Illinois Medical Malpractice Blog

Justice News Flash is reporting on a recent egregious medical mistake out of Mission Viejo, California.

Jessica Blischke gave birth to premature triplets in a Caesarean section pregnancy at a local hospital in early April last year. To ease her physical pain following the complex pregnancy, Blischke was prescribed morphine. However, for reasons still unclear, the medical professionals somehow switched Blischke’s IV with the IV of one of her newly born infants, Taylee. Instead of the mother receiving the strong pain medication, 4 milligrams of morphine were actually deposited into the veins of the premature infant. Taylee’s heartbeat immediately dropped to dangerous levels following the medical error. Doctor’s were forced to rush to incubate her so that her body could return to normal breathing levels.

Following the incident doctors were clueless as to the cause of Taylee’s sudden heartbeat drop. Tests were performed which revealed the presence of opiates in the newborn’s system, but that still was not enough to convince the doctor that a mistake had been made. In fact, the local doctor had the gall to suggest that Blischke herself must have done something to the newborn to create the problem.

Eventually the truth was revealed when the opiate levels in Taylee’s body were compared to that of her two sisters—each of whom had no opiates at all.

The state department of health eventually fined the hospital $50,000 when they became aware of the mistake. Blischke has also retained counsel and has filed a medical malpractice lawsuit against the hospital.

Medical errors that affect newborn children are often the most emotional and costly mistakes a healthcare provider makes. Young children are the most helpless patients in any hospital—they cannot ask questions and are entirely dependent on the medical professional to receive proper care. Also, their bodies are less developed and therefore more prone to complications following medical errors. No medical mistake that harms a newborn should be tolerated.

Our Chicago medical malpractice lawyers at Levin & Perconti have decades of experience helping the families of newborns protect their legal rights and receive necessary redress for the errors. If you or someone you know has similarly suffered, please contact our offices today.

The month of July is typically known as a time of fireworks, ice cream, and sandcastles on the beach. But startling new research suggests that the mid-summer month also has a more sinister reputation. The LA Times recently reported of a new study out of the University of California San Diego that July marks the riskiest time of the year seek medical care at some hospitals throughout the country.

In what many experts term the “July Effect” medical errors increase in all hospitals that are used as teaching facilities because it is this month that new, inexperienced residents are first introduced into the hospital. The research found that fatal medical mistakes spike nearly 10% in July as compared to all other months of the year. The increase in preventable deaths occurs in hospitals that are used as teaching institutions.

The researchers suggested that the findings lead even more support to the idea that the responsibilities of new medical residents need to be reevaluated and their supervision should be increased. With life and death literally hanging in the balance, it would be hard to find anyone disagreeing with their assessment.

Interestingly, medical education reforms along those lines were recently proposed by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. The new rules would limit the number of hours that inexperienced medical residents could work and ensure that proper supervision was provided for these new doctors. The new rules were pursued as studies continue to pour out which confirm that new medical residents are responsible for over 50% of the medical errors, leading to severe harm to the patients in their care.

While it may be impossible to avoid seeking medical help in the month of July, no one should have to sacrifice the medical care they receive. Our Chicago medical malpractice attorneys at Levin & Perconti are tireless advocates for the rights of patients to be free of medical negligence. We have won numerous multi-million dollar settlements and verdicts for patients who were victims of inexperienced medical professionals. If you or someone you know may have experience medical negligence this month, or any month, be sure to contact an attorney immediately.

Earlier this week Dr. Stephen Schneider and his wife, nurse Linda Schneider were found guilty of illegally prescribing painkillers to patients, reports Over the Line News. The verdict marks the culmination of this high profile case, where the medical error is said to have caused the death of 68 patients.

The Schneiders had run what is known as a “pill mill,” illegally prescribing huge amounts of potent painkillers with little to no regard for the safety of patients. Time Magazine explains that the guilty medical professionals continually dispensed opiods in too many circumstances and too large amounts. Opiods include drugs like oxycodone and fentanyl and are well-known as addictive substances that all too often lead to overdose deaths. All doctors know that they need be prescribed with the utmost care and with clear warning to patients.

Money was the motivating factor for the Schneiders, as their medical decisions were based more on the cash they could earn by prescribing the pills than the safety of the patients who asked for them. Dr. Schneider became known the “The Candyman” as he developed a reputation for doling out the dangerous medications to whoever would pay.

Medication errors such as the deadly example here are just one form of medical malpractice. Failure to provide the proper type and dosage of medication is a common and deadly form of medical negligence. Pharmaceutical medication error also occurs when doctors and other medical professionals fail to educate patients on the proper use and safety risks of the medication they prescribe.

Our Chicago medical malpractice lawyers at Levin & Perconti have decades of experience fighting for victims of medication error. Any time you seek medical help, you have a right to receive fair, accurate, and professional care and information from doctors, nurses, and all medical staff members. Whenever that care falls below the reasonable standard to which you are entitled, be sure to contact a contact a legal expert to ensure your rights are protected.

