Illinois Medical Malpractice Lawyers Blog

Illinois medical negligence lawyers at Pintas & Mullins strongly advocate against medical malpractice damage caps that limit a victim's chance at justice. A new study suggests that damage caps may be constitutional, but they do not effectively achieve one of their primary healthcare goals. According to the study, which focused on Texas, the supply of doctors in the state did not increase after a strict damage cap was implemented.

Proponents of tort reform often tout the fact that damage caps increase healthcare availability, but this claim appears to be untrue. Theoretically, one might think that more doctors would flock to a state with a strict budget cap that could help them avoid a large medical malpractice jury verdict. However, the latest data from Texas shows otherwise. State lawmakers passed tort reform legislation back in 2003, which capped medical malpractice awards at $250,000 per provider. It also set an impossible standard of negligence, requiring proof that doctors knowingly and purposefully endangered their patients. Despite these extreme measures, the number of available healthcare providers remains the same.

In fact, the new study suggests that inaccurate data is being used to misrepresent the number of available healthcare providers in the state. Texas officials wrongfully claim that the number of providers has increased in response to the damage cap, based on licensing statistics from 2001 thru 2010. The study gives numerous reasons why the increase is actually due to outside factors. For example, the increased licensing rates came in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, when doctors that were displaced by the natural disaster may have sought new employment in neighboring states because they were unable to keep practicing at their old locations.

Additionally, the study suggests that licenses do not necessarily translate into more patient care. Licensed doctors also do research and perform other healthcare industry jobs that have nothing to do with patient interaction. Finally, and perhaps most glaringly, the licensing statistics relied on by reform supporters do not account for the number of doctors retiring or leaving their practices in the state. Without balancing forward progress against the rate of deteriorating practitioners, the new study claims that it would be impossible to present an accurate picture of year-to-year care availability in the state. Although statistics are available that factor in the number of outgoing doctors, proponents of tort reform have never used these more precise numbers. This concerns our medical negligence attorneys because damage caps wrongly interfere with a patient's right to collect full damages. Medical victims have a right to accurate information and fair compensation

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A recent Illinois Appellate Court decision significantly advances the rights of medical malpractice victims harmed by hospital-acquired infections. Medical malpractice lawyers at Pintas and Mullins Law Firm are encouraged by the court's ruling on behalf of our client, which makes it easier for injured patients and their loved ones to take legal action against negligent health providers. Chicago area hospitals can no longer hide under a shield of liability when innocent patients are harmed by MRSA(methicillin-resistant staphylococcus). This decision entitles malpractice victims to valuable hospital infection data that reveals whether the hospital violated the legal standard of care. We strongly believe that allowing patients access to this critical data will improve the quality of care and ultimately save billions of healthcare dollars.

MRSA is a deadly infection that spreads though contact with doctors, nurses, and other health care workers who fail to take proper sanitary procedures. Hospital patients have weakened immune systems and are at great risk for infection when medical professional do not wash their hands or use contaminated equipment. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that more than 2 million hospital infections are acquired each year, leading to chronic health conditions and permanent personal injuries. Sadly, many victims of MRSA are forced to amputate their limbs in order to prevent the spread of infection. Simple safety steps can be taken to prevent hospital-acquired infections, such as washing hands or sanitizing patient rooms before surgery. Unfortunately, Illinois hospitals and hospitals around the nation are not doing enough to prevent the deadly spread of MRSA.

Dziamara v. Advocate Christ Medical Center highlights the deadly consequences of inadequate medical care. Our experienced personal injury attorneys fought vigorously in this case to allow our client and other MRSA victims access to hospital records that support their malpractice claims. The family of Zigmund Dziamara came to Pintas & Mullins to investigate and prosecute a medical malpractice case against the hospital for the serious injury that Mr. Dziamara suffered. Dziamara and another patient, Joseph Zangara, contracted MRSA during their hospital stay at Advocate Christ Medical Center in 2005. Tragically,, Dziamara died and Zangara suffered permanent injury.

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Chicago medical malpractice attorneys at Pintas & Mullins Law Firm said today that federal legislation involving non-economic damage caps violates the legal rights of patients who have been injured by medical negligence. The HEALTH Act of 2011, or H.R.5, further victimizes those who have been injured by inadequate medical care by limiting the amount of recovery that they can seek.

On May 12, 2011, lawmakers delivered a striking blow to innocent victims of medical negligence by advancing the HEALTH act through Congress. The House Energy and Commerce Committee voted 30-20 to approve this dangerous piece of legislation that places an arbitrary $250,000 cap on non-economic damages in any personal injury or wrongful death lawsuit. The broad scope of this bill is troubling because it extends to victims of nursing home abuse and those harmed by defective drugs or medical devices. It also shortens the statute of limitations and eliminates joint and several liability.

We believe that the law should provide protection for injured patients and their families who have been injured from defective drugs and negligent medical professionals. The Institute of Medicine estimates that 98,000 patients die every year as a result of preventable medical mistakes. The health care industry needs to be held accountable in order to protect patient safety and deter future injuries.

Consider the case of Lebron v. Gottlieb Memorial Hospital, where the Illinois Supreme Court struck down a similar medical malpractice cap in February 2010. The Chicago Tribune reports that the case involved a baby who was born with permanent injuries because the hospital failed to perform a timely emergency cesarean section when problems developed at birth. The injuries that resulted from the hospital's malpractice included cerebral palsy, cognitive impairment, and severe brain damage. The court struck down a state statute that limited recovery to $1.5 million, on the grounds that it was unconstitutional. The court reasoned that the damage limitation unlawfully infringed on the authority of the jury to determine an appropriate remedy.

