsuit and is seeking compensation for lost wages.

To read about the medical malpractice lawsuit, following the link.

Key players from Congress and the Obama Administration are once again bringing medical malpractice reform to the table. An AP article discusses that these changes could benefit doctors and hospitals but they would also harm a plaintiff’s ability to seek just compensation when they are involved in a medical malpractice case. Trial lawyers argue that medical malpractice lawsuits are not to blame for rising health care costs and only account for a very small portion of costs.

To read the full article about medical malpractice reform, visit the link.

A new study by the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS) has found that the number of plastic surgery procedures is down by 12% since 2007. Many attribute this drop to the recession and people choosing not to have the often voluntary procedures to save money and take less time off of work.

Despite this drop, there is still a demand for these procedures and noninvasive treatments such as chemical peels and Botox have increased in popularity. With the popularity of plastic surgery, there will inevitably be instances of medical negligence. If you or a loved one have suffered injury or death as a result of medical malpractice during a plastic surgery procedure, we encourage you to contact our office to talk about your case. To read the full article on plastic surgery in Forbes visit the link.

A jury ordered a hospital to pay $5.8 million in a medical malpractice case to an anesthesiologist who suffered serious infection after having back surgery. The doctor was a staff member of the hospital where the surgery took place. The medical malpractice lawsuit claimed that his surgeons used instruments that were not properly sterilized and the surgery site became infected as a result of this negligence. The plaintiff had to have five additional surgeries as a result of this hospital-borne infection. His attorneys also noted that he would be on pain medicine for the rest of his life and would work less because of this hospital’s negligence.

To read more about this case of medical negligence follow the link.

A jury awarded a woman $2.5 million in a medical malpractice case in which a surgeon left a sponge inside of her body during a hysterectomy. The woman was unaware of this surgical error until three years later when she began to have health problems. After discovering the sponge, doctors performed surgery to remove it. However, the sponge had caused intestinal problems, and in addition to having the sponge removed, doctors had to remove part of her small intestine. According to her attorney, this caused constipation, diarrhea, abdominal pain, depression and anxiety.

Please follow the link to read more about this medical malpractice verdict.

A jury found a negligent doctor caused the death of a pharmacist. The pharmacist visited the doctor four days before his death because he was experiencing chest pain, jaw pain, and anxiety. Instead of concluding the man was having a heart attack, the doctor delayed diagnosis by taking a electrocardiogram. The widow’s attorney said the doctor should have taken reasonable steps to send the pharmacist to the emergency room to be checked out. The pharmacist then died of a heart attack four days later.

Read more about the negligent doctor here.

Advocate Health Group, the largest medical care provider in the Chicago area, allegedly “overcharged uninsured patients for services provided.” The Chicago hospital group settled about $3.8 million with the class action alleging the claims against the health group for the overpaid money. As part of the settlement, the Illinois hospital group will provide charity care to patients that are uninsured.

Read more about the Chicago Heath Group settlement here.

A state legislature has been pushing a bill that will place caps on how much a plaintiff will be awarded in a medical malpractice suit. The bill is supported by those that think the caps will keep doctors from leaving their state. The caps would be placed on “non-economic damages” including compensation for loss of companionship and emotional distress.

Read more about the medical malpractice reform here.

A man won $17.5 million in a medical malpractice suit against a doctor who failed to treat him correctly after contracting MRSA. The plaintiff contracted the hospital borne infection after having ulcer surgery. Due to the doctor’s failure to treat his infection with proper antibiotics, the man lost both his arms and legs from the MRSA infection.

Due to state medical malpractice caps, the plaintiff only received $250,000.

Read more about the MRSA medical malpractice lawsuit here.

A jury awarded $11 million in a dental malpractice case that involved a young man's death after having his wisdom teeth removed. The man had a genetic condition that involved swelling after a traumatic incident. This led to the man suffocating after having his wisdom teeth removed by an oral surgeon. Both the oral surgeon and the man’s dentist blamed each other for the medical error. The dentist was acquitted of negligence.

Read more about the dental malpractice lawsuit here.

A hospital settled $260,000 with a patient whose surgeon used the wrong angiogram films in performing her triple bypass surgery. The doctor did not realize he had made the medical error until he was closing the patient up. Afterwards he disclosed the surgical error to the patient and her husband but said she should not have any adverse effects since her arteries were almost identical to the arteries in the angiogram he initially used. The patient filed a lawsuit claiming surgeon and hospital negligence in mixing up the records. Months later the patient discovered she had to have another surgery to correct the medical mistakes made by her first surgeon at the hospital.

Read more about the negligent surgeon here.

A hospital was fined $25,000 for a surgical error in 2007 when a doctor left a sponge in a patient's body after emergency surgery. According to the article, the surgical error was “likely to cause serious injury or death” to the patient. This error took a second surgery to correct. Apparently it was the job of the nurse and scrub technician to count the number of sponges removed from the patient during the first surgery, but due to the overly bloody nature of this particular surgery, a sponge could have been miscounted.

Read more about the surgical error here.

It was recently discovered that a patient’s death in a Chicago area hospital was not reported to Illinois state regulators. According to Illinois regulators, the Chicagoland hospital was required by law to report the incident. The Illinois Department of Public Health, according to the article, only learned of the patient’s death a year later. The hospital is also being questioned to whether it overdosed the patient during her stay. Furthermore, a drug the Chicago area hospital prescribed to the patient has not been approved for pregnant mothers, but the patient was eight weeks pregnant.

Read more about the alleged hospital negligence here.

An AIDS doctor pled guilty to four counts of billing fraud and making false healthcare statements on Tuesday. The doctor admittedly watered down prescription doses given to patients. Meanwhile, he sent letters to Medicare requesting the full dosed prescriptions and claiming ex-patients still needed the drugs. The medications were for AIDS, HIV, and hepatitis patients. According to the doctor’s attorney, “a failure to provide the full dose of these medications would not necessarily shorten the life or cause the death of a patient.”

Read more about the guilty doctor here.

An article claims Veterans Health Administration System is better than the private sector hospital systems which may be from electronic health records. The article claims the VA hospitals are “safer, more efficient and more technologically advanced than their counterparts in the private sector.” This in turn would reduce medication errors, the article suggests. The article credits Dr. Kenneth Kizer for transforming the VA system through decentralization and introducing the electronic health records.

Read more about Kizer’s hospital transformation here.

A hospital claims the new state law enacted to reduce medical error has already made a difference. According to the article, the law requires hospitals to “report certain ‘adverse events’ to the state Department of Public Health. These are then investigated by the department.” The hospital has been investigated already when a patient died after a routine surgery. The investigations found the hospital to be non-compliant with Medicare standards.

Read more about the reduction in medical errors here.