Illinois Medical Malpractice Lawyers Blog

Medical malpractice lawyers at Pintas & Mullins report of a recent lawsuit accusing a St. Louis, MO surgeon of operating on the wrong side of a patient's skull and brain. The woman, Regina Turner, is no longer able to speak intelligibly, and now requires 24-hour care for her basic needs.

The doctor, along with the president and CEO of SSM Health Care-St. Louis, issued a public apology to the patient. Their apology stated that the error was the result of a breakdown in procedure, and that it absolutely should never have happened.

After suffering from a series of strokes, Turner was admitted to St. Clare Health Center in Fenton, Missouri for a left-sided craniotomy bypass. Instead, the neurosurgeon operated on her right side. The goal of her craniotomy was to prevent future strokes.

Before her surgery, Turner was mobile, cognizant, and fully able to take care of herself. Her lawsuit alleges that the hospital's employees set up the operating room incorrectly and merely stood by while the neurosurgeon operated on the wrong side of her skull, watching, when they could have prevented the error. Healthcare facilities have mistake-proofing protocols and checklists which include the surgeon's marking of the operative site, members of the operating team verifying that site with the medical records, and a "timeout" phase in which surgeons explain the details of the operation, allowing all team members to ask questions or raise concerns.

Clearly, in this case, the quality control and safety protocols were significantly lacking. None of the defendants named in the case participated in a timeout, which could have spared Turner part of the right side of her brain. Alarmingly, in 2010, the Journal of Neurosurgery identified 35 cases of wrong-side craniotomies in the years after 1966. The Journal also noted that there were additional, undocumented cases that were never reported to state medical boards, courts, or news organizations.

Meanwhile, on the same day the hospital issued their public apology, the Missouri Senate was considering a bill that would reinstate damage caps on medical malpractice claims, such as that filed by Turner. Eight hours into the debate, Senator Dan Brown set the bill aside, apologized to the doctors he claims he was trying to help, and surrendered the effort.

The bill was in response to a 2005 Missouri Supreme Court decision which found that malpractice caps on jury awards were unconstitutional. Republican lawmakers in the state attempted to set the maximum amount for noneconomic damages at $350,000. Noneconomic damages are usually defined as damages not associated with lost wages and medical bills, and they generally include restitution for loss mobility, pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, and loss of consortium - all things Turner is now suffering from, and will continue to for the rest of her life.

So, had that law not been overturned, Turner would only be allowed to receive $350,000 for the devastating harm done to her through a hospital's negligence. Indeed, this violates her right to a trial by jury, which, we will soon see, will award her far greater compensation for the irreversible harm done to her.

Continue reading "Missouri Doctor Operates on Wrong Side of Patient's Brain " »

Medical malpractice lawyers at Pintas & Mullins report that a woman in northeast Ohio is suing an abortion clinic after discovering she was still pregnant after the procedure, later giving birth to a healthy baby daughter. She is alleging negligence on the part of the doctors and the clinic.

The 22-year-old woman, Ariel Knight, made an appointment with the Akron Women's Medical Group when she learned she was pregnant because she feared her life was in danger. She had a pre-existing medical condition called uterine didelphys, which is a rare condition affecting the female uterus and can cause repeated miscarriages or preterm labor. In the suit, Knight argues that, because her health was compromised, and because she was solely responsible for the care of her preschool-aged son, carrying the child to full-term would put her and her son's well-being in jeopardy.

Knight was diagnosed with uterine didelphys while she was pregnant with her son. The condition is genetic, causing the uterus to be split in two while developing. She carried her son in her left uterus, which was healthy enough to carry her son to almost full term. In her second pregnancy, however, the fetus was located in the right uterus, which was not as healthy, unstable, and put her and her unborn child's lives at risk.

About a week after the procedure, Knight learned that she was still pregnant, and was referred to a second abortion clinic. However, Knight stated that this clinic was unwilling to perform the procedure, not wanting to be involved in the risky procedure. She made a second appointment at Akron Women's Medical Group but did not follow through.

Knight alleges that she spent the rest of her pregnancy in a state of constant fear and anxiety, worried what would happen to her unborn child, and to herself and her son, if any complications from her condition arose. Fortunately, nine months later, she gave birth to a healthy baby girl, who she calls her miracle baby.

Knight is still unsure why the abortion failed and why the doctor believed the procedure was complete. During the course of her pregnancy Knight was hospitalized four times, each lasting three to five days, and had to visit a special high-risk pregnancy physician twice a week.

