Illinois Medical Malpractice Blog

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.

Dennis Quaid, the Hollywood actor, agreed to a $750,000 medical malpractice settlement with a hospital after their twins were given a lethal dose of Heparin. The hospital gave the babies a 10,000-milliliter unit dose of Heparin, a blood thinner, made by the Baxter Healthcare Corp. instead of the prescribed 10 milliliters. The twins struggled for their lives after the lethal overdose of Heparin. Fortunately, the twins survived the lethal overdose administered by the healthcare providers at the hospital. A petition filed in the court shows that the Quaids and the hospital have agreed on the parents’ damages, but can still pursue medical malpractice claims for their children. To read 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.

A family doctor who wrote prescriptions that could be linked to three deaths is still seeing patients, despite being under investigation by state authorities. His medical license has not been suspended, nor has his practice been restricted, even though several complaints against him have led to an investigation by the state medical examiners board. An expert has already stated that the doctor needs to have an emergency revocation of his license. The doctor prescribed more than 20,000 pills to a man who had sought treatment for pain streaming from a neck injury. The pills led the man to enter an addiction recovery program. Another patient overdosed from drugs prescribed by the physician. Records showed that she had been prescribed more than 150 painkillers a month and up to 300 extra-strength Xanax pills at one time. Although the doctor is under review, it is alarming that he is still able to write prescriptions. To read the full story, click here.

The family of one of the two victims in a fatal car crash is hoping to settle for ten million dollars in a wrongful death lawsuit. The victims were killed in a car accident after a woman, who was not supposed to be driving while taking medication, hit them. The suit is against the hospital and four of her doctors because they failed to tell her that she should not drive while taking the medicine. She had complained of dizziness while driving, and was still not informed that she should not drive while taking the medication. The driver was personally sued but has settled out of court. This type of medical malpractice, with lawsuits that hold the doctor liable for their patient’s actions, is rather new in the court system. For the full story click here.

Doctors say that medical mistakes can have more serious consequences in children than they do in adults. A study in the journal Pediatrics found that problems due to medications occurred in 11 percent of children who were in the hospital, and that 22 percent of them were preventable. An Institute of Medicine report found that besides medication errors, children are also the victims of diagnostic errors, incorrect procedures or tests, infections and injuries. Medical errors are a greater threat to children than to adults because they are physically small and their immune systems are still developing. Even a tiny increase in the dose of medication can have serious effects, especially in premature babies. Children deteriorate more rapidly than adults and they are less able to communicate their problems. 32 percent of medication errors in children in the operating room involved the wrong dose, while this only occurs in 14 percent of adults. Experts have come up with ways to reduce the threat of medical malpractice in children such as ID bracelets, ensuring that health care providers are hygienic, getting all the correct information, and asking questions. Although these are ways to reduce risks, it is ultimately the role of the physicians and staff to ensure that children are properly medicated. To read the full story, click here.

Earlier this year, the US Supreme Court decided that there was a federal law barring suits against makers of government-approved medical devises such as pacemakers. Now, the Court will consider whether to extend the shield against lawsuits to the makers of prescription medicines and over-the-counter drugs. The current case before the court concerns a 62-year-old musician whose right arm was amputated after an anti-nausea drug was improperly injected into an artery and caused gangrene. She was successful in her medical malpractice suit and was awarded $6.7 million. The pharmaceutical company is appealing the medical malpractice suit saying that it should be thrown out. They claim that the FDA should decide whether a drug is safe or dangerous, not a jury. This would be changing the historical right to a civil jury trial as a protection for consumers. Consumer rights advocates state that companies should not have immunity from liability that ordinary citizens don’t have. To read the full story, click here.