Chicago Medical Malpractice Lawyer Blog

Today Hurley McKenna & Mertz filed suit in the Circuit Court of Winnebago County against Charles Bickerstaff, The Boy Scouts of America and the Blackhawk Council of the Boy Scouts of America. Charles Bickerstaff is a 57 man that served as an executive for the Boy Scouts of America for 33 years before he retired. He served at Boy Scout offices in Minnesota; Kansas City, Missouri; Heidelberg, Germany; and Rockford, Illinois over the course of his career.

Bickerstaff is now in the Lee County jail on multiple charges for criminal sexual assault on two minors aged 13 and 16. His bond is set at $4 million. The charges against Bickerstaff date back to 1998. Local police have located diaries in Bickerstaff's possession that discuss his compulsions to sexually abuse children and identify many other victims.

Bickerstaff met our client through his work with the Boy Scouts of America and used his position as an executive with the Blackhawk Area Council to gain the trust of the boy's family.

Our suit alleges that the Boy Scouts of America failed to adequately check Bickerstaff's background and failed to adequately follow up on allegations of misconduct by Bickerstaff while he was working in the Boy Scout organization.

Our office has access to thousands of files which the Boy Scouts of America created over many years and which document the fact that pedophiles are attracted to scouting. In fact, in 2005 the Director of the Boy Scouts of America Youth Protection Task Force was convicted for trafficking in child pornography.

The purpose of the suit we filed today is to bring this issue into the light of day. We know that pedophiles are not stopped until someone stops them. We are proud to be working with a young man with the courage to try to make sure this stops with him.

How can this be avoided in the future? We suggest the following as a start:

1.) Rather than hiding this problem make it public. Make sure parents understand the extent and the history of the problem so they can help protect their own children.

2.) Require thorough background checks on all people associated with scouting including volunteers and employees.

3.) Aggressively follow up on complaints or accusations of misconduct by anyone associated with scouting.

4.) Enforce the rule that no scouts should be alone with unrelated adults at any time. There should be zero tolerance for violations of this rule. Create an environment where pedophiles cannot operate. If pedophiles are denied access to scouts they will not be attracted to scouting.

5.) Use the thousands of files in the possession of the Boy Scouts of America which document the deviant behavior of people thrown out of scouting and develop a profile of the typical pedophile attracted to scouting. Use this information to educate leaders and parents so no more kids are victimized.

6.) Create an environment where abused children are not afraid to tell the truth. These children need help from professionals. They should not be made to feel shame but should be thanked for their courage in coming forward.

Today Chicago law firm Hurley McKenna & Mertz, filed suit against Charles Bickerstaff and the Boy Scouts of America and the Black Hawk Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America for civil damages arising out of the sexual abuse of their minor client while Bickerstaff was the Senior District Executive for the Black hawk Area Council in Rockford, Illinois. A copy of the filed complaint can be referenced below:

Continue reading "Suit filed against Boy Scouts of America and Charles Bickerstaff" »

In a victory for victims of negligent medical care in Illinois, Circuit Court of Cook County Judge Diane Larsen, ruled that caps on damages for medical malpractice are not constitutional in Illinois. The case will now proceed to the Illinois Supreme Court where the justices will address the constitutionality of the caps. On two prior occasions The Illinois Supreme Court has ruled caps to be unconstitutional. A consistent ruling by the Supreme Court will mean that this law limiting the damages of the most severely injured victims will be rejected like those before it.

“The Bush administration, responding to a wave of recent food and product recalls, is set to announce today its most aggressive regulatory proposals yet on policing imports. But much of their success depends on congressional action, and some lawmakers and outside experts already contend they are inadequate. The initiative aims to steer the nation toward a prevention-based regulatory system that targets the riskiest products. It calls for giving more authority to agencies that regulate food and consumer goods, improving data-gathering on imports, and increasing cooperation between agencies and with U.S. trading partners. The Food and Drug Administration, for example, would be granted power to require manufacturers and importers of ‘high risk’ products to take steps to prevent contamination and other problems. The FDA could require producers and importers of such goods to certify they comply with FDA standards. The FDA could bar imports if it is given no access or only limited access to production records. The agency would also be able to mandate recalls on tainted products, something it can't do now.”

