Chicago Medical Malpractice Attorney Blog

A recent New York Times article reported that a new study indicated that in recent years the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not rigorously studied or tested many of its approved medical devices before clearing them for sale. The study specifically assessed many medical devices which have been the subject of major recalls over the past few years, such as mechanical ventilators, hospital infusion pumps, and external heart defibrillators.

Diana Zuckerman and Paul Brown, both with The National Research Center for Women and Families, headed up the study along with cardiologist Steven Nissen, M.D. of the Cleveland Clinic. The study, published in The Archives of Internal Medicine, focused on those medical devices that have since been labeled as high risk for recalls between 2005 and 2009. It found that most, if not all, of the medical devices were cleared for public use by the FDA without being first being tested. The FDA and a trade group representing medical device manufacturers called The Archives of Internal Medicine study flawed.

Continue reading "Majority of Recalled Medical Devices Were Untested According to New Study in Archives of Internal Medicine" »

A Cook County jury returned a $5.42 million medical malpractice verdict in favor of the family of a woman who had been battling cancer. The Illinois wrongful death lawsuit claimed that the plaintiff's oncologist negligently prescribed the patient a chemotherapy drug despite its known side effects. The decedent died as a result of the fatal lung damage she developed after taking the chemotherapy drug, at which point her family filed the lawsuit. The decedent was survived by her husband of 35 years and two adult children.

The decedent had been diagnosed with Stage III Hodgkin's lymphoma, but had been responding well to a chemotherapy program which involved a four different medications. One of those four drugs was Bleomycin, an anti-tumor drug that is typically prescribed in combination with other chemotherapy medications.

Bleomycin is well-known to have the potential for causing severe lung problems. Patients taking the drug are closely monitored for any signs or symptoms of developing lung disease, including discomfort breathing, shortness of breath, wheezing, fever, or chills.

Continue reading "Cook County Anti-Cancer Drug Case Returns $5.42M Verdict" »

A Cook County medical malpractice lawsuit received a jury verdict of $1.1 million against the defendant hospital. The case revolved around the medical negligence of a Cook County hospital, which led to need for several additional surgeries for the 60-some year-old plaintiff.

In 2006, the plaintiff was a patient at Northwest Community Hospital, where she had recently undergone a knee replacement surgery. In her second day of recovery following her surgery, the plaintiff fell while using the bedside commode in her hospital room.

Considering that the plaintiff had just had a knee replacement surgery, she was at risk for falls and should have had a plan of care in place that would prevent such falls from occurring. Upon investigation, it seemed that the plaintiff did in fact have such a plan of care in place - her physician had written an order stating that the plaintiff needed her knee immobilizer on and required two people to assist her when using the bedside commode.

Continue reading "Illinois Hospital Admits Liability for Post-Operative Patient Injury" »

The family of a woman who died during childbirth has settled an Illinois wrongful death case for $14 million. The medical malpractice case resulted not only in the mother's death, but also involved a child born with brain damage at Chicago's Advocate Trinity Hospital. The settlement was reached in Sidonia Lawson, etc. v. Advocate Health Hospitals Corp., Cannon Vernon, MD, Jamiere Y. Smith, MD, et al., No. 09 L 12090.

In 2007, the 32 year-old decedent, Sabrina Lawson, went to Advocate Trinity Hospital with labor contractions. While there, the staff induced her with medications to try and speed along her delivery. However, while receiving the labor medications, Lawson's baby began to show signs of fetal distress.

In such instances, the medical standard of care requires an emergency cesarean section; however, there was a delay of almost seven hours. By the time the baby was born, he had suffered from brain damage as a result of lack of oxygen and blood flow to his brain.

Continue reading "Chicago Advocate Hospital Settles for $14 Million in Childbirth Death of Mother - Lawson v. Advocate Health Hospitals Corp., et al." »

A 28 year-old woman’s family who brought a lawsuit against a cardiologist and Northwestern Memorial Hospital has settled theIllinois medical malpractice and wrongful death claim for $4 million. Settlement was reached in this case with the assistance of a mediator and approved by a Cook County Circuit Court judge in Estate of Kassi Dallman v. Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Jeffrey Goldberger, MD, et al., No. 09 L 9506.

Kassi Dallman entered Chicago's Northwestern Memorial Hospital to undergo a cardiac ablation that would allow her to stop taking anti-arrhythmia medications. Cardiac ablation is a procedure that is used to correct heart rhythm problems by using long flexible tubes, catheters, inserted through a vein in the body usually at the groin and threaded to the heart. The catheter is then used to correct the structural problems in the heart that causes the arrhythmia. The cardiac ablation procedure was done without incident.

Continue reading "Cook County Medical Malpractice Death Lawsuit Settled With Cardiologist and Hospital for $4 Million - Estate of Dallman v. Northwestern Memorial Hospital" »