Chicago Medical Malpractice Lawyer Blog

Shaya Tayefe Mohajer of the Associated Press recently reported that 18 hospitals in California were fined for state health code violations where patients received sub-par care that in some cases, led to death. Violations included an improperly inserted catheter, a ventilator that wasn't turned on and surgical sponges left inside patients after operations. The report also found some patients experienced awareness during their procedures due to improper anesthesia.

The fines were the latest of dozens of penalties the state issued in recent years to more than 40 hospitals. The report detailed a death at a hospital in which a worker failed to turn on the ventilator for a patient who was being transferred. At another hospital, a patient died after falling from a wheelchair with no seat belt on, and another of the fined hospitals lost a patient from a medication overdose. In what appears to be an epidemic of poor healthcare, at another hospital, a registered nurse improperly inserted a catheter into a patient's neck vein, which caused an air bubble and lead to the patient’s death. The California Department of Health investigation found the nurse had not completed a required anatomy class or the hospital's training on protocol for catheters.

The hospitals were fined $25,000 for each violation. If you have questions relating to medical malpractice please contact the Illinois Medical Malpractice Attorneys at Hurley McKenna & Mertz, P.C.

A lawsuit testing the constitutionality of Illinois' medical malpractice damage caps is expected to come before the Illinois’ Supreme Court this fall. The 2005 state law limits medical malpractice awards for non-economic damages such as pain and suffering to $500,000 for doctors and $1 million for hospitals. The law does not limit compensation for economic damages such as the cost of medical care and lost wages.

The case that could overturn the law was filed by Frances LeBron, whose daughter Abigaile was seriously injured during her October 2005 birth. The complaint alleges that the girl suffers mental impairment and cerebral palsy and will need extensive medical care for the rest of her life. In November, Cook County Circuit Judge Diane Larsen sided with plaintiffs and declared the law unconstitutional and invalid in its entirety. She said the statutory limits on awards interfered with juries' responsibility to award appropriate compensation for injuries.

At least twice before the Supreme Court has declared laws that limit personal injury awards to be unconstitutional, partly on grounds they violate the separation of judicial and legislative powers. Arguments before the high court have not been scheduled but could come as early as next month. 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. If you have comments about this post, please contact Chicago Medical Malpractice Attorney Chris Hurley at (312) 553-4900.

Those focused on fighting hospital negligence have long been concerned that hospitals may begin to routinely consider a patient’s credit rating or ability to pay for health care when making treatment decisions. Last week in fact, in a Chicago Tribune column, Cory Franklin advocates for more federal oversight of hospitals and other health care professionals relating to credit reporting and billing. In his column, Franklin claims that the “inevitable partnership” of credit and medical histories are already being collected by at least one company in an attempt to predict how reliably patients will pay for their medical bills.

A scenario where medical tests are not conducted on a sick patient because of the patient’s low credit score is an unsettling possibility. Discriminating against patients who have poor credit or medical histories is not only unethical--it is illegal-- and opens up doctors and hospitals to medical malpractice claims. The Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA) specifically prohibits this practice. If you have questions about medical malpractice, please contact Chris Hurley at (312) 553-4900.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a warning last month to doctors who treat patients with electronic devices such as pacemakers, cardiac defibrillators and insulin pumps. Judith Graham of the Chicago Tribune reports that the FDA public health alert cautioned doctors that these types of medical devices can malfunction when patients get computerized tomography (CT) scans. The health alert can be found here.

There have been six confirmed reports of devices that malfunctioned after a CT scan and nine other reports of suspected problems. No deaths have occurred as a result of this complication.

In its alert, the FDA warned that devices that could be affected by CT scans include pacemakers, implantable defibrillators, neurostimulators, drug infusion and insulin pumps, cochlear implants and retinal implants. Millions of Americans are equipped with these devices-- which use electrical current to help various organs overcome functional deficiencies. Among other measures, the alert recommends that CT operators use the least amount of X-ray exposure possible and stand prepared to treat adverse reactions.

From legal perspective, medical malpractice occurs when a doctor, hospital, or other health care provider fails, or breaches, their duty to care for a patient. In the case where a CT scan is scheduled for a patient equipped with a defibrillator or pacemaker, the FDA alert warns doctors to take certain precautions to ensure the medical device does not malfunction-- since it is forseeable that complication and injury can occur if the condition is ignored. If you think a healthcare professional made a mistake treating your condition, the first thing you should do is seek legal advice. The lawfirm of Hurley McKenna & Mertz, P.C. has sucessfully fought for patients who have received negligent healthcare at the hands of doctors and hospitals. If you have questions or comments about this blog post call Chris Hurley at 312-553-4900.

A recent article in the Chicago Tribune reports that Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois will start to refuse to compensate physicians and hospitals for poor medical care that results in an injury to a patient. Previsouly, payment was expected even if there were major errors that resulted in an injury to the patient. This decision by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois should have a positive result for Illinois patients as it will force the physicians and hospitals to be accountable for the care that they provide.

Studies have shown that medical providers that are aware that they will be held accountable for medical errors are far less likely to commit medical errors. The public has a right to expect that their medical providers are providing them with the best medical care possible. The public also has a right to expectthere to be accountability by the medical providers that commit a medical error that results in injury.

The health care industry and the insurance companies have gone to great lengths to do what they can to restrict the opportunities for average citizens to pursue medical malpractice cases and to obtain justice. The attorneys at Hurley, McKenna & Mertz, P.C. have a strong history of pursuing difficult cases on behalf of average citizens who were injured due to a medical error and felt they had no where to turn. If you have been injured as the result of the mistake of a physician or hospital, contact Mike Keating at 312-602-1419 or mkeating@hurley-law.com.

Hurley McKenna & Mertz has filed a suit under the Illinois Nursing Home Care Act against Somerset Nursing Home of Chicago alleging civil violations of Illinois state law arising out of the violent murder of a resident of the nursing home. The suit alleges that the nursing home negligently permitted the resident, who was under physician orders to be supervised at all times by nursing home staff due to a history of seizures from a brain tumor, to leave the nursing home without any supervision. After her seizures, the resident suffered from memory loss and weakness, and was vulnerable to others. After the nursing home permitted the resident to leave the nursing home, the resident was allegedly brutally murdered at a Chicago hotel near the defendant nursing home. She was not found for nearly twelve days.

NBC 5 in Chicago has covered the story and their report can be found here.

Questions regarding the case can be directed to Christopher Hurley or Mark McKenna at 312-553-4900.

University of Illinois Hospital has adopted the approach of the University of Michigan in dealing with medical errors. Rather than run from the truth doctors involved in medical malpractice are being honest with the victim and apologizing. The result has been fewer lawsuits and less cost for malpractice litigation.

At the University of Michigan Health System, one of the first to experiment with full disclosure, existing claims and lawsuits dropped to 83 in August 2007 from 262 in August 2001, said Richard C. Boothman, the medical center's chief risk officer.

''Improving patient safety and patient communication is more likely to cure the malpractice crisis than defensiveness and denial,'' Boothman said.

Boothman emphasized that he could not know whether the decline was due to disclosure or safer medicine, or both. But the hospital's legal defense costs and the money it must set aside to pay claims have each been cut by two-thirds, he said. The time taken to dispose of cases has been halved.

The number of malpractice filings against the University of Illinois has dropped by half since it started its program just over two years ago, said Dr. Timothy B. McDonald, the hospital's chief safety and risk officer. In the 37 cases where the hospital acknowledged a preventable error and apologized, only one patient has filed suit. Only six settlements have exceeded the hospital's medical and related expenses.

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:

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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