Illinois Medical Malpractice Blog

A new study reported in HealthDay exposes a potentially dangerous flaw in the way that many addictive medications are used throughout the country.

Doctors and other medical professionals are the ones charged with best understanding the effects of the medications that they prescribe to their patients. This expertise is intended to include both the potential positive effect the drug may have as well as the areas in which it could be dangerous. The forms of danger include negative side-effects, such as the potential for addiction to the medication. Unfortunately, many doctors are not tracking the use of these prescribed drugs.

The Journal of General Internal Medicine published this latest study that tracked opiate drugs—like oxycodone—that often lead to addiction and overdose. More than 1,600 records were examined on patients who took the drugs over a two year period. Unfortunately, the monitoring of those patients—particularly the ones identified as high risk for abuse and addiction—were rarely adequate.

The failure to properly monitor the drug use meant researchers discovered that very few patients received regular drug testing or regular prescription refills. Instead, on average the patients identified as high-risk sought refills earlier than those others.

One researcher explained: “We were disturbed to find that patients with a drug use disorder were seen less frequently in the office and were prescribed more early refills than patients without these disorders. We hope that these findings will call attention to this important safety concern.”

The result of these failures in our area likely means an increase in Illinois medication mistakes and other preventable problems.

Researchers recommend that doctors take a proactive, measured approach to prevent prescription drug addiction and abuse. These measures would include more face-to-face office visits, regular drug testing, and refill schedules only upon set intervals.

Continue reading "Many Doctors Failing to Provide Proper Drug Oversight—Leading to Medication Errors" »

Pharmaceuticals represent a double-edged sword that is common in many of the standard components of modern-day healthcare. Their use unquestionably saves the lives of many and improves the quality life for others. However, medication mistakes and abuse can present unique dangers that also cause death and decreases the standard of living enjoyed by many patients.

It is for that reason that all consumers should tread carefully when dealing with these drugs. The same advice obviously applies to all other involved in the creation and administration of these potent medicines.

The potential for harm is also why it is vital that our nation’s regulators take pro-active steps to ensure that potentially dangerous pharmaceuticals be taken out of the business stream where they could cause untold damage. An important decision on that front was made recently according to the New York Times. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently pulled the painkilling drug propoxyphene, sold as Darvon and Darvocet, because of concerns about heart risks caused by their use.

Propoxyphene has been around for decades with questions around its potential dangers noted as long as 32 years ago. There was a petition drive to ban the drug in 1978. Drug company Eli Lilly made billions of dollars on the drug since its first use in 1957.

The drug ultimately has not been found to have much effect on pain at all. It also has a high risk for abuse with only a narrow margin of safety between the recommended dose and a potentially fatal dose. Yet, it retained popularity, with doctors prescribing the medication to over 17.5 million patients last year alone.

The latest troubling data on the drug, which ultimately led to its removal from prescription rolls, indicated that it causes potentially dangerous heart electrical charges. Previous studies also revealed that there were more drug-involved deaths in areas where propxyphene was more highly used.

Continue reading "Darvocet and Darvon Pulled From Market For Health Risk" »

The improper use and administration of pharmaceuticals is a common form of malpractice. Each day patients rely on doctors to prescribe the right type of drug in the right quantity and administered in the right way. Deadly consequences often result when mistakes are made in this regard. However a new study reported by Science Daily raises more basic questions about the effectiveness of many of the drugs prescribed in huge quantities to patients across the country.

Typically medical professionals learn of the usefulness of medication through controlled studies using placebos. The logic behind the placebo-studies is clear: experts need to ensure that positive effects measured during tests are the results of the new drug itself and not the mere effect of subjects “believing” that they are taking a beneficial drug. Therefore, in these major drug tests subjects are never told if the pill that they take is the specific drug being tested or a placebo.