Jane Zhang, John D McKinnon, and Christopher Conkey, Wall Street Journal, 11-6-07

As a Chicago medical malpractice lawyer I wish I could say that things like this never happened:

“The family of a woman who died earlier this year after collapsing on an emergency room's floor as she waited for treatment has filed a $45 million lawsuit against the county. The lawsuit filed Monday in Superior Court claims negligence, medical malpractice and wrongful death on the part of Los Angeles County, county police and some of the staff at the county's Martin Luther King Jr.-Harbor Hospital. Edith Isabel Rodriguez, 43, died May 9 of a perforated bowel after writhing in pain on the floor for 45 minutes without receiving care. She was discharged and sat on a bench outside the facility, yelling in pain.”

Associated Press, 11-6-07

This story from Idaho provides an excellent example of why there should be no statute of limitations for sex abuse cases. Children fear telling the story and as in this case in Idaho when the story does get told there are forces in the community that lash out at the victims. As trial lawyers we are not afraid to do the fighting so that the victims can receive justice.

Whispers in the courthouse about "missing cases" and a clandestine meeting at midnight started rookie reporter Peter Zuckerman of the Idaho Falls Post Register on an investigation that would lead him to expose the extraordinary story of a pedophile working within the local Boy Scouts, and a brave young scout who had the courage to speak up and stop him. What was hidden from the public -- concealed within those court records -- was the story of a Boy Scout leader named Brad Stowell, convicted in 1997 of molesting two children, who had admitted under oath in a court deposition in 1999 to molesting about two dozen children beginning as far back as 1988. Zuckerman, along with executive editor Dean Miller, fought successfully to unseal court records and then tracked down victims of abuse to reveal that Boy Scout leadership and at least one official in the Mormon Church -- which sponsors most of the Boy Scout Troops in Eastern Idaho -- missed opportunities to stop Stowell from working in close proximity to children.

The Post Register published the "Scouts' Honor" series in early 2005, and the paper immediately came under fire from some in the community. The fallout of the stories ended up being far more dramatic than anyone had anticipated. A prominent local company took out full-page ads in the paper challenging the reporting and claiming, "the Post Register's real intent was to smear the Scout's good name and take away what the Scouts value most, their honor." Additional victims came forward to tell their stories of abuse. And one father, motivated by his sons' accounts of abuse, dedicated himself full-time to changing Idaho's statue of limitations in cases involving the sexual abuse of minors.

Read the original 6-part "Scouts' Honor" series published in late February/early March 2005 and subsequent reporting in the Idaho Falls Post Register.

This story from Idaho provides an excellent example of why there should be no statute of limitations for sex abuse cases. Children fear telling the story and as in this case in Idaho when the story does get told there are forces in the community that lash out at the victims. As trial lawyers we are not afraid to do the fighting so that the victims can receive justice.

Whispers in the courthouse about "missing cases" and a clandestine meeting at midnight started rookie reporter Peter Zuckerman of the Idaho Falls Post Register on an investigation that would lead him to expose the extraordinary story of a pedophile working within the local Boy Scouts, and a brave young scout who had the courage to speak up and stop him. What was hidden from the public -- concealed within those court records -- was the story of a Boy Scout leader named Brad Stowell, convicted in 1997 of molesting two children, who had admitted under oath in a court deposition in 1999 to molesting about two dozen children beginning as far back as 1988. Zuckerman, along with executive editor Dean Miller, fought successfully to unseal court records and then tracked down victims of abuse to reveal that Boy Scout leadership and at least one official in the Mormon Church -- which sponsors most of the Boy Scout Troops in Eastern Idaho -- missed opportunities to stop Stowell from working in close proximity to children.

The Post Register published the "Scouts' Honor" series in early 2005, and the paper immediately came under fire from some in the community. The fallout of the stories ended up being far more dramatic than anyone had anticipated. A prominent local company took out full-page ads in the paper challenging the reporting and claiming, "the Post Register's real intent was to smear the Scout's good name and take away what the Scouts value most, their honor." Additional victims came forward to tell their stories of abuse. And one father, motivated by his sons' accounts of abuse, dedicated himself full-time to changing Idaho's statue of limitations in cases involving the sexual abuse of minors.

Read the original 6-part "Scouts' Honor" series published in late February/early March 2005 and subsequent reporting in the Idaho Falls Post Register.