Knight hopes the lawsuit, which was filed against the clinic and two doctors, will lead to better treatment of women in these types of clinics. Her description of the Akron Women's Medical Group is horrifying; she even went as far as to compare it to a slaughterhouse. She said there were dozens of women in the clinic at the time of her procedure, some even forced to stand. The procedural room itself was cramped, and she was told to position her lower body on a table above a trash bag. When the procedure was finished she was handed her things and shown the door.

She is seeking unspecified damages for emotional distress and pain and suffering. Her lawsuit alleges the clinic deviated from the standard of care, and Knight hopes to be a catalyst for change, at least for other women like her in northeast Ohio who wish, for personal and unique reasons, to undergo this procedure.

Although abortions are legal in the United States, bureaucratic limitations continue to render many clinics across the country unsafe. Just a year ago, in August 2012, a woman entered one of these clinics on Chicago's South Side to undergo an abortion. Following the procedure, she began bleeding uncontrollably. For reasons that are not yet clear, staff waited an astounding five and a half hours to bring her to Northwestern Memorial Hospital.

Continue reading "Ohio Woman Sues Clinic over Failed Abortion " »

Medical malpractice lawyers at Pintas & Mullins report that a case filed by the parents of a teen who died after being deprived of oxygen during dental surgery recently settled out of court. The suit was filed against the anesthesiologist, oral surgeon, and medical practice, alleging negligence after they failed to revive the girl when her heart rate fell to dangerous levels.

The 17-year-old was undergoing routine oral surgery to remove her wisdom teeth when her heart rate began to fall. Her dangerously low heartbeat caused significant deprivation of oxygen to her brain. She did not have a pulse when emergency responders arrived at the Maryland office, which led to massive brain injury. She subsequently went into a coma for ten days and ultimately died. Her autopsy report stated that she indeed died from the lack of oxygen to her brain during the surgery, and that she was an otherwise healthy girl with no significant medical history.

The conditions and amount of the settlement were not made public, however, the court files show that her parents filed five counts of medical negligence along with other medical failures. Their lawsuit requested more than $30,000 for each of those five counts.

At the time of the filing, the teen's mother stated that she wished to raise awareness of the very real dangers of dental procedures - particularly those that require anesthesia. She wants to make Americans aware that routine visits for dental care can turn out to be anything but. According to the Maryland chief medical examiner, the teen was given the standard dose of anesthesia, which did not put her fully under, so doctors administered additional medication.

The president of the Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation affirmed that a patient's breathing and oxygen levels should be constantly monitored even during routine procedures relating to anesthesia. This can be accomplished through medical equipment and careful observation. Should the patient's levels be monitored properly, any signs of inadequate oxygenation would be evident and corrected before it caused cardiac arrest.

The girl's mother has been in contact with the Raven Maria Blanco Foundation, which advocates on behalf of dental safety. The foundation's website lists more than 35 children who have died during dental-related procedures.

Too often, dental offices allow unlicensed employees to perform anesthesia sedation, which carries extreme risks even when administered by certified anesthesiologists. These risks include allergic reactions, cardiovascular incidents, respiratory depression, stroke, and brain injury. Further intensifying the dangers is that most dental offices are not equipped with emergency equipment that could have potentially saved the life of the Maryland teen.

Unfortunately, dentist offices carry risks other than those associated with anesthesia. Recently in suburban Oklahoma, for example, about 7,000 dental patients of one office were forced to get tested for possible HIV and hepatitis exposure. State health officials and investigators stated that the W. Scott Harrington office was allowing unlicensed employees performe IV sedation, and found numerous sterilization and cross-contamination issues. They also found the drug lockers to be unlocked and unattended, with medications long past their expiration date. Neither were there any inventory logs for the drug cabinet, and one medication they found expired in 1993.

Continue reading "Lawsuit from Death of Teen after Dental Surgery Settles" »

Medical malpractice lawyers at Pintas & Mullins report that a Maryland doctor was recently ordered to pay $1.42 million to a patient after removing the incorrect ovary during surgery and actively lying about the mistake afterwards.

The patient went to see OB/GYN Doctor Maureen Muoneke, who has a practice in Columbia, MD, because of a cyst on her left ovary. The patient, Nadege Neim, was pregnant at the time, and Dr. Muoneke recommended she have the cyst removed to prevent any complications that could harm the fetus. She checked into Saint Agnes Hospital in Baltimore soon after, where Dr. Muoneke performed the surgery.