Although Lebron was decided by an Illinois court, the principles of justice underlying this case apply across the nation. Doctors and hospitals argue that non-economic damages need to be limited in medical malpractice cases in order to reduce insurance rates. Our experience in medical malpractice law has shown that the insurance industry is to blame for driving insurance premiums, not large damage awards. Medical malpractice insurance premiums constitute a relatively small portion of overall health care costs. And a recent study by the Congressional Budget Office shows that a national cap on non-economic damages would only decrease total health care spending by 0.4%. A damage cap would actually increase the burden on taxpayers because injured patients will be forced to turn to Medicaid and Medicare for compensation. If legislators want to keep lower insurance rates, they should pass insurance reforms that introduce more competition into the market rather than unnecessarily focusing on tort reforms.

Another baseless argument that advocates of the HEALTH Act assert is that a damage cap will prevent quality physicians from moving to other states that offer lower medical liability costs. But Illinois is a clear example that even specialists like gynecologists and neurosurgeons who face the highest malpractice insurance rates are not in short supply. In fact, the number of Illinois physicians and specialists has steadily increased every year since the 1960s, outpacing the growth of doctors in more than a dozen neighboring states.

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Wrong-site surgery is a horrific type of medical negligence in which surgery is performed on the wrong patient, the wrong side of the patient's body, or where the wrong surgical equipment is used. These surgical errors are devastating for the patient and the entire surgical team. The sad part is that these serious medical mistakes are completely preventable. Following simple safety procedures make the difference between the life and death of a patient. Unfortunately, negligent medical professionals are overlooking the smallest steps resulting in serious harm. According to new data by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Hospitals, wrong-site surgeries are the second most frequently reported adverse event. The scope of these problems are even larger than Illinois medical malpractice lawyers at Pintas & Mullins are aware of since many doctors fail to voluntary report these acts of medical negligence.

The Oregonian recently reported the tragic case of 4-year-old Jesse Matlock, who underwent surgery to correct his wandering right eye. Unfortunately, his doctors mistakenly operated on his healthy left eye. Like other wrong-site patients, Jesse will have to undergo several more difficult and expensive surgical procedures to correct this serious medical mistake. Because of the severe trauma that wrong-site patients often experience, these medical errors are considered a "never event" and are never supposed to happen in any hospital. Yet wrong-part, wrong-patient, and wrong-procedures continue to happen around the nation. A national study estimates that these preventable mistakes harm as many as 2,700 people a year.

Under the Adverse Healthcare Events Reporting Law in Illinois, hospitals are required to report wrong site surgeries, however this law has yet to be fully implemented. This law requires anywhere from $500,000 to $600,000 to enforce, which is unlikely to happen. National efforts by the Joint Commission have also failed to significantly reduce the frequency of wrong-site medical errors.

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It is an unfortunate reality in our nation's healthcare system that preventable medical errors kill hundreds of thousands of Americans every year. Our Illinois medical malpractice attorneys have seen far too many innocent patients suffer the devastating consequences of medical mistakes caused by negligent hospital employees. Now federal officials are stepping in to try and reduce the most serious medical errors, which are called "never events" because they are so shocking that they should never occur under any circumstances. On July 1, 2011, Medicaid will stop paying for more than two dozen "never events" in hospitals nationwide. The goal is to financially discourage doctors from committing careless medical mistakes resulting in catastrophic patient injuries.

Our medical negligence lawyers are encouraged by several aspects of this new rule. Not only does it prohibit states from reimbursing negligent health-care providers, it also expands the list of preventable medical conditions that Medicaid will not cover. Currently, 28 events are considered to be "never events," including operating on the wrong patient, performing the wrong procedure, or leaving a foreign object in a patient's body. These preventable mistakes lead to an alarming number of serious problems or death. The Institute of Medicine estimates that these errors kill nearly 100,000 people a year and severely injure thousands of others.

In addition to these grave mistakes, states will have the flexibility to add more injuries to the list of preventable medical The latest regulation is part of an ongoing effort by federal and state governments to improve poor patient hospital care. In 2007 Medicare instituted a similar regulation protecting the elderly patients. Also, private insurers have adopted policies that prohibit reimbursements for complications that should never occur in a hospital setting. In Illinois, one of the first states to create a "never event" law, hospitals must report and take corrective action for all medical mistakes. Unfortunately, simple, preventable mistakes continue to happen on a regular basis. The Joint Commission Center on Transforming Healthcare recently reported that at least 40 wrong site or wrong patient procedures happen every week. Even more disturbing is that fact that more than 60 percent of these "never" events lead to a fatal result. No patient is immune from harm.

Even a high-powered Chicago executive fell victim to a fatal medical error at the prestigious University of Chicago Medical Center. James Tyree, the Chicago Sun-Times CEO, died in April after doctors at the hospital removed his catheter incorrectly while treating him for pneumonia. An air bubble went into Tyree's bloodstream, leading to his wrongful death. This is a clear example of the type of gross negligence that is occurring in hospitals each and every day. Although penalizing hospitals for medical negligence is one way to improve patient safety, it still may not be enough to end this horrific epidemic of medical malpractice.

Continue reading "Medicaid Refuses to Pay for Serious Medical Mistakes Caused by Negligent Doctors" »