Illinois Medical Malpractice Blog

Dr. Jayant Patel is going to be extradited from the United States to Australia on charges of manslaughter for the deaths of three of his patients. The doctor is now asking to be freed for the weeks before the extradition occurs in order to see a cardiologist, attend religious services, and organize documents for his defense; a judge has not yet ruled on his request but may do so today. Patel has faced accusations of medical mistakes for most of his career, starting with his residency and running throughout his tenure as a surgeon at a hospital. The charges are criminal, stemming from a stay at a hospital in Australia. U.S. prosecutors allege medical errors such as failing to stop internal bleeding in a patient who later died, removing a healthy gland instead of a cancerous one, and tearing a patient’s esophagus. There is no word yet whether the families of the deceased patients will file wrongful death lawsuits for the doctor’s alleged medical malpractice.

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After actor John Ritter died in 2003 from an aortic dissection, his family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against multiple doctors and a hospital. The family settled with the hospital and other people involved for $14 million but sought another $67 million at trial against remaining doctors, alleging that Ritter’s cardiologist misdiagnosed his aortic dissection as a heart attack, consequently mistreating it. Further, the suit alleged that a radiologist failed to perform an x-ray which could have shown the aortic dissection, leading to a missed opportunity for Ritter to receive potentially life-saving surgery. The jury, however, disagreed with his family’s arguments and found in favor of the defendant doctors.

While the Ritter family did not receive the $67 million they asked for, the case still showed the inequities of capping medical malpractice awards. For loss of income, there is normally no cap or a very high one, where as loss of companionship has very low limits. This means that wealthy people, who would have made more in their lifetime, can be awarded larger settlements for the same issues. Often this means that a case on behalf of a decedent who was retired, unemployed, or otherwise not making much money will not be worth filing because of caps on potential awards. Conversely, the same case on behalf of a decedent who was making a large amount of money will be worth filing because the award may be greater since loss of income will have a high cap, if one at all. For example, Ritter’s family could have been awarded a large amount because he had huge earning potential, whereas an unemployed person who died in the same manner would not have been able to receive nearly as large an award because their earning potential was so much smaller.

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The Third District Appellate Court in Illinois ruled that a wronged woman could recover from a negligent physician even though she had previously been awarded damages in a suit against the hospital. The woman’s claim for intentional infliction of emotional distress against the physician was validated by the court, especially given the extreme negligence displayed by the physician. The woman’s infant son died during child birth after a premature delivery. Her physician was not present at the hospital at the time of the delivery and do no other doctor was present to assist in the delivery. As a result, the woman sat with her baby in a partially-delivered position for over one hour until her physician arrived and completed delivering the baby, who was deceased by this time. A jury awarded the woman damages based on negligence and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

For the full decision, click here:

A woman’s family who sued a hospital where she was treated after she died there in 2003 has reached a settlement with the defendant hospital. The terms of the settlement are unknown, but past suits against the same hospital have yielded millions in settlements for alleged hospital errors. In the case at hand, 73-year-old Evelyn Weeks died after being admitted for a brain hemorrhage. Her family alleged that medication was given to Weeks through the wrong tube, while the hospital claims she died as a result of a stroke. Either way, the family’s allegations of medical malpractice were strong enough to bring in a settlement. The family stood to gain damages for medical and funeral expenses, pain and suffering, and loss of companionship from the untimely death had the wrongful death lawsuit gone to trial.

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Recently, a 13-year-old Illinois boy died at a Chicago hospital after being brought there with very severe signs of neglect including ulcers, one of which was seeping pus. The boy was being taken care of by his mother and three nurses for various conditions including cerebral palsy. One of the nurses, Morris Lee Brinkley, found him when she started her shift lying in his own feces and urine in the mornings, yet still failed to make a call to the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services ("DCFS"), which might have saved his life. The other nurse, Loren Brown, did not call DCFS either, though she knew the boy's mother had failed to take him to his doctor's appointments. Both nurses claim that they informed their supervisor of the child's condition, but she denies any such knowledge, further, when the nurses did not see any reaction, they should have made the call to DCFS themselves. The boy’s mother, although not a medical professional, is far from without fault however, as she had a heavy hand in his neglect. The boy’s death has been ruled a homicide, and his mother and the two nurses have been charged with felony neglect and failure to report a neglected child. The extreme level of neglect that was reached could have been prevented had there not been a nursing error: by failing to report the abuse, Brinkley and Brown, regardless of their hand in the actual neglect, made a deadly error in judgment, and their prosecution may show that medical malpractice was involved.