After the procedure, Muoneke told Neim that the surgery had gone well, and that she had successfully removed the ovary. What she did not specify, however, was the she accidently removed the right-side ovary instead of the affected left, in addition to the Neim's fallopian tube.

The woman returned to Muoneke about a month later with severe pain in her pelvic region, although the doctor never revealed to her that she accidentally removed the wrong organs. Ultimately, the pain became so extreme that Neim was taken to Howard County General Hospital. There, a different doctor gave her a CT scan, informed her that the cyst was still on her left ovary, and that the right ovary and fallopian tube were removed.

During court proceedings, the patient claimed that Muoneke even tried to cover up the error by forging the woman's medical records. Neim claimed that, after the fact, Muoneke fraudulently went into her records and added that she was complaining of pain in the right side of her pelvis, opposed to the left, among other descriptions that justified her falsely removing the right-side organs.

The jury returned with a verdict on the case after an hour of deliberation. They awarded Neim $1.42 million in compensation for the ordeal.

In an eerily similar case, a woman in Texas recently sued for medical malpractice after her left ovary was removed in a surgery without her consent. The patient, Taryn Stevens, filed the lawsuit against the hospital, Memorial Hermann Baptist Beaumont Hospital, and her physician, Dr. Khalid Kayani.

Under Texas malpractice law, plaintiffs are required to provide expert testimony when filing their claim. The judge heard Stevens' expert reports, denied the defendant's motion for mediation, and allowed the case to continue; the case is expected to face a trial in the summer of 2013.

Stevens entered Hermann Baptist Hospital in 2010 for a myomectomy, which is a surgery to remove uterine fibroids. These growths can appear on the uterus during a woman's childbearing years, and it is the surgeon's goal to remove the fibroids and reconstruct the uterus, leaving the pelvic organs intact.

During the course of the surgery, however, Dr. Kayani removed Stevens' left ovary, a procedure which she did not consent to. Stevens is suing the doctor and hospital for past and future medical expense, mental anguish, and impairment.

Continue reading "Doctor pays $1.4 Million for Removing Wrong Organs" »

In the lawsuit, country singer LeeAnn Rimes is arguing that her dentist caused her permanent cosmetic deficiencies from his many mistakes, affecting her ability to perform and causing her to cancel several shows. Medical malpractice lawyers at Pintas & Mullins are highlighting this story because dental negligence is often overlooked in malpractice law, although it can cause significant pain and suffering.

The singer is suing Dr. Duane C. McKay for the work he performed on her between December 2009 and April 2012, claiming he misdiagnosed her dental issues and conducted substandard care. In the initial incident, Dr. McKay allegedly gave her veneers that were the wrong shape, size and color, which he later substituted with crowns. The crowns caused her severe tooth pain, chronic gum bleeding, and gum inflammation, and eventually required emergency extraction.

Rimes needed all eight crowns removed, along with one tooth extraction, bone grafting, and nine root canals, which were all caused by the defective crowns. She is now seeking undisclosed compensation for emotional and psychological damage, pain and suffering, medical bills, and loss in earnings. The singer was forced to cancel numerous performances in the summer of 2012 in order to undergo emergency root canals.

According to the lawsuit, Dr. McKay told the singer that, through his work, pain in her Temporomandibular joint (TMJ) would subside, leading to the initial surgery. Many people suffer pain in this area, which is the sliding hinge connecting the jawbone to the skull. TMJ injuries can manifest through pain in the jaw, around the ear, and difficulty chewing. Most dentists recommend treating TMJ with nonsurgical treatments or pharmaceuticals. It is unclear what the motivation behind recommending surgery for Rimes was.

Dentists can be sued for substandard and negligent care just like medical doctors, nurses and hospitals can. Patients often suffer permanent and life-altering injuries from dental negligence - some have even died while in the dentist's chair. This happens when dentists and nurses inadequately or inappropriately administer anesthesia. Many dentists put you under needlessly, in the guise of "pain-free procedures," to increase profit margins.

In one such case, a six-year-old boy entered the Virginia Commonwealth University Pediatric Dental Clinic in 2010 to get crowns on some of his teeth. The dentist ordered the boy to be put under a general anesthetic, which rendered him unconscious for the entire procedure. The boy suffered an abnormal heartbeat as soon as his breathing tube was improperly removed, and because the dental team did not monitor his condition adequately, he was pronounced dead at a nearby medical center. His cause of death was due to a cardiac arrest, induced by the improper removal of a breathing tube.

His family brought a wrongful deal claim against the dentist's office, alleging that the team failed to monitor the boy's heart and respiratory conditions, vital signs, and oxygen saturation levels through the procedure. They eventually settled for $100,000.

