Illinois Medical Malpractice Blog

The St. Joseph Medical Center made headlines earlier this year when it was discovered that one of its high-profile doctors was committing medical fraud by repeatedly telling patients they needed stents implanted in their heart, even though they didn’t.

Now federal investigators are ordering the hospital to take steps to ensure future mistakes are not repeated. The Baltimore Sun reports that the facility must now conduct annual, random audits of its cardiac care practices. They must also keep a database of business arrangements related to certain procedures, provide annual reports to regulators, and maintain supervision of physicians and the cardiac laboratory.

The facility has already agreed to a $22 million settlement to repay federal funds used in the unnecessary procedures.

The man at the center of the scandal, Dr. Mark Midei worked for several years in his own medical center connected to the hospital. Eventually he left his own practice to work full-time for St. Joseph, taking a high profile seven figure salary. The employment lasted until 2009, when accusations about Midei’s falsification of records led the hospital to contact hundreds of its former patients and warn them of the possible error.

Continue reading "Sanctions For Hospital That Conducted Unnecessary Heart Stent Procedures" »

The Las Vegas Sun recently profiled a Chicago doctor who is going against the grain and taking a stand for the improvement of patient safety. For many doctors, news of a medical error begins a process of cover-ups, legal stonewalling, and excuses. However, some brave physicians take responsibility for the errors, seek to provide relief to the victims, and attempt to learn from the occurrence so that future victims are spared.

The newspaper profile here explains how the doctor is working to properly handle mistakes. Part of that proper handling involves hospitals proactively launching investigations while keeping the patient abreast of all developments. It also involves changing protocol so that whatever steps led to the original error is not repeated. Unfortunately far too many doctors and hospitals fail to follow this plan. Instead, the motto “it is a mistake to admit a mistake” remains alive and well.

Part of the difficulty in changing the medical mindset around mistakes rests in generational differences. Many of the older doctors who currently sit atop the food chain of medical hierarchies have been trained in the older model which encourages doctors not to admit mistakes. Overall, the new approach both helps improve the relationship between the patient and the doctor but also works to improve patient safety overall.

Continue reading "Much Reform Needed Before Patient Safety Improves" »

The Dallas Morning News recently conducted a thorough investigation into the way doctors are trained that has consequences for many patients, leading to many medical mistakes. Investigators at the publication uncovered several cases in their area of patients of all ages rushed to the emergency room, treated by inexperienced resident doctors, and ultimately killed by the physician’s medial error.

Teaching hospitals like the one investigated in this case treat more than half of all patients in the country and perform about 70% of all charity medical treatment. However, regardless of the prevalence of the training systems, there are rising concerns about the minimal efforts taken to ensure the safety and well-being of the patients involved. The medical teaching environment is traditionally an insular, self-regulating community that has not been open about the actual procedures involved with doctor training.

On top of that, it is difficult to get a true measure of the medical mistakes made by resident doctors because there is minimal tracking of such statistics. The medical political lobby has fought to ensure there are no safety regulations governing the supervision of medical residents. The U.S. Department of Health and Human services rarely investigates issues related to resident supervision and error.

In fact academic studies are generally the only way that information about malpractice caused by medical residents are shared with the public. That data includes a report that revealed over 15,000 deaths caused by hospital actions across the country each month. Also, researchers documented the “July Effect” where hospitals experience a 10% spike in medication errors because it is the month when new resident begin working at teaching hospitals. A Harvard study concluded that 1/3 of all medical errors are caused by medical residents, specifically when supervision has broken down in the teaching system.

Continue reading "Lax Supervision of Medical Residents Puts Patients At Risk" »

The Sacramento Bee recently described the complex process often used to police doctors and helps ensure that medical licenses are only given to those medical professionals competent enough to handle the job. The information is helpful in understanding how many doctors with a history of mistakes remain able to treat other patients.

With disciplinary actions piling on top of one another, taking years to sort through, many extremely negligent physicians are allowed to treat thousands of patients in the meantime. One victim complained to the state board about a doctor’s negligence that led to the death of her mother. However, the board was so slow in dealing with the matter that another patient died from the same doctor’s negligence while the board was still reviewing the first error.

Essentially there are often two categories of offenses that doctors can make: those that require automatic loss of license and those that do not. Automatic loss conduct includes only registered sex offenders and doctors who sexually exploit patients. Other than that, doctor misconduct is evaluated on a sliding scale. The vast majority of those other errors lead to reprimands or probation, without any limit on what patients they see or what operations they perform afterwards.

A concern, however, is that there is no policy in place to weed out those doctors who repeatedly make mistakes that on their own are not enough to cause a loss of license. In other words, there is no “three strikes” policy or even “five strikes” policy. For example, one doctor was placed on probation four times (two stemming from patient deaths) and had his license temporarily revoked, but he still practices and treats patients today.