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A woman is suing Deerfield-based Walgreen’s in a wrongful death and medical malpractice lawsuit after losing her child. The Walgreen’s Pharmacy filled her prescription for prenatal vitamins with a drug intended for chemotherapy use. After using the drug for an extended period of time, the woman lost her baby. The drug, not intended for prenatal use, interferes with cell production, DNA development, and cell growth. Additionally the drug may increase the woman’s risk of developing tumors and other complications. The drug could make it difficult for the woman to conceive in the future.

Read more about the lawsuit here.

Army Hospitals have a growing problem with drug overdoses and patient deaths due to drug overdoses and interactions. Since June of last year, there has been an increase in the number of incidents of accidental drug overdoses to patients in Army hospitals. Additionally, some patients have died from drug interactions. In one recent patient death from drug interactions, the Sergeant actually told his doctors he was feeling disoriented as a result of the medication and that he could not function. The doctors did not alter the medication or determine if there was an interaction and the Sergeant later died. Patients and their families can help to alert doctors to side effects and possible drug interactions and should be certain to follow up with their doctor immediately. Patients of government-run, Army, and Veterans' Administration hospitals may have recourse under the Federal Tort Claims Act if they are injured.

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The case of Heparin contaminated with unknown toxins and imported from China continues to claim lives. To date, more than 81 deaths are linked to contaminated Heparin in the US and more may be discovered soon. The FDA says that the deaths from contaminated Heparin are a direct result of an allergic reaction to the toxin in some patients. The Chinese government denies that the contamination caused any deaths, though they do acknowledge that large batches of Heparin were contaminated. The Double lesson here is not just that drugs can be easily contaminated from foreign sources, but that two congressional hearings have highlighted just how under-funded and under-prepared the FDA is currently.

Read more on this story here.

A new study published in the journal Pediatrics shows that about 1 in 15 children are harmed each year by medication dosing errors at hospitals. The study revealed that children are harmed by dosing errors and incorrect medication substantially more often than previously thought. The study also revealed that some of these dosing errors and patient injuries could be prevented easily.

Medication dosing errors in children are the central issue in popular actor Dennis Quaid’s lawsuit in Chicago against Deerfield, Illinois-based Baxter Healthcare. Quaid is suing Baxter, a large pharmaceutical manufacturer, after Quaid’s baby twins received a Heparin overdose. The medical malpractice lawsuit is pending before Judge Quinn in the Circuit Court of Cook County.

The full text of the Pediatrics study is available here.

An Illinois Appellate Court once again limited the rights of wronged patients in medical malpractice and negligence cases by affirming a trial court’s grant of summary judgment under the Illinois Tort Immunity Act. The court determined that the Tort Immunity Act immunizes a defendant for failing to make an adequate examination and for a failure to diagnose an illness.

In this case, due to the failure of the hospital staff to diagnose a precancerous condition or cancer, a woman died from cervical cancer. Physicians had diagnosed her with a vaginal infection, but it nearly six months to discover her cancer, at which point it was too late. The plaintiff argued that the lack of a follow-up pap smear constituted negligence related to the treatment of her vaginal infection, not her diagnosis because a repeat pap smear should have been part of her treatment plan. Had the follow-up pap smear been conducted, physicians may have discovered and treated the cancer.

This case limits the rights of patients because it immunizes physicians failure to diagnose where the diagnosis should have been a natural result of a prior treatment plan. Physicians should have held accountable where diagnosis and treatment are so intertwined, especially where the failure to diagnose directly leads to a patient’s death.