However a new study challenges the effectiveness of the placebo-controlled studies. It turns out that there is no universal standard for what materials are actually used in placebo pills. Each study seems to use frequently different materials. There is currently no requirement that those administrators of the studies report the content of the placebos. Particularly troubling is the fact that makers of the drug in question often determine the placebo details themselves—decision-makers with a personal stake in the drug study outcome.

The author of the study explains, “These concerns aren’t just theoretical. Where the composition has been disclosed the ingredients of the placebos have in some instances had a likely impact of the results of the study—in either direction (obscuring a real effect, or creating a spurious one).”

Continue reading "Lack of Placebo Standard Raises Questions About Drug Effectiveness" »

A New York Times article recently discussed an important issue is medical experimentation—what to do when new medical trials don’t work. Headlines are often littered with news of medical breakthroughs and new drugs that are supposed to help patients deal with previously untreatable problems. However, before reaching those important milestones, potential new treatments must go through various trial stages to test their usefulness.

Entire businesses have developed around finding patients to enroll in clinical trials for new drugs. Many patients and their families are very eager to join these projects, willing to do whatever it takes to find cures for their ailments. But hidden behind the glamor of new medical cures is the reality that many of these trials simply do not work. In fact, at times the new test drugs actually make patients worse.

Last week Eli Lilly, one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world, announced that it was halting two trials on what was previously a promising Alzheimer’s drug. Not only were the trial drugs not improving the test patients—it was actually making their condition worse. This is disappointing news and a sobering reminder of the risks associated with these new drug tests. It is extremely important for all patients who agree to take part in these trials to understand the potential for harm that exists any time medical professionals venture into uncharted waters.

These medical trials are important and necessary steps in improving the quality of healthcare. However, patients need to be fully informed about what they are getting into with these tests. Informed consent in this context should be the same as with any other medical procedure. Our Chicago medical malpractice lawyers at Levin & Perconti have fought for many victims of medical errors who did not give informed consent before the procedure that led to their harm. We fully support the same rights for those involved in medical drug trials.

Last week we reported on a particularly troubling medical error, where a newborn baby was mistakenly given a dose of morphine by negligent medical professionals. Good Morning America did a segment on the incident yesterday that explains more about the near-fatal hospital mistake.

Jessica Blischke had just delivered triplets, all girls, when her doctors prescribed her morphine to help her recover from the painful C-section surgery. However, a nurse mistakenly mixed up the IV lines with that of one of her just-born daughters, Taylee. In an instant the infant received a dose of the powerful opiate 400 times more potent than is usually given to a child her size. As a result, Taylee stopped breathing, going slack and becoming blue in the face while her mother was holding her. Doctors were able to revive the newborn, and she clung to life on a breathing tube.

The medical professionals were befuddled as to the cause of Taylee’s condition, until they finally performed tests which revealed the opiates in the child’s system. However, instead of considering whether a hospital error had caused the problem, officials instead pointed the finger at Jessica. Medical staff assumed that Jessica must have been taking drugs, with the morphine entering Taylee’s system through her breast milk. Doctors may never have believed Jessica’s repeated denials, except for the fact that the other two infants (also breast fed) had no traces of drugs in their system.

Eventually the truth was revealed. The nurse who made the error was overworking—making the mistake at the end of a 12- hour shift.

Our Chicago medical malpractice lawyers at Levin & Perconti continue to be saddened by the thousands of families who are forced to endure the heartache of these medical errors. Luckily, doctors were able to save Taylee’s life following the incident. Almost 100,000 patients each year are not so lucky and die from these mistakes. There is simply no excuse for medical professionals to destroy lives in that way. Please contact a medical malpractice lawyer if you have suffered from a similar mistake.