Our Chicago medical malpractice attorneys at Levin & Perconti believe that like all professions, doctors should be held to the highest standards of care and conduct. Uniquely in the medical context, many of their mistakes can never be undone, because they literally involve the loss of human life. Because of the particular fragility of the victims under the circumstances, it is all the more important to ensure that the individuals allowed to practice medicine are of the highest caliber and quality.

Please Click Here to read more about the medical disciplinary review process.

The Chicago Tribune reported last night on a troubling new development in Illinois that will keep patients from accessing important information about their doctor. This development is another step backward in open, honest medical care—it is another blow to all those interested in patient safety.

For two years, the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation maintained online profiles of all doctors in the state. The profiles contained detailed information about the healthcare providers’ career to help patients when they were making choices about who to seek for care. The information also listed crime convictions, hospital firings, and medical malpractice payments that affected each doctor as part of the open information provided to patients. These profiles were very popular in the state, receiving over 130,000 clicks per week. Clearly Illinois consumers were finding the information extremely valuable.

However, as of this week, Illinois patients no longer have access to the profiles.

The open information was a casualty of legislative maneuvering in Springfield, where state legislators had initially passed the bill which required the profiles be made available. The Illinois State Medical Society is the lobbying organization for Illinois doctors, and the group has pushed to ensure that the profile stay locked up and hidden from Illinois patients.

A bill has been introduced which will return the profiles, but it is unclear if the General Assembly will take action on the legislation. Considering the political influence exerted by the Illinois State Medical Society, legislation which seeks openness for patients is often difficult to turn into law.

As of now, the information that patients can access on their doctors is limited. Even blatant doctor misconduct cannot be found on these doctors’ public profiles. For example, the Chicago-area surgeon Nercy Jafari was found guilty of sexually abusing a patient in his care. For the last two years, if a potential patient of Dr. Jafari had checked at the online registry they would have learned that information. But now the doctor’s conviction is kept hidden.

Todd Smith, president of the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association confessed, “That anyone would want to keep that information from the citizens of Illinois is appalling to me. Patients deserve to know whether their doctor poses any dangers to them.”

All medical patients deserve truth and honesty in the care they receive. That begins by allowing medical care consumers the option of knowing basic information about the physician that they are entrusting with their life. That is why our Chicago medical malpractice attorneys at Levin & Perconti support all measure that help patients make more fully informed medical decisions. The costs of medical errors are simply too high. Patients deserve to know if their doctor has a history of these mistakes or misjudgments.

The Wall Street Journal Blog recently posted on the staggering cost of medical errors each year in hospitals across the country. The Society of Actuaries commissioned the study into the cost of these errors on the U.S. economy, using an admitted conservative estimate of 1.5 million errors in a year.

All told, the cumulative amount spent on these medical errors including actual healthcare costs, lost productivity, and increased mortality rate is slightly less than $20 billion. Other studies have attempted to measure to true cost of the preventable doctor mistakes, but this latest study offers the largest sample size, using neutral data, and with better control measures. In other words, these study results represent the best analysis to date on the true economic cost of medical malpractice.

Interestingly, the costliest error is bed sores. These sores (also known as pressure sores) are almost always caused by negligent medical care and involve patients developing deep skin lesions caused by constant pressure bone prominences on the body. They develop when a patient (or nursing home resident) is not given the proper care while spending large amounts of time in bed.

As these figures indicate, the financial cost of medical errors alone should be enough to prompt drastic efforts to ensure that they occur less frequently. Of course these economic figures do not factor in the terrible emotional, mental, social costs caused by preventable hospital mistakes. As our Chicago medical malpractice attorneys at Levin & Perconti are fully aware, entire families are often torn apart by doctor mistakes that could easily have been prevented.

Renewed energy and effort should be placed on identifying troubled hospitals and doctors, holding them accountable for their errors and ensuring that they do not injury other patients.

A child who suffered brain damage due to negligent medical care during the delivery was awarded $510,000 by a jury this week. Staten Island Live reported on the jury verdict which found Staten Island hospital and the obstetrician Paul Heltzer guilty of medical malpractice.

Marquita Spicer was rushed to the hospital in early April 2006 to give birth to her first child, Xzaviar. The birth proved to be long and difficult. After breaking Ms. Spicer’s water to speed up the labor, doctors also gave her pitocin, a drug used to assist natural contractions.

However, doctors kept Ms. Spicer on the drug for far too long. The result was that contractions continued more vigorously and for longer than necessary, leading to harmful stress on the baby. The stress increased pressure on his brain while lowering the blood and oxygen flow throughout his body. The stresses and flow problems ultimately led to Xzaviar suffering permanent brain damage.

