Illinois Medical Malpractice Blog

Surveillance footage from a hospital shows a woman falling from a chair, writhing on the floor, and, finally, dying, as workers fail to react for over an hour. Esmin Green, 49, waited in the emergency room for almost 24 hours until she fell face down on the floor from the chair she was sitting in. She fell at 5:32 a.m., by 6:35 a.m., when a medical staff member who was flagged down by another person in the waiting room nudged Green’s body with her foot, she was dead. Until that staffer was summoned, Green hardly drew any attention. Patients sitting nearby did not react at all, security guards and a hospital staff member seemed to have noticed her body a minimum of three times, but, from the video, it does not appear that any of them attempted to aid her. In fact, one security guard could not even be bothered to leave his chair, instead, he rolled it around the corner, stared at her body, then rolled it back. Green had been involuntarily committed the day before the incident and was still waiting for a bed when she fell; her body stopped moving approximately half an hour after she fell. Reportedly six people have been fired because of the incident, amongst those let go are security personnel and staff members.

This is not the first issue with the hospital’s mental health unit, which was sued last year by the state’s Mental Hygiene Legal Service and Civil Liberties Union, who called the unit “a chamber of filth, decay, indifference and danger.” The lawsuit further states that patients who complained too much were occasionally handcuffed, beaten, or injected with psychotropic drugs. The parties in that suit went before a judge on Tuesday where the hospital agreed to institute reforms, including checking on patients in the waiting room every 15 minutes. Additionally, the hospital will make attempts to shorten the average waiting time to 10 hours within the next four months.

Adding to the shocking situation is the fact that Green’s medical records appear to have been altered or falsely filled out in an attempt to cover up the incident. For example, there is a note for 6 a.m. that claims she was “awake, up and about” and another 20 minutes later claiming she was sitting in the waiting room and that her blood pressure was normal, in actuality, Green was either dead or writhing on the floor during those times.

It is unclear whether Green’s family will seek to file a wrongful death lawsuit for this apparent medical malpractice. To read more about Green's shocking death click here.

A study of doctor response time in emergency situations published in the New England Journal of Medicine found a strong correlation between delayed time to defibrillation after in-hospital cardiac arrest and a patient’s likelihood of survival. The study lasted five years and covered nearly 15% of the large hospitals in the country. The factors the study identified as highly correlated with response time were hospital size and admitting diagnosis. Small hospitals tended to have quicker response time while patients admitted with non-cardiac diagnoses experienced a higher response time following cardiac arrest.

Surprisingly, however, the study also found a strong correlation between race and response time. In fact, African-Americans and Native Americans experienced nearly 25% greater response times when undergoing cardiac arrest. 25% is extremely significant when considering that only 30% of patients underwent defibrillation after two minutes. However, any time beyond two minutes exceeds the guidelines-based recommendations. This speaks to major problems in hospital response time where nearly 1/3 of responses exceed widely-accepted recommendations.

The significance of this delayed response time? When defibrillation was delayed, patients only had a 22% chance of survival while reasonable response time resulted in a nearly 40% survival rate. Furthermore, the study’s numbers were skewed in favor of successful hospitals as the study was voluntary. One of the study’s authors even noted that this likely resulted in responses from only generally quality care facilities.

Following this study, physicians should realize seconds do make a difference. Many of us have images of doctors on television yelling “Code Blue” and running to revive their patients. In reality, unfortunately, physicians are not always as quick to the punch. In hospitals where such delays are a recurring event, the lack of an adequate response is nothing short of negligent.

For the full study, click here:

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.

Preventable deaths, injuries, and illnesses have been found to be caused by emergency room delays. ER waiting times have increased from 22 minutes in 1997 to 30 minutes in 2004. Heart attack patients are exposed to more serious dangers as their wait time has doubled on average, but the risks caused by delay are great. In a study in the journal Health Affairs, 1/4 of heart attack patients had to wait 50 minutes or more before getting treatment.

The lack of universal health insurance in America, as well as the closure of emergency rooms around the country have contributed to the overflowing waiting rooms where patients may wait dangerous amounts of time. People without healthcare insurance are often forced to visit emergency rooms for free care, regardless of urgency.

Click here for the full article

In a recent medical malpractice lawsuit, a birth injury that was allegedly caused by a nurse-doctor communication breakdown yielded a $1.2 million settlement. Nurses were concerned that the birth was taking too long, but were hesitant to consult the doctor about these fears due to his reputation of angry responses to perceived criticism. The infant developed cerebral palsy.

Physicians too commonly react harshly to instances where they feel bothered by the nursing staff, such as late-night clarification requests, difficulties with procedures, changes in patient condition and more. The negative consequences of verbal abuse or disruption in hospitals are significant; reduced communication, team collaboration, information transfer and concentration are all reported as responses to disruptive behavior. Patient safety is compromised in many ways by these reported breakdowns. Medical errors increase in disruptive or abusive situations and the quality of care decreases. Patient mortality increases with these outbursts. Medication errors have also been caused by verbally abusive hospital staff relations.

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Continue reading "Hospital conduct leads to reduced patient safety and medical malpractice lawsuits" »

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

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

A recent study reviewed almost nine hundred medical malpractice claims to find that 27% of those cases involved errors by residents, interns, or fellows. The result of these errors frequently resulted in substantial personal injuries or death, despite the fact that many of the errors occurred in the outpatient setting.

Researchers also looked at how these errors by residents, interns, or fellows could have been prevented. They noted that errors in their judgment resulted in 72% of the medical malpractice claims. More than half of these medical trainees errors were due to a lack of supervision. The study concluded that there is a relationship between poor teamwork to preventable errors and quality of care.

