Illinois Medical Malpractice Blog

A federal judge decided to unseal confidential materials about the top-selling drug Zyprexa, citing “the health of hundreds of thousands of people” and “fundamental questions” about the way drugs are approved for new uses. Class-action suits claim that the pharmaceutical company, Eli Lilly, hid the side effects of the drug and marketed in for unapproved uses. Patients claim to Zyprexa caused excessive weight gain and diabeties. The judge stated that Lilly’s legitimate interest in confidentiality does not outweigh the public interest in disclosure at this stage. Drug and Pharmacy Errors are of great public concern and pharmaceutical companies are required to inform consumers of all possible side effects. To read the full story, click here.

The Texas Supreme Court upheld a medical malpractice award for the family of a man who died of a heart attack after waiting 12 hours for treatment following his admission to a hospital emergency room for chest pains. Jurors awarded $9.2 million in compensatory damages and $21 million in actual damages after evidence was presented showing that the gentlemen’s treatment was delayed because of poor hospital policies and lack of staffing. The State Appellate Court had reduced the total award to approximately $5.4 million but the Supreme Court ordered the hospital to pay the family approximately $10 million when the amount of pre- and post-judgment interest is included with the $5.4 million of actual and punitive damages. The court affirmed that the hospital was guilty of actual and gross negligence, and the family was awarded appropriately. To read the full story, click here.

A settlement has been reached in a wrongful death suit which was filed by the family of a woman that died in a hospital after the hospital staff failed to perform a test on her that had been ordered by her doctor. The victim apparently returned to the hospital after undergoing ear surgery complaining of multiple problems, her doctor ordered a blood test and the hospital staff failed to perform the test. As a result of this medical malpractice and negligence she slipped into a coma and it eventually led to her wrongful death. The family then filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the Medical Center and recently settled for $1.2 million. The company claims that this does not constitute admission for liability on the defendant’s part. For the full story click here.

Maternity wards across America are closing, causing those that remain open to incur a deluge of new patients. This causes a strain on their ability to meet the needs of those individuals. The combination of both is putting women and children at risk. There are three major factors for there closures: low medical insurance and reimbursements to hospitals for maternity care; the high cost of medical liability insurance for OB-GYNs, and retiring OB-GYNs. Medical Centers are losing money for maternity patients because of the low reimbursement rates from Medicaid. Retiring OB-GYNs cause women to search for qualified specialists. These factors leave women and children at risk. Women need to have close maternity wards in order to ensure safety for both mother and child. To read the full story, click here.

Appendicitis is one of the most common surgical diagnosis’s made in the Emergency Room. However, failure to diagnose acute appendicitis is among the five leading causes of successful ER suits. A study found that as many as 30% of patients with acute appendicitis have been seen previously and were incorrectly diagnosed by a prior physician. A large number of appendicitis cases do not have a temperature, right lower abdominal pain or other findings. Missed or delayed diagnosis of acute appendicitis results in higher perforation or peritonitis cases with higher complication rates, such as death, recurrent small bowel obstruction due to adhesions, impaired fertility in women, and prolonged hospitalizations. These problems occur in Emergency Rooms all over the country, including Chicago. To read the full story, click here.

The influenza vaccine used to be strongly recommended for people over 65, but it is now losing its reputation as an effective way to ward off the virus in the elderly. A growing number of doctors say the vaccine probably does not work very well for people over 70. A recent article stated that previous studies had not measured any actual protection against the flu virus but rather a fundamental difference between the kinds of people who get vaccines and those who do not. The article found that people who were healthy and conscientious about staying well were more likely to get an annual flu shot. Studies have found that in those 60 to 69, the vaccine prevented the flu about 57 percent of the time, but in those over 70 the vaccine prevented the flu just 23 percent of the time. The influenza vaccine has never been put placebo-controlled trials, which are the best estimate of their effectiveness. Despite these new studies, the CDC still recommends the influenza vaccine for the elderly. To read the full story, click here.

Researches have found that out of 200 ayurvedic products bought in the United States about a fifth contained lead, mercury or arsenic, sometimes at dangerously high levels. The researchers, who bought these common medicines over the internet, said that the government should establish daily dose limits for toxic metals in dietary supplements and require manufacturers to have their products tested for compliance. Additionally, metals were found in some of the medications described as herbal only. There is a belief of some practitioners that when the preparations are made correctly, the metals cause no harm, but the study questioned the belief. To read the full story, click here.

The decision to award a plaintiff $5 million judgment for a wrongful death suit has been upheld by the State’s Supreme Court. The case involves a man who went to his doctor after suffering severe headaches, loss of sight in one eye and double vision. The doctor decided it was a condition resulting in excess spinal fluid, drained some of the fluid, gave him medicine to help and sent the fluid off to be tested. The doctor claims he did not get the results back for several days (although the lab says they were back later that day) which showed that the patient was suffering from meningitis. The patient began treatment once the doctor realized what was wrong, however his condition deteriorated leading to his death. The family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the doctor for his negligence in diagnosing the issue quickly enough to save their family member. The State Supreme Court found that there was sufficient evidence to uphold the lower courts finding that the doctor was negligent and that this contributed to the victim’s wrongful death. For the full story click here.

A woman has filed a medical malpractice lawsuit after she was misdiagnosed and underwent treatment for cancer that she did not have. She went to the doctor with flu-like symptoms and a density was found on her lung which was later diagnosed as cancer. After undergoing treatments and the density not responding as expected, doctors realized that it was not cancerous (only a benign tumor) and that she was being mistreated with the cancer treatment. The medical malpractice lawsuit states that she has suffered multiple medical issues as a result of the cancer treatment that she did not need. The doctor who misdiagnosed says that it is not possible to diagnose every case correctly. For the full story click here.

The family of a woman who died during ankle surgery lost their medical malpractice lawsuit in a jury trial. The family had claimed in their medical malpractice lawsuit that doctors and the hospital were negligent for not monitoring the oxygen level in the 55 year old woman’s blood. The hospital allegedly ignored the patient’s history of medical problems that included diabetes, high blood pressure and a kidney transplant. The family’s attorney stated that the woman died from respiratory failure and this could have been prevented with a monitoring device that was not used. The family argued that medical professionals should realize the importance of taking special precautions to protect patients. The jury came back after an hour and twenty minutes with a verdict of no liability in the medical malpractice suit. To read the full story, click here.