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The United States ranked worst among 19 leading industrialized nations in preventable deaths due to treatable conditions. France, Japan and Australia were ranked the highest. The study that created this ranking showed that if the United States had preventable death rates more comparable to those countries, there would be 101,000 less deaths in the US each year. The parameters for deaths counted in this study were those that could have been prevented if patients had access to effective and timely health care. The 47 million Americans lacking health insurance accounted for a large percent in the US preventable deaths, but deaths contributed to by medical mistakes are also frighteningly prevalent. The president of the company that backed the research, Commonwealth Fund (a New York-based health policy foundation), Cathy Schoen said, "The fact that other countries are reducing these preventable deaths more rapidly, yet spending far less, indicates that policy, goals and efforts to improve health systems make a difference."

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Multiple lawsuits were filed after 32 liver transplant patients at UCI Medical Center who were allegedly misled about the availability of surgeons were denied transplants and died. After the wrongful death claims, the University of California recently reached a $7.5 million settlement on behalf of the families of patients that died while waiting for transplants they were never going to receive.

When the VA hospital in Marion, Illinois reported a spike in post-surgical deaths that was four times greater than the expected rate, an investigation revealed that these deaths were the result of substandard care and medical malpractice. That investigation revealed that, in the last two years, there were at least 34 patients who had been injured due to substandard care. Of these 34 patients, 19 are now dead. Nine died directly from the substandard care they received. These deaths occurred at the same hospital that was cited earlier for hiring a surgeon who had surrendered his medical license in another state during a disciplinary proceeding. The medical inspector from the Veterans Health Administration described the Marion, Illinois VA hospital as having a surgical program “in disarray” and a “fragmented and inconsistent” administration. Physician’s credentials weren’t always verified before they were granted privileges, surgeons were allowed to perform surgeries that they were not trained for, and the hospital failed to protect patients from harm. The Veterans Health Administration has vowed to hold those who were responsible accountable for their medical malpractice.

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A $22 million verdict was recently awarded in a Cook County, Illinois medical malpractice lawsuit. The jury ruled that the hospital was negligent during the birth of a 34-year-old woman's son in that staff did not properly treat difficulties with the woman's blood pressure. The woman went to an Evanston hospital two weeks before her scheduled date of delivery due to complaints of severe headache and abdominal discomfort. Medical staff soon noticed that the woman had unusually high blood pressure. Tests eventually showed that she had HELLP syndrome, meaning that she had a low platelet count and elevated liver enzymes, or hemolytic anemia. Attorneys alleged that she was not treated properly for this problem, by being given the wrong amounts of medication at the wrong times. Her son was successfully delivered by cesarean section, but the woman's blood pressure rose and she suffered a major brain hemorrhage, dying four days later. The jury found that hospital staff was negligent and that she was irreplaceable to her son and husband, ultimately awarding the multi-million dollar verdict.

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A $4.5 million medical malpractice award was recently made in Illinois following the wrongful death of a woman infected with AIDS. Because the woman was being treated at a federal clinic, the case was tried under the Federal Tort Claims Act. The doctors at the Chicago clinic allegedly failed to recognize the complaints and symptoms of the patient which would have led to the diagnosis of lactic acidosis, a potentially fatal side-effect of some HIV/AIDS treatment drugs. The woman's lawyers contended that had the diagnosis been made earlier, the patient would have survived.

A wrongful death lawsuit is being contemplated by the family of a man who died of a "medical related" cause while an inmate in a jail. The investigation is still continuing; the coroner's report said that the death was caused by medical reasons, implying negligence. The 27-year-old inmate was found dead in his cell. His family said that the man was sick but didn't receive help. According to the inmate's girlfriend she tried to get the man medical assistance but the jail said it was only a cold and refused to help. The man's mother said that in addition to the wrongful death and medical neglect accusations in the lawsuit, she is also hoping to send a message to prisons so that no inmates ever have to go through her pain.

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If physicians do not warn patients of the risks medications have on driving ability, they now can be held liable in an automobile accident lawsuit. In a recent suit, a boy was killed in a car accident by a man prescribed eight different medications by his doctor and was not warned of their side effects. The doctor now faces a wrongful death lawsuit based on his medical negligence. According to the mother of the victim's attorney, the doctor should have warned his patient that the medications he was prescribed are known to have certain side effects such as drowsiness, dizziness and fainting. The doctor should also have warned his patient not to drive. The doctor claimed that this medical mistake was too far removed from the car accident tragedy, but the court ruled that a possible consequence of that negligence could be harm to others.