According to a recent report by ABC News, researchers at the University of California at San Diego have found that the rate of medication errors increase in July at teaching hospitals throughout the country. This spike coincides with the arrival of new medical residents who are just beginning their clinical training. The “July Effect” has always been talked about, but the new study links a 10 % increase in medication errors with these changes in personnel.

An experienced physician cited in the article was not surprised by the study’s findings. He attributes these often-fatal medical malpractice mistakes to the fact that residents are inexperienced in caring for patients and are in the process of trying to learn a new system and new set of procedures. Many medical residents are adjusting to longer shifts and face sleep-deprivation. A Boston Globe article from October 2009 linked less sleep to more complications and noted that the rate of complications when a doctor had less than six hours of sleep was 2.8% higher than when a doctor had more than 6 hours of sleep before a procedure. A Mayo Clinic study in the September 23, 2009 Journal of the American Medical Association mirrored these results, noting that residents who were sleep-deprived were more likely to perform a medical error.

In order to avoid the “July Effect” hospitals and residency program directors must raise awareness surrounding the issues of medical and medication errors and work with residents to prevent them from happening. Program directors should stress the importance of having new residents ask senior residents or attendings for help if there is an issue they are unsure of. Programs should also work with new residents to help them manage their sleep and new workload. The ABC article also notes the implementation of new software that checks for prescription errors may help to quell the July Effect in teaching hospitals.

To read more about the new study on medication errors follow the link.

The Chicago Tribune is reporting that half of all automated Spanish versions of prescriptions have errors. They base this on a study that found that pharmacies that print prescription labels that translate into Spanish oftentimes have inaccurate or confusing instructions. These prescription errors can be potentially hazardous to a patient’s health. These researchers looked at over 70 medicine labels to come to the conclusion that the margin of error on translated prescriptions is 50 percent.

One example is that an anemic patient was placed on iron supplements. It was discovered after the patient had no improved iron levels that he had only been taking one drop of the supplement instead of the amount the doctor had prescribed. The patient was not taking the right amount because he was confused by the prescription instructions. One common problem in translated prescriptions is that once in Spanish means eleven. It can cause great problems when a prescription says take once a day, and a patient takes 11. Another problem is that English prescription instructions are not standardized. Since the same instructions can be written in multiple ways, it is difficult to translate every word to match the doctor’s wishes. These medical errors take place in Chicago pharmacies and hospitals throughout the city’s Spanish speaking neighborhoods.

These problems highlight why doctors and pharmacists need to go over all instructions with their patient’s to explain to them what doses and drugs need to be ingested. To read more about the medical error study, please click the link.

A Medical Center is investigating after a child wrongfully died in their care following an organ transplant. The two-year old’s death may have possibly been the result of an accidental overdose of the blood thinner heparin. They recently released a statement declaring that they were investigating the death after an apparent overdose of a blood thinner. According to Action 3 news, the patient was at the hospital for a multi-organ transplant. After she received the transplant she was readmitted to the hospital with an infection. The virus caused the victim’s kidneys to shut down, requiring her to receive dialysis. It was at the hospital where the 23-month girl died from an infection.

In reality the blood thinner that can be a life-saver during a hospital stay can turn deadly if this blood thinner is given in too high of a dose. According to Omaha.com heprin can cause immediate problems if given in too high of a concentration. This will cause internal bleeding, which can be life-threatening. No one is exactly sure how the overdose occurred. Many of the hospital staff believes the medical malpractice occurred when the setting on the IV pump was not checked properly.

The medical center has already arranged for travel for the family and funeral expenses. Also the medical center is trying to be proactive in sharing this information with other hospitals on what they are trying to do to prevent these occurrences. This hospital is taking important steps to reduce medical error. By sharing new safety implementations with other hospitals, fewer patients will die as a result of a heparin overdose.

A doctor who specializes in pain and addition is facing a wrongful death lawsuit. This lawsuit was filed by the family of a former patient who state that the victim became addicted to drugs while under the doctor’s care before he committed suicide. The medical malpractice lawsuit states that the doctor turned the victim into a drug addict through a regular regimen of addictive painkillers and anti-anxiety drugs. The 30-year-old then killed himself with an overdose of pills prescribed from the pain clinic where the doctor works. The victim first sought out the doctor for back pain and was prescribed oxycodone months before the MRI confirmed an injury. The doctor never referred the victim to a drug addiction specialist. The doctor actually specializes in urology despite his advertisements which state that he works in pain and addiction. The doctor’s deception could lead to medical malpractice. To learn more about the wrongful death lawsuit, please click the link.