Another child, this time a four-year-old girl, suffered a cardiac arrest in a similar dental incident. The girl survived the episode, but she will now suffer from permanent brain damage for the rest of her life. Her mother says she will never walk, talk, or eat on her own again. A general practitioner administered the girl's anesthesia. This case illuminates the wide and dangerous discrepancy between dental anesthesiology and medical anesthesiology.

Continue reading "LeeAnn Rimes Sues Dentist for Medical Malpractice " »

Medical malpractice applies to a wide range of healthcare settings, from dental work to dolling out medications. With the widespread popularity of laser surgery, many patients underestimate the potential side effects of the procedure. Like any other medical procedure, however, if doctors deviate from the standard of care, medical malpractice claims can be filed.

Laser surgery is available in every major city throughout the US, and companies are consistently offering their services via Groupon and other marketing websites. Because of its availability and affordability, the number of Americans undergoing laser surgery is on the rise. Many people do not realize that there are no federal standards regulating who can administer laser surgery, neither are there any training or supervision requirements.

According to JAMA Dermatology, at least 174 malpractice lawsuits have been filed due to injuries from skin laser surgery. Plastic surgeons are most often named as defendants in these cases, representing more than 25% of the claims. Dermatologists came in a close second, with more than 20%.

More than 900,000 laser hair removal surgeries were performed in the US in 2011. Other applications for cutaneous laser surgery include skin rejuvenation, for treatment of leg veins, and vascular lesions. In the skin rejuvenation procedure, carbon dioxide is used to resurface the skin, and can lead to a number of complications, include scarring, burns, and changes in pigment.

In the 174 lawsuits, emotional distress was cited numerous times, as were complaints of a lower quality of life from the procedures. One patient died while under general anesthesia for skin rejuvenation laser surgery. A second patient death was linked to a fatal dose of topical anesthesia during laser hair removal.

The average amount in damages the plaintiffs received was upwards of $380,000, ranging from $5,000 to more than $2 million. Allegations against physicians included acts of negligence, lack of training and supervision of staff, failure to provide warnings of potential hazards, and using inappropriate devices.

Many physicians were named as defendants even when they themselves did not conduct the procedure. This is because the physicians are still responsible for the outcome of the procedure even if they have a nurse of clinician physically perform it. Additionally, many of these laser surgery providers are uninsured, and would not be able to pay an award if it was granted. Physicians are required to hold insurance by federal law.

It is now recommended that physicians and patients alike considering laser surgery should familiarize themselves with their state's particular regulations, and ensure that all staff have the necessary training and licensing to properly conduct the procedure. Clinicians who perform laser surgeries and have not been extensively trained are often held to the same standards of liability as those who are specialists in the field.

This does not apply to more invasive laser surgeries, such as Lasik, which certified and insured physicians must perform. Medical malpractice lawsuits over laser eye surgery are not uncommon, however. In Las Vegas, for example, one eye doctor has been sued for malpractice at least 17 times during his career. The plaintiffs allege that he advertised for state-of-the-art laser eye corrective surgery at a flat rate, which turned out to be false. The doctor lost his medical license in Ohio in 2005, moved to Nevada, and used his wife's medical license to open an eye clinic in 2006. He was the first eye surgeon to ever be so severely disciplined in the state of Ohio.

Continue reading "Malpractice Lawsuits from Laser Surgery on the Rise" »

Wrongful death lawyers report that Planned Parenthood of Illinois is now facing a second lawsuit concerning the death of a woman who underwent an abortion at the clinic. The woman's family filed the claims against Planned Parenthood and Northwestern Memorial Hospital.

Tonya Reaves, a 24-year-old Chicago native, recently passed away at Northwestern Memorial Hospital from complications arising from the procedure. The autopsy confirmed that Reaves died of severe hemorrhaging following the procedure at the Loop Health Center Planned Parenthood, at 18 S. Michigan Ave. A lawsuit was previously filed by Reaves' mother in August 2012, although it is unclear what became of the case.

Reaves entered the clinic at 11 a.m. to receive a second-trimester abortion. Following the procedure Reaves began bleeding uncontrollably, although she was not brought to Northwestern Memorial until five and a half hours later, at 4:30 p.m. Once Reaves arrived at Northwestern, the trauma team discovered extreme internal bleeding from a severed left uterine artery. There was an estimated 1.5 liters of blood and clots inside her abdominal cavity, which is about 30% of the body's total blood volume. The team attempted to correct the incomplete abortion and, in a final attempt to save her life, performed an emergency hysterectomy.