The Florida Appeals Court upheld an almost 26 million dollar verdict against a Walgreens Pharmacy after a teenage pharmacy technician improperly filled a prescription and killed a mother of three. The pharmacy technician typed in “ten milligrams” on the mother’s prescription when she should have typed one milligram. This case draws attention to the very troubling fact that there is no national standard for the training of pharmacy technicians. ABC news points out that in many states pharmacy technicians are not even required to have high school diplomas. Shockingly “a lot of the people working in the pharmacy have about the same level of training as someone that would be working in fast food," commented a lawyer who handles cases involving prescription errors. In addition, pharmacy technicians are overworked and are not closely supervised by licensed pharmacists.

Recently, Susan Novosad, a medical malpractice attorney at Levin and Perconti, settled a case against a Chicago-area pharmacy. This medical malpractice and negligence case was brought by the son of an 86-year-old man who died as a result of poor direction and instructions with regard to writing, filling and refilling his medication prescription. The mistakes made by the pharmacy were inexcusable and caused Susan’s client to lose his father. Susan hopes to warn others against the dangers of dosing errors in medication administration. If pharmacies do not change their ways, they will continue to kill victims because of negligence.

Although efforts have been made to make medications safer, medication errors take place in hospitals throughout the country. Studies show that medication errors cause at least one death every day and injure approximately 1.3 million people annually. A new effort is being made to quickly spread the word about such errors and offer guidance on how to prevent similar mistakes. The National Alert Network for Serious Medication Errors will send email alerts to 35,000 pharmacists working in hospitals and health systems. This will hopefully help diminish the number of life-threatening errors. Also, consumers can sign up for customized alerts about the medications they take. To learn more about the new measures to prevent prescription medication errors, please click the link.

An autistic young man, who was unable to speak, entered a Children’s hospital for some routine dental work. The hospital made the reckless medical error of using a painkiller-laced patch though his procedure. This type of patch is usually only meant to ameliorate chronic pain in cancer patients and others. The victim was discharged and found dead in his bed the following morning. The medical examiner stated that he had died from a drug overdose caused by the fentanyl patch. This family alleges he should have never even been given the fentanyl patch, nevertheless the highest dose available. The hospital has already admitted they committed medical error in prescribing the drug to the young man. The drug now requires a pain-management specialist’s sign off before it is administered. According to the Federal Drug Administration, wrong prescription of the fentanyl patch has become a persistent problem across the country during recent years, leading to numerous reports of death and life-threatening injuries. The report shows that doctors have inappropriately prescribed the fentanyl patch to patients for acute pain following surgery, for headaches, occasional or mild pain, when it should not be prescribed. The family feels a great deal of remorse considering the egregioius and preventable mistake that caused their son’s death. If you or a loved one has been wrongly prescribed fentanyl, please consult an Illinois lawyer. To read more about the wrongful death, please click the link.

A jury recently awarded $2 million in a medical malpractice lawsuit to the family of a woman who died after being given medication following the delivery of her baby. The jury determined that the doctor was negligent in giving medication to the new mother.

For the full article.

A young woman who decided to wear the Ortho Evra patch to control her migraines ended up in the emergency room with a 8 inch cerebral venous thrombosis. This thrombosis was in the crown of her head and went all the way down and wrapped around the right side of the jugular vein. Her doctor believed that since she had no clotting factors the only cause of her blood clot could be the Ortho Evra patch. Six months after the blood clot was discovered it was still in the young woman and she was on two kinds of blood thinners. After this medical malpractice incident the woman found other woman who had similar problems with the patch. There were two people who had died, one woman in the ICU and one woman who had a stroke. This medical malpractice case is a grave example of how a medical product can cause horrible problems. To read the full story, click here.

After the heparin contamination last year, the FDA is now forming a pilot program to study 100 applicants in their hopes to promote safety in foreign pharmaceutical ingredients. The heparin contamination was produced by foreign companies where numerous deaths were the result of adverse drug reactions to the substance. The FDA focuses on those companies that pose the highest risk in importing products that disobey FDA’s standards.

For the full story, click here.

