Illinois Medical Malpractice Blog

One of the greatest organizational problems facing hospitals today is the battle over medical records. Many patients find that it can take months or years to get a hold of their own medical records after treatment. Even worse, some families of victims of medical malpractice or wrongful death have waited for years to obtain their loved one’s medical records from hospitals. Often, lost or missing records are simply part of hospital error and not a deliberate attempt to delay, but on some occasions hospitals may frustrate a patient’s records request purposefully. Patients and victims’ families must be aware that statutes of limitation often require that medical malpractice lawsuits be filed within a certain period of time after the injury occurs or is discovered. This means that patients and victims’ families must decide to file a medical malpractice lawsuit and contact their medical malpractice attorney as soon as possible and begin the medical records request process.

Read more here.

No one knew that the 18 year-old had a rare, genetic condition that cause a fatal reaction to the anesthesia when she decided to have plastic surgery and chose a surgeon to correct a congenital defect that left her with asymmetrical breasts and inverted nipples. Everything seemed very routine and nobody thought there would be risk involved. The condition that the family believes killed the 18 year-old is an extremely rare genetic disorder that causes a reaction to common types of anesthesia. The reaction is called malignant hyperthermia – it causes the patient’s temperature to spike to 110 degrees or higher. Salts precipitate out of the blood and organs collapse, leading to death.

More adequate care could have prevented this reaction because there is an antidote called Dantrolene that can reverse the effects of malignant hyperthermia. If administered in proper dosages in a timely fashion, the effects can be successfully reversed. However, according to the medical malpractice lawsuit attorney, the anesthesiologist administered only one dose when at least eight were required.

For the full article.

Surgery poses many risks. One, flash fires, has recently been shown to be more common than previously thought. In one of the states with the most comprehensive collection of statistics, 28 fires a year in operating rooms has been the average over the last three years. Medical malpractice lawsuits have not been uncommon results of surgical fires. Fires in operating rooms have not gained as much attention as other surgical hazards, such as wrong-site surgery, but these fires have proven themselves dangerous by causing serious injuries and deaths. One of the most fatal surgical fires occurs during throat surgery. Common fire hazards in todays operating rooms include the use of 100% oxygen, which can increase the flammability of gauze and hair when leaked into the air; alcohol-based skin cleansers; and the increasing use of advanced surgical tools like lasers and electrocautery devices. One of the most commonly cited causes of surgical fires is poor communication between surgeons, nurses and anesthesiologists. Prevention policies have been on the rise as more oversight groups have recommended them.

Click here for the full article

Unintended intraoperative awareness, also called anesthesia awareness, is a well-documented risk of surgery. A study published in the Anesthesia & Analgesia Journal concluded that about 0.13% of patients experience anesthesia awareness during surgery. One woman recently filed a medical malpractice lawsuit against her doctor for an experience that she claims was unintended intraoperative awareness. The woman said that she was paralyzed during an operation on her sinuses, but was conscious and able to feel pain. She also claims that the experience left her with posttraumatic stress disorder. Both sides in the trial concluded that the patient did display symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder, but claimed that what caused it was different. The anesthesiologist argued that the consciousness the woman recalled was not during the surgery itself, but that it was during the recovery period. While there is no dispute that anesthesia awareness occurs, the jury ruled that the patient in this case was not conscious until after the surgery had been performed. The woman stated that although she did not win her lawsuit, she will work to spread the word about anesthesia awareness and the technology that can be, but is not, regularly used to monitor brain activity to prevent the experience.

Click here for the full article

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.

Click here for the full article.

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.

Click here for the full article.

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.

Click here for the full article

A recent report regarding medical malpractice in Pennsylvania, focusing on surgical errors, was recently released by the Patient Safety Authority. 175 errors were made in the state during the past two and a half years, not including 253 close calls. These errors can lead to serious physical and financial strain, or even wrongful death. "Wrong-site" surgeries are a persistent problem and are clearly avoidable. Pennsylvania is a leader in public accountability for medical and surgical errors. In an effort to reduce the costs of health care, the Governor proposed that the state should cease to pay for care involving hospital-acquired infections, wrong-site surgeries, and other instances of medical malpractice. It is also the only state that requires hospitals to report near-misses.

The report cited wrong-site surgeries including the removal of a patient's healthy thyroid and incorrect cancer diagnosis as the result of a laboratory mix-up, an incorrect incision on the wrong side of a brain injury patient's head, and a surgeon inserting a needle into a patient's right knee when the surgery was planned for the other leg. In 83 reported cases of wrong-site surgeries in the state, the procedure was completed before the mistake was detected.

Click here for the full article

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.

Click here for the full article.