The medical examiner discovered left over remnants from the failed abortion still attached to her womb, even after the second procedure was performed at Northwestern. Reaves also suffered a large perforation on her uterus, and extensive perforation on her uterine ligament, which undoubtedly contributed to the severe hemorrhaging and blood loss. The autopsy indicates that Reaves would have survived if she had received immediate emergency care.

Reaves died more than twelve hours after the initial procedure was performed. The troubling question surrounding this case is why Planned Parenthood waited so long to contact emergency services for Reaves. Reaves was 16 weeks pregnant at the time of her abortion, well into the second trimester. The longer a woman waits to receive an abortion, the more dangerous the procedure will be. Unlike first-trimester terminations, the type of procedure Reaves received requires surgical instruments to remove the fetus, and hemorrhaging is not uncommon with later pregnancy, even in those who carry their child to full-term. One doctor states that 1 in 100 women will experience postpartum hemorrhaging following childbirth. It may occur from a number of factors, such as blood vessel spasms, tissue left behind in the uterus after termination (such was evident in Reaves), and preexisting problems with clotting.

Medical malpractice and wrongful death lawsuits must prove that a patient's death was the direct result of below-standard care. ABC News reports that Reaves' uncontrolled bleeding may indicate that something extremely abnormal occurred, and that she may have had a preexisting medical condition. If this possible preexisting condition was revealed to doctors before the procedure was performed, Planned Parenthood may be liable for her death.

Continue reading "Planned Parenthood Sued after Woman's Death " »

Johns Hopkins University recently released a study identifying total malpractice settlements and judgments between 1990 and 2010, their costs to the healthcare system and the outcomes of patients. Medical malpractice attorneys are concerned about the frequency of surgical errors in the United States, and would like to highlight the major findings of this study.

Researchers examined data from four categories of surgical errors: objects left inside patients, operating on wrong body parts, performing the wrong procedure, and operating on the wrong person. These are deemed 'never events' because they should never occur in correct practice. Surgical errors are increasingly being used to determine the quality of health care in the United States. This study, the first of its kind, was designed to describe the amount and severity of malpractice claims for surgical errors, along with associated patient and provider characteristics.

Using information from the National Practitioner Data Bank, researchers identified over 9,700 relevant malpractice settlements and judgments, totaling $1.3 billion. They found that in these cases, fatal errors occurred in over 6% of patients, permanent injury in nearly 33%, and temporary injury in almost 60%. It was estimated that more than 4,000 surgical errors occur every year in the U.S., and, troublingly, that over 12% of physicians named in malpractice cases were later named in at least one other error claim.

The patient safety researchers estimated that surgeons leave foreign objects in patients (such as a sponge or surgical instrument) an average of 39 times a week. Additionally, surgeons perform the wrong procedure 20 times a week, and surgeons operate on the wrong body part 20 times a week. Researchers believe that their estimations are likely to be on the lower side, as not all victims of such events pursue medical malpractice lawsuits.

Identifying the problem and documenting the magnitude of such events is an integral component of developing better, more efficient health care systems. There are certain errors in the medical field that are not preventable, such as infection rates. The four categories examined in this study, however, are occurrences for which there is universal professional agreement that they should never happen and are entirely preventable. This study illuminates an alarming problem and the immense need for improved safety and regulation.

These surgical errors occur most often in patients between the ages of 40 and 49. Surgeons in this same age group were responsible for more than a third of these mistakes, compared to surgeons 60 and older, which accounted to little more than 14%. An astounding 62% of doctors were cited in more than one individual medical malpractice report.

Many medical centers employ mandatory 'time-outs' before surgical procedures to ensure medical records and surgical plans match the patient on the operating table. Other regulations in place to prevent surgical errors include counting surgical instruments, using indelible ink to mark operation sites on the body, and surgical checklists. These methods are aimed at reducing the number of surgical errors, but they are far from fool-proof, as proven by the Johns Hopkins study.

Continue reading "Johns Hopkins' Landmark Medical Malpractice Study " »

The Supreme Court is faced with a significant case involving medical malpractice payments awarded to Medicaid beneficiaries. The complicated case centers on a now 13-year-old child who suffered severe birth defects from an improper caesarian section delivery. Medical malpractice attorneys highlight the importance of this verdict, and will continue to report on its developments.

