Chicago Medical Malpractice Lawyer Blog

As a medical malpractice attorney I am astonished by the following Chicago Tribune story. A shocking number of doctors are aware that their colleagues are not safely practicing due to drug and alcohol addictions but keep it to themselves.

A new survey “finds that many American physicians fail to report troubled colleagues to authorities, believing that someone else will take care of it, that nothing will happen if they act or that they could be targeted for retribution.” (Chicago Tribune, Carla K. Johnson, 7/13). The results are based on a 2009 survey of 1,891 practicing physicians in the United States.
A mind blowing 17 percent of the doctors surveyed had direct, personal knowledge of an impaired or incompetent physician in their workplaces. A third of those doctors had not reported their knowledge to either the hospital board or the medical board of the state, leaving many dangerous physicians still practicing.

The American Medical Association and other professional groups say “doctors have an ethical obligation to make such reports. And many states require doctors to tell authorities about colleagues who endanger patients because of alcoholism, drug abuse or mental illness.” Despite ethical and statutory requirements, far too many incidents go unreported.

As a Chicago personal injury lawyer with experience in nursing home cases, I am hopeful that we continue to be able to prevent and treat Alzheimer’s disease. Scientists are reporting “advances in detecting and predicting Alzheimer's disease” including “better brain scans to spot the signs of the mind-robbing illness, and more genes that affect risk.” (M. Marchione, AP Medical, 7/12).

Some studies suggest that maintaining appropriate exercise levels and exposure to vitamin D may lower your chances of developing Alzheimer's. For example, one study shows that people who get intense or moderately intense exercise are half as likely to suffer from dementia as less active people are.

However, researchers are cautiously optimistic for a drug to slow or stop the disease, as current drugs only treat symptoms.

According to new research published by the Lancet Oncology, “some of the world's most popular blood pressure pills may slightly increase your risk of getting cancer, but doctors say it's too soon to ditch the drugs.” (M. Cheng, AP Medical, 6/14).

In an analysis of five previous studies of approximately 60,000 patients, “experts found a link between people taking medicines known as angiotensin-receptor blockers, or ARBs, and cancer.” The drugs are consumed by millions of people globally for medical problems such as diabetic kidney disease, high blood pressure, and heart problems.

The study concluded that people who consumed these drugs had “about a 1 percent higher risk of getting cancer than people who weren't on the drugs.” Cancers included in the study include: prostate, breast and a noticeable spike in lung cancer.

Though a single percentage of increased risk seems minimal, as a medical negligence lawyer I am hopeful that this study is considered seriously and investigated further.

A new study released Monday by the Journal of the American Medical Association, “ties the controversial diabetes drug Avandia to a higher risk of heart problems, strokes and deaths in older adults.” (L. Tanner, AP Medical, 6/28). The leading author of the study is an FDA scientist, Dr. David Graham, who is hopeful that the results will cause the pill to be banned. The Food and Drug Administration hearing on Avandia’s safety is set to occur in two weeks. As a medical malpractice and products liability lawyer in Chicago, I am hopeful that the FDA will thoroughly review the results of the study and act accordingly.

The diabetes drug has been the subject of controversy for three years, “since a review of dozens of studies suggested it may raise the risk of heart attacks and heart-related deaths” In response, warnings were placed on the drug label, but the drug has remained on the market and is currently used by hundreds of thousands of Americans.

Health officials say, “a new meningitis vaccine will help prevent epidemics in Africa for the first time, revolutionizing how doctors fight outbreaks of the deadly disease.” (M. Cheng, AP Medical, 6/30). About 80,000 cases of meningitis, a deadly infection in the lining surround the brain and spinal cord, struck Africa last year. About 4,000 of those cases resulted in death.

Meningitis is highly contagious and even when caught early, up to 10 percent of patients die within 2 days. Thus, it is particularly problematic in developing nations where treatment is difficult to mobilize, which allows the disease to spread rapidly.

The new vaccine, which was approved by the World Health Organization last week, is particularly promising in developing countries because prior vaccines did not last long enough to prevent outbreaks. Additionally, the vaccine can be used to immunize infants who tend to be the most vulnerable to the disease.

The new vaccine allows for planning ahead to prevent outbreaks, not just responding to outbreaks that have already begun. As a medical malpractice attorney in Chicago, I believe that the advantages of this new vaccine cannot be overstated and am hopeful that the necessary funding and continued research will safe many lives in developing countries.

As a medical malpractice lawyer, I am horrified by the following story. Each year medical negligence costs too many lives, and this sad story is just one among many very disheartening examples.

The family of a “28-year-old British woman who was a cystic fibrosis sufferer and unknowingly received a lung transplant from a smoker says she would have been "horrified" and have lodged a complaint.” (London AP, 6/15). Unfortunately, she passed of pneumonia just a few months after the faulty transplant.

Britain's top transplant official Chris Rudge even defended the transplant asserting that patients know they are not getting “brand new” lungs. He further asserted on the BBC that "lungs from a smoker can be working perfectly normally." While it is true that transplanted organs are obviously not new, transplanting lungs into a cystic fibrosis patient from a long time smoker is absurd.

The victims family is not lobbying for patients to be more thoroughly informed about organ donors before accepting a transplant.