The family of a man has sued the drug store Rite Aide, alleging that a medical error at the pharmacy led to the victim’s premature and wrongful death. The medical malpractice lawsuit alleges that Rite Aid pharmacists were negligent when they issued a lethal dose of chemotherapy drug to the man, who developed malignant melanoma that had spread to his brain in 2007. The prescription instructed the man to take 14 capsules by mouth daily of the drug which was ten times the usual dose of the drug and almost double of what is known to be fatal. The man took the excessively high dose, which allowed his cancer to rapidly grow and led to his premature death. The actions of the pharmacist were grossly negligent. The doctor who issued the prescription admitted his medical error and settled with the family out of court. Mislabeling prescriptions is a common form of medical malpractice. To read more about the medical malpractice case, please click the link.

One mother had to watch her 23-year-old son snorting crushed pain pills after doctors gave her son what could have been lethal amounts of prescription pain killers. The state’s department of health led to investigations that found that two doctors had committed medical malpractice by improperly prescribing pain killers and muscle relaxers to her son. He gave the young man a prescription calling for 270 pills of Roxycodone for pain and Xanax to treat anxiety. He also did not test his patient to confirm claims that the patient was suffering from juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. He is also accused of improperly filing prescriptions in the clinic. A medical malpractice offer of suspension of the doctor’s medical license until evaluation, 100 hours of community service and a $10,000 fine has been given to a physician. To read more about the medical malpractice settlement, please click the link.

An issue of Women's Health this summer touched upon issues that concern a lot of Levin & Perconti blog readers - how to avoid medical mishaps. We wanted to share the startling statistics that the magazine provided. Each year, nearly 1.5 million Americans are injured by medication errors and up to 98,000 die in hospital due to medical errors. To avoid being a victim, Women's Health suggested that you always check your prescriptions, find rested workers, and personalize your case file.

To read more about how to take control of your medical care.

Ninety-two veterans were given incorrect radiation doses in an attempt to treat their prostate cancer at a veterans’ hospital. Although the treatment equipment was broken, the hospital continued to treat the veterans. Thus far no medical malpractice suits have been filed against the hospital. If you know someone who has been medically mistreated, consider contacting a medical malpractice attorney.

Read more about the medication dosing errors here.

A mother claims that a doctor overmedicated psychiatric medications to her son who later committed suicide and now has filed a medical malpractice action against the doctor. Some of the medications given to her son are not approved for treatment of children. The boy died of a sudden heart attack in his hospital room where he was being treated for his mental illness.

Read more about the medical malpractice suit here.

According to an article, medication errors account for 78% of serious medical errors in the intensive care unit.” There are strategies to prevent such medical errors including: eliminating extended physician work schedules, computerizing orders and intravenous devices, having pharmacists participate in the ICU, reconciling medications upon admission to or discharge from the ICU, and maintaining detailed up-to-date medication lists. Preventing these medication errors would also lead to less medical malpractice litigation.

Read more about medical error prevention 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.

Medical professionals have a tendency to speak in abbreviations. In such a busy, hectic setting such as an emergency room or a doctor’s office, abbreviations shorten time. However, some patients do not follow and are left in the dust. Here is a website where you can enter the abbreviation and then the search engine provides the definition.

Abbreviations can lead to medical malpractice when a handwritten abbreviation is misinterpreted as meaning something different than what the physician intended. In fact, the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations has issued a “do-not-use” list because of their probability of misinterpretation, leading to dosing errors and serious medical malpractice.

For the website.

Quest Diagnostics, the largest medical laboratory company in the U.S., has acknowledged that it has provided possibly erroneous lab results to thousands of people prompting what some consider to be the largest patient test recall in the last 20 years. The erroneous results occurred when Quest was testing people’s vitamin D levels. The errors consist primarily of overly-high test results although lower-than-actual levels were also recorded. The erroneously high result may have resulted in patients not receiving vitamin D supplements when they should have. Overly-low test results carry a potentially much more serious consequence; in rare instances, if patients were wrongfully prescribed supplements, the dosing error could lead to a toxic overdose of vitamin D, resulting in serious injury or death. The company issued letters to thousands of doctors, listing the names of patients who may have received the erroneous results and offering free retesting to those individuals. Quest Diagnostic says that they have identified and fixed the problem that lead to these errors.

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.

Over the counter cough and cold medicine can have serious side effects on children under the age of six. According to the article, about 7,000 children end up in the emergency room each year due to adverse side effects from the medicine. Most problems have occurred from dosing errors. The article also provides ways for parents to prevent colds and coughs in their children.

For the full story, click here.

Recent reviews have found there are an abundance of cancer treatment errors found at various clinics throughout the United States, especially in outpatient clinics. In 1,400 patient charts that were examined, a total of 117 errors were found. 15 caused harm to patients while 64 errors had the potential to cause harm, according to the article. The study showed 60% of the errors associated with adult cases were due to administration of treatment. 64% of the pediatric errors was linked to the ordering of medication.

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.