The child was born in 2000 at what is now the Catawba Valley Medical Center in Hickory, North Carolina. She suffered severe injuries during childbirth, which led to a cerebral palsy diagnosis. Cerebral palsy is a group of disorders involving brain and nervous system functions, and is caused by injuries or abnormalities of the brain. Due to doctors' negligence, she is now deaf, blind, unable to talk, suffers seizures, requires periodic airway suctioning, and is largely immobile. The obstetricians involved in this case had a long history of drug use, and voluntarily surrendered his medical license in 2000.

The case brought before the Supreme Court pertains to state's share in payments awarded to Medicaid beneficiaries in medical malpractice lawsuits. The child's family, the Armstrong's, was awarded $2.8 million in a 2006 settlement with the responsible obstetrician and medical center. At present, states are able to reclaim either one-third of a medical malpractice settlement or judgment awarded to a Medicaid patient, or the total Medicaid spending on the patient, whichever is lesser. In this case, Medicaid is requesting a payment of more than $900,000 as one-third of the settlement, although it estimated it spent over $1.9 million providing for the child. The settlement does not detail the exact amounts spent on the child's medical care.

The Supreme Court will determine how much of the $2.8 million the Armstrong family will be able to keep. If the Court decides the amount to be anything other than the one-third share already asserted by Medicaid, the state's existing laws will be called into question and ultimately reshaped. The Armstrong family is confident, especially after receiving the backing of the AARP and, surprisingly, the U.S. Department of Justice. The Obama administration and others in the Armstrong corner are arguing that the one-third claim in this case is excessive and arbitrary, and that cases of this type should be heard individually to determine specific allocations, rather than pre-determined by blanket regulations.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor seems to agree. Sotomayor argued that this one-third statute was not based on any empirical data. Several other justices, however, voiced skepticism that individual hearings can properly determine exact medical expenses, and that the one-third statute provided for efficiency in state malpractice cases.

Further complicating the issue, federal Medicaid laws currently forbid state governments from requesting claims from Medicaid patients' personal property, which medical malpractice settlement amounts are considered to be. A former Supreme Court case, however, ruled that Medicaid is able to request claims from patient property, but only in the amount to cover medical care. As stated previously, the Armstrong's settlement did not specify the amount spent on medical care. If the Armstrong's are successful, North Carolina, along with officials in other eleven states supporting their case, fears that Medicaid patients will attempt to mask all their medical malpractice awards from state claims by classifying the amounts as anything other than medical care. Thus, the state would lose out on Medicaid reimbursements funds, which would send already-struggling states like North Carolina into further debt.

Continue reading "Supreme Court to Determine Medical Malpractice Awards for Medicaid Beneficiaries " »

Recent studies indicate that deadly preventable medical mistakes are both grossly underestimated and underreported. Approximately half of the respondents to related surveys thought that the total number of annual deaths from medical mistakes was just 5000, or even less than that. Actually, avoidable medical errors account for about 100,000 deaths. If the Centers for Disease Control were to consider preventable medical errors as a sort of disease, then medical errors sixth leading factor responsible for death in America.

Surgical Slips and Bad Doctors Are Commonplace

In the article recently published in The Daily Beast, the author outlines the fact that the problem of surgical slips and terrible doctors is more serious than most people think. He uses several examples to illustrate the fact. One of these examples is the role of medical malpractice in the unwarranted suffering of a woman whose scan reports showed advanced ovarian cancer. The traditional treatment method for the problem is major surgery to remove the uterus, fallopian tubes, cervix and ovaries. The woman did not want to go through with this major procedure, preferring instead to be with her family and do a couple of things before she passed away.

Doctors convinced the initially hesitant woman to go for a biopsy to verify the diagnosis, by exaggerating the benefits and understating the possible complications. In the course of the biopsy, the biopsy needle unintentionally pierced an important blood vessel, forcing the woman to stay six weeks more in the hospital. Those six agonizing weeks were marked by multiple CAT scans, blood transfusions and malnutrition because the poor woman was unable to eat most of the time. After those six horrific weeks, the woman lived for just three more weeks. Despite all this, all the doctors could say about the woman's objection to the fatal biopsy was that doctors had to decide for patients who themselves weren't sure what they wanted.

In a similar medical mistake incident, a Harvard surgeon began a national surgeon's conference keynote speech by asking the doctors gathered there to raise their hand if they were aware of any doctor colleague who was not supposed to be practicing because he or she was considered to be too risky. The response was astounding - every single hand went up. If the number of fraudulent or very bad doctors is taken to be 2 percent (actually it is more) of the 1 million doctors t in the US, and if each of these bad physicians usually saw 500 patients every year, it means that 10 million people see bad physicians annually.