Two year old Emily Jerry died from a pharmacy medication error. She was given a fatal dosage of chemotherapy. Prior to her death, the little girl suffered a coma from the large overdose of medication. Emily’s Law was created to regulate pharmacy technicians like the one who overdosed Emily. The law requires pharmacy technicians to be at least 18, registered with the State board of Pharmacy, and pass a Board-approved competency exam.

For the full story, click here.

Researchers received $3.7 million to find ways to reduce medical error in various hospital and pharmacy departments. Researchers will try to develop safe ways in handling patient test results because receiving results are more difficult in larger hospital institutions. Also, the researchers will try and find safer ambulatory sedations. Another goal is to reduce medication error from high-risk medications.

For the full story, click here.

The instructions on the cancer drugs Erbitux and Vecitibix should include specific information on a gene mutation that affects whether the medicines will work. Recent studies found that a mutation in the KRAS gene renders the drugs ineffective in colon cancer patients. Overall, the drugs reduced by 30 percent the risk of a patient’s colon cancer worsening. A more detailed analyses showed that patients with the specific KRAS mutation fared much worse than those with a normal KRAS gene. The FDA advisory panel said new types of analyses may be required to better screen people for gene mutations, and they also suggested larger clinical trials may be necessary to determine other biochemical influences on drug performance. The FDA is currently working to identify genes that interact with medications although they already require patients to undergo genetic testing before they’re prescribed certain drugs. To read the full story, click here.

Medical examiner Jan Garavaglia, M.D., offers tips on how to stay alive in her new book. First, she claims there are “1.7 million health care induced infections each year” that can be avoided. Second, she remembers her most memorable autopsy of a young boy who was given the wrong medicine due to pharmacy error and specifies ways on avoiding this deadly error.

For the full story, click here.

In order to avoid harmful drug interactions, it is a good idea to keep an updated list of medicines that you are taking in your wallet and next to the phone. Give a copy to a family member or caregiver. Be sure to describe your medications at your medical appointments. Include any herbal treatments and dietary supplements. Before you add any new drugs to your regimen, consult a physician. Do NOT take any medications that have been prescribed to someone else. Make a new year’s resolution to do your best to avoid harmful drug interactions.

For the full article.

Heparin manufactured by Baxter, an Illinois based company, contained a contaminant which produced adverse effects such as hypotension, nausea, and shortness of breath. After this detection, APP Pharmaceuticals, also from Illinois, became the major supplier of Heparin in the United States. APP hopes to lead a safety initiative that will essentially reduce medical errors in the future.

For the full story click here.

Hospira, a global medication delivery company, is voluntarily recalling a plastic product used to administer injections. A small number of products may be incorrectly labeled. Adverse effects from error may result in electrolyte imbalance, cardiac dysfunction, gastrointestinal disturbances, paresthesia and mental confusion.

For the full story click here.

At least 17 babies were given excessive amounts of blood thinner heparin at a hospital, possibly leading to two deaths. After investigation, the hospital concluded the error occurred in their pharmacy. The hospital contends there were no adverse effects due to the overdose. One family with twins subjected to the overdose is considering filing a lawsuit.

For the full article click here.

An elderly woman had been taking the Digitek heart drug in belief that it would protect her against future heart attacks. She then died while taking the drug just 5 days before the drug maker, Actavis Totowa, issued a Class I Digitek recall. The elderly woman’s caretaker noticed that after she started taking the medication she was becoming weak, having breathing problems and shortness of breath. The woman would go to the emergency room and stay overnight, but nobody ever told them what the problem was. The elderly woman would complain of nausea and began to suffer incontinence. She was also retaining fluid and getting weaker and weaker. The woman died of a heart attack on April 20th, 2008 and Actavis Totowa issued their recall on April 25, 2008. The company issued a nationwide recall for oral use because some tablets were double their normal strength, a manufacturing error, and a potentially life-threatening one. Now the woman’s family is looking into her medical records because they feel certain that Digitek had something to do with her untimely death. To read the full story, click here.