A jury ultimately agreed that Ms. Spicer was on the drug for too long and that a Caesarean section should have been performed in the later stages of the pregnancy to avoid the complications. As a result, Xzaviar now has permanent lesions on his brain, a lower IQ than his similar age counterparts, and fine-motor skill deficiencies.

A permanent injury to babies caused by negligent medical care during deliveries is an all too common problem. Our Chicago medical malpractice attorneys at Levin & Perconti continue to fight for the rights of victims of medical errors during the birthing process. In one case, we negotiated a $2.3 million settlement after a child suffered cerebral palsy because of a doctor’s decision not to perform a timely Caesarean section when it became clear that it was necessary. If you or someone you know may have suffered similar negligent medical care during delivery of a child, please contact our offices to learn about the process of vindicating your rights.

The Washington Post reported on a new study is about to begin which will test the value of patient review of doctor notes. The new project will give a limited number of patients electronic copies of their medical chart and the handwritten notes made by their doctor following each visit. The goal of the study is to determine if patients actually look closely at this information and to understand how it may affect the quality of care.

The most novel component of this “OpenNotes” project is the fact that for the first time ever it will allow many patients access to their doctor’s handwritten notes, which often indicate the medical professionals’ thought process as he or she considers various different diagnoses.

One potential benefit of the note sharing may be that it helps limit doctor error. In one case where the notes were already being shared, the patient noticed that tests that the doctor told her should be ordered were in fact not listed in the notes. It turned out that she was correct and the doctor had failed to order the appropriate procedures. The patients’ diligent review of her doctor’s material had potentially saved a preventable medical mistake.

With so much upside, it’s a wonder why more patients had not already reviewed their doctor’s notes. After all, all states give patients a legal right to obtain access to their own medical records. However, researchers indicate that most patients have never been aware of their ability to look at the notes and, even if they were, hospitals often charge as much as 75 cents for each page of record. The easy, free, and immediate access to the records which will be given in this study is intended to bridge those barriers.

Our Chicago medical malpractice attorneys at Levin & Perconti understand the close eye all patients should give to the medical care that they are provided. We have represented dozens of clients who were left in the dark about the care provided by their negligent doctors, leaving them little options to ask more probing questions about the care they were being given. Each patient should scrutinize their medical care and be sure to seek representation when that care has fallen below the standard to which they are entitled.

Please Click Here to read more about the “OpenNotes” study.

The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reported yesterday on a medical malpractice victim who is taking steps to ensure that no one else falls victim to his negligent doctor’s error.

In 2004, Dr. Cully White performed back surgery on Kenneth Plants. However, Dr. White performed the surgery on the wrong side of Mr. Plants back. The doctor then failed to explain the error to other doctors. On top of all of that, Mr. Plants was then charged $7,000 for a second procedure that was never actually completed. Overall, it was a nightmare scenario for Mr. Plants. He is still unable to go back to work as a carpenter, with his back problems yet to be fully corrected. Fortunately, Mr. Plants sought our medical malpractice lawyers who helped him reach a settlement worth over $2.9 million.

But like many victims of medical malpractice, Mr. Plants was also concerned that others might be harmed by Dr. White’s error. Unfortunately, the state Medical Examining Board is notoriously slow in investigating doctor errors. The Board has not begun the investigation in this case, even though the surgery occurred more than six years ago. To force the Board to look into the matter, Mr. Plants recently filed what is known as a “writ of mandamus” to force the governing body to perform its duty.

Mr. Plants is asking the court to ensure that the Medical Examining Board “investigates allegations of unprofessional conduct and negligence in a reasonable time.” A 2008 investigation into the Medical Examining Board revealed that the institution was almost always slow to investigate these matters. The investigation also showed that the Board keeps most of its investigations secret, rarely imposing disciplinary actions (even with errors that lead to patient deaths).

Medical malpractice lawsuits seek much more than merely ensuring that victims of negligence are compensated for their loss. As this situation demonstrates, these lawsuits also seek to ensure that negligent doctors are not able to harm future patients. Failure of state agencies to properly monitor these acts of negligence, however, means that doctors are often free to commit error after error as long as they have insurance to cover their victims’ losses.

Our Chicago medical malpractice attorneys at Levin & Perconti have witnessed first-hand the destruction wrought by these acts of medical negligence. Every step must be taken to ensure that future patients receive the treatment to which they are entitled. State agencies investigating medical errors need to take every possible step to investigation medical malpractice and stop negligent doctors from committing more errors.

WHIO.com reported today on a Dayton doctor with 19 medical malpractice cases currently on the docket. That list is not even counting several victims who have already won verdicts or settlement against the doctor, Dr. Lawrence Rothstein. Each of the charges involve plaintiff complaints of nerve damage, pain, weakness, numbness, paralysis and incontinence following surgeries performed by Dr. Rothstein.