Offenders and Complication Rates Are Shielded

A disturbing practice noticed with hospitals in the US is that, even if they are aware of the malpractice happening within their walls, they either shield the offending doctor or punish someone who tries to bring the truth to light. There was the instance of a heart surgeon who caused six consecutive deaths during regular bypass surgery and took several hours longer than the standard operating time for 5 of his last surviving patients, putting them at risk. However, no one seemed to want to report the doctor to anyone, one of the reasons being that he happily did whatever senior surgeons didn't want to do and also covered their holiday shifts.

A prominent cardiologist was fired after releasing her findings pertaining to her assessment of doctor interpretations of heart-echo tests. She found that 29 percent of the interpretations were incorrect.

Continue reading "Deadly Medical Errors - Greatly Underestimated and Underreported" »

Is there a medical malpractice crisis in this country? Recent reports say no.

According to the consumer group, Public Citizen, medical malpractice claims reached an all-time low in 2011 after consistently dropping for the last eight years. Although some policymakers and doctors groups try to blame malpractice payments for driving up healthcare costs, their allegations appear to be unfounded. Our Illinois medical malpractice litigation experts believe that the healthcare field would be best served if medical professionals shifted their focus from arbitrary finger pointing to improving patient safety measures.

Doctors argue that the cost of medical malpractice insurance and the practice of defensive medicine to avoid lawsuits spell disaster for the health care system. Insurance costs include everything from premiums to settlements and administrative costs. In order to protect themselves from the threat of liability, many doctors allege that they are being forced to practice "defensive medicine." This means that they are performing unnecessary tests and surgical procedures purely based on the fear that they will be sued if they fail to take such measures. When this happens, they claim, the cost of total health care spending goes up.

However, new evidence shows that these claims are baseless. Public Citizen found that medical malpractice costs actually made up less than 1 percent of overall national healthcare costs in 2011. More importantly, out of all of the malpractice payments made that year, more than 60 percent were awarded to patients for serious, permanent injuries caused by negligence.

These statistics help prove that phony or frivolous lawsuits are not clogging up the system, as some may argue. Rather, medical malpractice lawyers rarely file cases unless they have evidence that a patient was seriously injured by a negligent medical mistake. Sadly, a majority of patients are not compensated at all for injuries that they suffer as a result of medical malpractice. Far too many injured victims and their families are being forced to bear the significant costs of lifelong medical care.

Our Illinois medical malpractice attorneys firmly believe that it is unjust to deprive medical negligence victims of their right to compensation. Numerous studies have shown that one of the most efficient ways to reduce healthcare costs is by implementing hospital safety protocols designed to protect patients from preventable medical mistakes. As Kaiser Health News reported, surgeons operate on the wrong patient or wrong body part as many as 40 times a week in hospitals around the country! This is a shocking statistic that underscores the critical need for improved hospital safety programs.

Continue reading "New Research Shows "Malpractice Crisis" is Just a Myth" »

A recent study sheds some disturbing light on the occurrence of medical malpractice during surgery. The study focused on how young surgeons react to environmental distractions while performing a procedure. Study results were revealed in the Archives of Surgery online publications during mid-July of 2012.

Researchers studied young surgeons in training who were working on surgical simulations rather than actual patients. Although the researchers feel the data is significant, they do not believe that it is a precise model of the errors made in operating rooms. They draw this distinction between reality and a simulated study on the premise that distractions in their study were purposefully introduced at the most critical points of the operation whereas in real life a distraction could occur anytime. Thus the error results tracked may be an exaggerated representation of the effects produced by distractions in the operating room.

All caveats aside, the study results show that surgeons exposed to distraction during a procedure are eight times more likely to commit errors. And not just run of the mill accidents, but full-blown serious errors. Surgical errors are definitely a cause for concern because patient safety is put on the line when the surgeon makes a mistake.

Surgery is stressful enough without worrying about the state of mind your surgeon will be in when you go under anesthesia. Patients who become victims of medical malpractice via a surgical error are likely to be plagued by anxiety and fear for future procedures.

The types of distractions introduced in this study varied from those generally seen in operating rooms, to others invented by researchers solely for the purpose of this study. Researchers settled on four distractions after observing real operating rooms over the course of nine months; unexpected movement by an observer, cell phone noise from an observer, spontaneous conversation between observers, and the noise produced when a metal tray suddenly dropped. Two fabricated distractions were interruption by a nurse asking a question about a recovering patient, and conversational disruption asking the surgeon a question about their career choice.