“The defibrillator leads pulled off the market this week by Medtronic Inc. may pose a higher risk of fracture in younger adults and children, a population for whom the devices were particularly popular in part because of their small diameter. Children make up a relatively small share of patients who receive the implanted devices. But leads -- wires that attach defibrillators to patients' hearts -- tend to come under greater stress in more-active people, including kids, adolescents and younger adults.”

Anna Wilde Mathews and Thomas M. Burton, Wall Street Journal, 10-19-07

As a Chicago medical malpractice lawyer I have known for a long time that drugs and medical devices are not necessarily safe just because the FDA says so. The fact is that the FDA is full of people that either used to or want to work for the drug and medical device companies. There are time when the regulatory system is so incestuous that safety is compromised. Consider this story from Barry Meier of the New York Times:

“A Congressional committee notified the Food and Drug Administration yesterday that, as a result of a recall by Medtronic of a product linked to patient deaths, it was reviewing how rigorously the agency required heart device components to be tested. In a letter to the agency, Representative Henry A. Waxman, Democrat of California and chairman of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, asked agency officials a series of questions about its oversight of leads, the wires that carry electrical information between an implanted defibrillator and the heart. Among other issues, Mr. Waxman asked the agency to provide information about how it determines how much to test leads before marketing and why the agency does not give leads the same scrutiny that it has given in recent years to defibrillators.”

Barry Meier, New York Times, 10-23-07

Cruise lines seem to want it both ways. They want you to feel secure knowing there is a doctor on board but they do not want to take responsibility when the doctor is negligent. The Wall Street Journal reports:

“In October 2005, during her 37th wedding anniversary cruise aboard Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.'s Legend of the Seas, Janice Sullivan slipped and hit her head on a buffet table, briefly knocking her unconscious. The ship doctor gave the 60-year-old Cape Coral, Fla., retiree an over-the-counter pain reliever, but didn't scan or X-ray her head despite continuing pain over the next several days, according to Mrs. Sullivan. After she got home, Mrs. Sullivan went to an emergency room, where a neurologist found a blood clot. Concerned it could cause a stroke, he performed invasive brain surgery. But Mrs. Sullivan had a surprise in store when she sued the cruise line and the ship doctor: Most ship doctors, despite typically wearing a crew uniform, are classified as independent contractors. And cruise companies contend they are no more liable for the doctors' competence than a landlord who rents office space to a physician on land.”

Stephanie Chen, Wall Street Journal, 10-24-07

Before you check into a Chicago hospital wouldn't it be nice to see some statistics on medical errors. That information is available but not to the public. Why not? My guess is it has to do with money. Hospitals with bad safety records are afraid to lose patients and revenue if their safety records became public. I say let the consumer decide based on fair access to information. Consider this story from the Seattle Times:

“Over the past year, hospitals in Washington left ‘foreign objects’ in 36 surgery patients. And 21 people got surgery on the wrong body parts. Hospitals have reported such ‘adverse events’ to the state Department of Health since 2000, also including performing surgery on the wrong patient, and medication errors that can kill or seriously harm patients. But now the Washington State Hospital Association says it doesn't want the public to know which hospitals made the mistakes. It contends that a bill passed last year forbids release of such records, and the association has gotten the state to halt disclosure. At least one state lawmaker is vowing to fight back.”

Carol M. Ostrom, Seattle Times, 10-23-07

As a Chicago medical malpractice lawyer I would be happy to see a similar rule in Cook County. Too often cases that should settle do not even come close to settling until the eve of trial. Madison County has addressed this:

"The Illinois Supreme Court has approved rules adopted this year by the Madison County court for handling medical malpractice cases, Chief Judge Ann Callis said Wednesday. Those rules require people claiming injuries and the doctors they sue to meet and at least talk of settling any time a medical malpractice case is filed. Doctors saw their insurance premiums skyrocket a few years ago, and dozens closed shop in the area. Insurance companies blamed the aggressive Metro East trial bar. Most lawyers contended that the courts were not at fault. In recent years, the issue has spawned battles in the Illinois Legislature. It was in Madison County that Gov. Rod Blagojevich in 2005 signed compromise legislation limiting the amount of money for pain and suffering that any doctor or hospital could be forced to pay in a lawsuit while also reforming the physician insurance industry."

St. Louis Post-Dispatch 9/27/07
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/illinoisnews/story/
6F6FBF9BA4B9967A86257363000CD882?OpenDocument