Click here for the full article.

All patients being treated in hospitals, whether for serious surgery or routine procedures, should be made aware of Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus (MRSA), an infection acquired during hospitalization. 100,000 people die of MRSA annually. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that one out of every 22 patients will acquire an infection during hospitalizations totaling 1.7 million patients a year. It is also estimated that out of that group, 99,000 would die. MRSA has recently been proven as avoidable in many cases. Pittsburgh Veterans Hospital has cracked down on doctor hygiene and hospital cleanliness, while taking other minor precautions and has noticed a decrease in MRSA infections. According to the hospital's chief of staff, "the infection control program cost about $500,000 a year, including test kits, salaries for 3 workers, and the $175-per-patient cost of gloves, gowns and hand sanitizer. The hospital... realized a net savings of nearly $900,000 when the number of infected patients fell." Hospitals should take note, especially since Medicare will no longer pay for "preventable" conditions induced by carelessness or medical malpractice in hospitals. One of the "preventable" categories is certain types of hospital-acquired infections. The hospitals themselves will have to cover these often enormous amounts.

Continue reading "Avoidable infections acquired in hospitals kill 100,000 a year" »

A 19 year-old sophomore at Howard University recently sued George Washington University Hospital and Howard University Hospital after being denied proper care. According to the medical malpractice lawsuit complaint, the plaintiff was given a date-rape drug at an off-campus party and was then denied a rape kit at several hospitals because she allegedly appeared intoxicated.

According to the medical malpractice lawsuit complaint, the plaintiff was given a date-rape drug that rendered her semiconscious. She was then assaulted. Immediately after the assault, she sought medical assistance at Howard University Hospital accompanied by two witnesses. She was denied treatment because she appeared intoxicated, was drifting in and out of consciousness, and was vomiting. The police were also informed and said that a rape kit was unnecessary.

For the full article.

The Illinois legislature has passed, and the governor has signed, legislation requiring the screening of hospital patients for drug-resistant staph infections. The MRSA (methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus) infections infect over a million patients and kill tens of thousands every year. MRSA is the most common infection acquired in hospitals and Illinois is leading the nation in confronting the controversial issue. The law becomes effective immediately. Hospitals are now required to test all patients in intensive care units for MRSA and isolate patients with the bacteria. The bill was controversial because some hospital infection control practitioners claimed it would hinder response times to emergency threats. The same group introduced legislation requiring hospitals to prevent the spread of infection by analyzing which infections posed the most risks at different facilities. Although this bill was intended to replace the MRSA bill, both were passed into law. Fortunately for patients, the bills are aimed at protecting patients from unnecessarily contracting dangerous infections in hospitals.

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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.

Click here for the full article.

Hayes Robinson wandered from Sacred Heart Hospital, in Chicago, IL, on Sunday and his family continues to look for him. Hayes is a 76-year old Alzheimer’s patient. According to the family, Mr. Robinson had tried to walk out of the hospital on a previous visit. Hayes is without his blood pressure and Alzheimer’s medications.

Hettie May Knox, Mr. Robinson’s companion, said the hospital staff told her, “he signed himself out about an hour ago.” The patient told the hospital staff that he lived just around the corner. However, Mr. Robinson did not live just around the corner, in fact he lived over four miles away!

Elderly patients with Alzheimer's disease should never be left unattended. The weather this week in Chicago is another concern for the victim's family. With extreme heat blanketing the city, Mr. Robinson stands a good chance of getting heat stroke. If you or anyone you know has any information on the whereabouts of Mr. Robinson please contact Area 5 SVU police at 312-746-8365.

Levin & Perconti successfully settled a case against Manorcare this summer for $825,000 when a severely demented patient wandered from the facility in January 2004 and died from overexposure to the sub-zero temperatures.

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The family of the woman who died while waiting in a hospital emergency room has indicated its intent to file a wrongful death suit against the hospital. The 43 year old woman died of a perforated bowel, vomiting blood and suffering pain for 45 minutes in the hospital's emergency room without ever getting treated. The woman's boyfriend even called 911 in an attempt to get immediate medical attention. A subsequent 911 call then tried unsuccessfully to get an ambulance to take the woman to another hotel. The 911 tapes further show that the staff at the emergency room did nothing but watch as the woman slowly bled to death. The hospital had a record of failing to provide care and was under investigation at the time of the incident.

Click here for the full article on the lawsuit.
Click here for the full article on the 911 calls.

A jury awarded $11 million in a medical malpractice suit against an emergency room physician for failing to diagnose a condition that led to stroke and paralysis. The man went to the emergency room with a severe headache, and doctor's failed to diagnose an infection that had spread to his brain. While the emergency room technician ordered a CT scan that should have detected the infection, the treating physician sent the man home with a painkiller. Days later, the man suffered a stroke and slipped into a coma. Had the man been properly treated by the emergency room physician, the stroke and its debilitating repercussions could have been avoided.

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After several days of deliberation, a jury was unable to reach a verdict in the medical malpractice suit alleging that nurses and doctors breached the ordinary standard of care. The family of the deceased sought $3 million because when the deceased arrived in the emergency room, nurses only spent fourteen minutes with him before leaving for a lunch break. Had the nurses performed an adequate physical examination, the plaintiff argued, the nurses would have been able to discover and treat the fatal condition.

The defendants argued that the deceased suffered from overwhelming infection and should have gone to the hospital the day before.

Click here for the full article.

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.