Continue reading "Distractions During Surgery Lead to Serious Medical Malpractice Accidents" »

A jury recently awarded mourning parents 78 million dollars, the single largest damage award even handed down in the state of Pennsylvania. These parents lost their little girl to spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy when she was only three years old. The cerebral palsy was the direct result of medical malpractice on behalf of the family's obstetrician. Our Illinois medical malpractice attorneys are particularly experienced in dealing with wrongful death cases of this nature and they are pleased to see a family receive such a fitting jury award.

One of the most common conditions resulting from medical malpractice and negligence at birth is cerebral palsy. Cerebral palsy is a very serious condition that directly affects an individual's motor abilities. Individuals suffering from cerebral palsy can have partial or complete paralysis, restricted mobility, shakes and tremors, and various physical disabilities. Unfortunately, modern medicine is unable to cure this condition. Often times, modern medicine cannot even save individuals suffering from cerebral palsy.

Cerebral palsy can be caused by an insufficient amount of oxygen being received at birth. The most common instance of medical malpractice causing cerebral palsy is a failure to correctly treat a prolapsed umbilical cord, which is also known as hypoxia. A prolapsed umbilical cord occurs when the cord exits the uterus before the fetus does. This can result in the umbilical cord actually strangling the baby as it emerges from the womb. This lack of oxygen can cause cerebral palsy.

Continue reading "Largest Jury Award Even In Pennsylvania Given" »

The parents of a child with severe developmental disorders were awarded a whopping $55 million by a Baltimore City jury. The Baltimore jury ultimately found that the doctors delayed the decision to perform the surgery constituted medical malpractice worthy of a damage award. Having a child born with medical problems, especially those that may not be remedied, is among the most devastating outcomes of medical malpractice. Our Illinois medical malpractice attorneys are extremely experienced in these types of cases and have a long standing record of obtaining the largest settlements and jury awards for our clients.

Obstetricians are the surgically trained physicians that perform all medical matters pertaining to the birth of a child. In this modern day, there are generally two different ways that a child can be born: Caesarean section or vaginal birth, which is also known as a natural birth. A Caesarean section, also known as a C-Section, is a procedure that involves making rather large incisions in both the mother's abdomen and her uterus. The obstetricians then remove the baby from the mother's uterus.

As one can imagine, C-Sections are incredibly invasive and often require several days or even weeks for a mother to fully recover from having one. Additionally is the level of difficulty and danger in performing them, along with all other surgeries and deliveries obstetricians perform. As a result, obstetricians have to pay the highest medical malpractice insurance premiums, on average, of any other type of physician. The elevated cost of insurance premiums is derived from the huge nature of damages awarded to victims of these types of medical malpractice. This is likely the result of the innocent and helpless nature of babies and the special relationship mother's have with their children.

Continue reading "Botched Caesarean Results in Massive Damage Award" »

A woman in Alabama is finally receiving compensation for a botched biopsy surgery. The patient, arrived at the hospital in 2007 expecting to undergo a biopsy procedure she was familiar with after having breast cancer removed from her right breast a few years prior to that time. Leading up to the procedure the patient was given a pre-surgery medication typically used as a light sedative or to calm anxiety.

After the initial medication, the nurse placed a mark on the patient's left breast. The patient quickly alerted the nurse that the mark was not aligned with the location of the cyst that needed removal. The nurse casually brushed the comment to the side and said the mark was only meant to tell the surgeon which breast to operate on. Given the trivial nature of the marking the patient then requested to draw a smiley face in the same spot. After the drawings were complete the nurse administered a heavy intravenous sedative at which time the patient was rendered unconscious.

The surgical preparations proceeded as usual; the patient was draped for operation and wheeled to the operating room. What happened inside the room in terms of communication between hospital staff members is fuzzy. When the patient awoke in recoup she learned that the surgeon in fact operated at the site of the mark and thus had not removed the cyst that prompted operation in the first place.

Once the patient informed hospital employees that the cyst was still in her breast she was whisked back into the operating room for a second surgery. During the second procedure the cyst was successfully removed and it was determined to be non-cancerous. The nature of the cyst however, was not the end of the problem for the victim.

Eight days after surgery the patient required hospitalization for a severe infection that developed at the surgical site. As a result of the infection the patient underwent multiple subsequent surgeries to ensure proper healing. In total she remained hospitalized for 10 days and she required extensive medical treatment during that time to ward off more dangerous infections.

Continue reading "Bad Breast Biopsy Leads to $106,026 Medical Malpractice Award" »