On June 29th Dr. Rothstein filed for bankruptcy, putting into doubt the possibility that many of his victims will ever be compensated for the losses they suffered due to his inadequate medical care.

One of those victims is Sally Clawson and her family. Dr. Rothstein performed outpatient back surgery on Mrs. Clawson, but he botched the procedure, ultimately resulting in brain damage. In October, a jury found the doctor liable for the brain damage and awarded her $5 million in damages. However, Sally and her family have yet to receive anything from Dr. Rothstein or his employer, Riverview Health Institute. With the recent bankruptcy filing and pending cases, it is unclear when, if ever, the Clawson family will receive their judgment.

The unfortunate example of Dr. Rothstein is a stark reminder of the widespread harm a single negligent doctor can cause. It is also an indication of the importance of pursuing all potentially negligent doctors immediately. A delay may ultimately be the difference between collecting on a judgment and receiving nothing. The victims who acted first were much more likely to receive settlement and judgments while dozens of others may be left without any recourse.

Our Chicago medical malpractice attorneys at Levin & Perconti are always ready and willing to help you fight for your rights in a timely, efficient, and forceful manner. We have decades of experience dealing with insurance companies and doctors who repeatedly harm patients with substandard medical care. Do not wait until it is too late. Contact a medical malpractice lawyer today and ensure you are not left without any compensation for your injuries.

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.

A Yale graduate, John Christian Gunn had everyone fooled. He allegedly had a string of medical errors since 2005. Another physician tried to warn the hospital of Gunn’s negligence in a letter to them stating that Gunn was a “danger to patients.” To date, a medical malpractice trial has been scheduled against Gunn’s employer for one of his last operations that left his patient dead. Gunn has already settled with this patient’s family. The latest on Gunn is that he was captured after robbing a bank with an air gun and has been sentenced to 51 months in prison.

Read more about the fallen physician here.

A Chicago doctor was fined $500 after being accused of chastising a woman in labor with her fifth child and refusing to give her pain medication. According to the medical malpractice civil lawsuit filed by the woman, the doctor failed to give her pain medication because he was angry with her for not calling him first. The doctor even allegedly told a nurse that the woman deserved the pain for not calling ahead. Rush University of Chicago suspended the doctor after reviewing the allegations.

Read more about the disciplined Chicago doctor here.

A young girl in a hospital for mental illnesses took her life while on suicide watch. According to her family, she was supposed to be on suicide watch where she would be checked every five minutes. The girl killed herself, a clear case of medical negligence according to investigators. The medical staff did not come in five minute increments to check on her. The counselors were fired. The family is now filing a medical malpractice suit against the hospital.

Read more about this outrageous medical malpractice case here.

A doctor accused of sleeping with his patient must pay $416,500 in damages according to a recent jury ruling. The woman filed a medical malpractice suit against the doctor for allegedly violating his duty of care “by engaging in the sexual relationship while treating her for depression,” according to the article. The woman sought the doctor’s medical expertise for her depression and counseling after her daughter was diagnosed with cerebral palsy.

Read more about the medical malpractice suit here.

A surgeon fled the country pursuant to his attorney’s advice in order to not be easily prosecuted for a medical malpractice case, according to the doctor. The plastic surgeon was claimed to have performed surgery on a man left disfigured who was now filing a medical negligence case against him. The medical malpractice defense attorney claims the professional misconduct allegations are not true.

Read more about the malpractice attorney here.

With health care reform being a major topic in the new Obama administration, advisors are realizing this reform may include medical malpractice reform as well. Senator Ron Wyden thinks capping medical malpractice claims is key to reforming health care. Trial lawyers will most likely put up a fight against reforming malpractice awards.

Read more about medical malpractice reform here.

Indictments for fraud and reckless endangerment come two years after a doctor was allegedly found writing “excessive and/or medically unnecessary prescriptions”. According to the article, those prescriptions could have placed the patients in “imminent danger of death or target="_blank"serious bodily injury.” The doctor has since then retired.

Read more about the doctor’s allegations here.

A doctor accused of molesting female patients during medical procedures was told to suspend practice and turn in his license, according to the news article. The cosmetic surgeon was charged with sexual battery by fraud, sexual battery, and rape by a foreign object. Most of the women complainants were under anesthesia when molested. The doctor had also been accused of medical negligence . That patient claimed the doctor never reviewed a cancerous cyst removed from the patient.

Read more about the doctor’s legal battles here.

Recent studies suggest arrogant, abusive, and disruptive behavior by doctors in the workplace contributes to medical mistakes, preventable complications, and even death. One nurse testifies to a patient that could have suffered serious brain injury or death if she did not call an attending doctor at home due to an unruly on-call resident. Also, through surveys and testimony, nurses and residents have reported not questioning medical mistakes made by a doctor due to fear of the doctor’s anger.

For the full story, click here.