Victims of medical malpractice are mobilizing to help prevent medical errors and promote patient safety. Sorrel King created the Josie King Foundation to fund safety initiatives at hospitals in honor of her 18-month-old daughter who died after a series of medical mistakes. She also donated some of the financial settlement to the hospital where the errors occurred in order to start a children’s safety program. King launched a new web site, josieking.org, with advice and information for patients and the medical community on how to increase patient safety and what to do if medical errors do occur.

Continue reading "Patients and families affected by medical errors organize a grass-roots movement" »

A recent HealthGrades study revelaed that 248,000 patient deaths over a three-year period were preventable, and mistakes multiply during the night shift. Every type of patient is at danger during the night.

Studies have shown that babies born at night are 16% more likely to die than babies born during the day. Patients going into cardiac arrest at night were also more likely to die. Pediatric patients admitted at night are more likely to die within two days. The risks appear even more serious when birth injuries and pediatric injuries also occur preventably. Medication administration errors also multiply at night. Weekends are also dangerous for patients.

Because workers with seniority get priority shifts, night time staffers are not only fewer, but less experienced. Night staffing issues are not limited to doctors and nurses; mental health, social services, directors, and administrators are also understaffed on the night shift. Not only are night workers less experienced, they also suffer from fatigue- a major contributor to night shift errors.

Beware of the danger that medical errors are more frequently made at night. Click here to read the full article, including a personal account of a preventable death occuring during the night shift.

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.

Click here for the full article

A woman has filed a medical malpractice lawsuit and wrongful death lawsuit against a cosmetic surgery office after her husband died during a hair transplant operation. According to the complaint, the 52 year-old man went to the cosmetic surgery office in April 2006. An expert retained by the decedent’s wife’s attorney determined that the 52 year-old victim had been given an overdose of anesthetic.

For the full article.

In 2002, the National Quality Forum created a list of adverse medical malpractice issues and in 2006, they updated it. This list contains serious medical malpractice events that are easily preventable and have dire consequences.

1. Switching donor eggs or sperm, resulting in paternity mixups.
2. Leaving of sponges or instruments inside a surgery patient.
3. Disappearance of a patient from a facility.
4. Medication errors (wrong drug, wrong patient, wrong dose, etc.)
5. Giving wrong blood type.
6. Electric shock to a patient.
7. Fall of a patient.
8. Surgery on wrong body part of body.
9. Surgery performed on wrong patient.
10. Wrong surgery performed on patient.
11. Death during or after surgery on a healthy patient under anesthesia.
12. Contaminated drugs or medical devices.
13. Medical device malfunction or improper use.
14. Air embolisms.
15. Babies discharged to wrong parents.
16. Patient suicide.
17. Death or injury of a mother during low-risk pregnancy.
18. A patient developing hypoglycemia.
19. Failing to identify high bilirubin in infants, leading to death.
20. Advanced pressure sores.
21. Death or injury in spine manipulative therapy.
22. Oxygen or other gas lines being switched or contaminated.
23. Burn of a patient.
24. Injury or death from restraints or bed rails.
25. Impersonation of a health care working
26. Kidnapping of a patient.
27. Sexual assault of a patient.
28. Assault or battery between staffers.

For more information about the list.

Five years ago, a 45 year-old woman underwent a mini-facelift at a clinic. During the cosmetic surgery, her former high school classmate administered an excessive dose of fentanyl, a narcotic. The victim suffered respiratory arrest in the recovery room due to the lethal dose of fentanyl.

Although in 2001 the death was ruled as an accidental poisoning, police recently concluded that it was intentional. Police stated that the nurse was a certified nurse anesthetist and monitored the victim in recovery.

In addition to the criminal charges, the nurse faced a medical malpractice lawsuit from the victim’s family. The state Board of Nursing charged the nurse with failure to maintain an accurate record and failure to report information crucial to the safety of the patient. The Board also said that the nurse failed to alert the doctor about the victim’s deteriorating condition.

For the full article.

In part of a series of articles exploring problem doctors, a Sun-Times reporter discussed the serious consequences when doctors are addicted to pharmaceutical drugs.

One doctor’s addiction to the pain-killer Demerol resulted in the commitment of severe medical malpractice after administering anesthesia to a patient who was having her tubes tied. The doctor failed to give the woman, a mother of three, the proper drug to wake her up. Additionally, he removed the woman’s breathing tube before she was able to breathe on her own. Moreover, the doctor failed to notice that she was not getting oxygen on her own.

This woman suffered severe brain damage. Today, she resides in a nursing home in a nearly vegetative state, unable to talk, move, or feed herself.

This problem may be more common than you think. According to the Federation of State Medical Boards, addiction to drugs and alcohol is the number one reason that doctors lose their licenses or are otherwise disciplined.

For the full article.