Chicago Medical Malpractice Lawyer Blog

A recent round of medical reports suggest that too many Americans are being over treated and that more tests and treatment does not always produce better health outcomes. (Chicago AP, L. Tanner, 3/12). Several reasons including patient demand of excessive testing, and doctors practicing defensive medicine to avoid lawsuits are cited.

New evidence and guidelines are recommend and encourage physicians to have more thorough conversations with their patients about risks and benefits of tests and procedures.

As a medical malpractice attorney, I fully support new guidelines encouraging more doctor patient conversations.

Harmful errors in radiation given to 97 veterans with prostate cancer at the Philadelphia VA Medical Center have been in the news for months, but this week the Department of Veterans Affairs was fined $227,500 as a result of these egregious errors. (Philadelphia AP, J. Lobiglio, 3/17). The fine is “the second largest it has ever levied for medical errors,” and “the VA was cited for lacking procedures to ensure and verify the treatments were done correctly, failing to properly train staff and neglecting to immediately report mistakes.”

The victims underwent brachytherapy, a common surgical treatment typically used only on law-risk prostate cancer patients, which involves implanting tiny radioactive iodine pellets, in the prostate to kill cancer cells. After reviewing medical records and conducting tests on the 116 veterans who underwent the procedure between 2002 and 2008, officials concluded that 97 had received incorrect dosages of radiation.
As a medical malpractice attorney, I have continuously been disturbed by the medical negligence that harmed 97 veterans in this situation. I am, however, pleased that the VA was hit with the second largest fine for these careless and harmful errors.

As a medical malpractice attorney in Chicago with experience in medial drug products liability, the recent ruling of the Australian court with regards to the drug Vioxx intrigues me.

An Australian court ruled Friday, “the once-popular painkiller Vioxx doubled the risk of heart attack and was unfit for consumption” (K. Gelineau, 3/5, AP). This ruling opens up claims for many other litigants in lawsuits against the U.S. company Merck & Co. Although the drug was removed from the global market in 2004 after research indicated the risk of stroke and heart attack, millions consumed the drug before it was taken off the market.

The Australian judge found “that Merck Sharpe & Dohme failed in its duty of care by not warning Peterson's doctor about the drug's potential cardiovascular risk, and by its sales representatives emphasizing the drug's safety.”