A recent Illinois Appellate Court granted a surgeon’s motion for summary judgment in a medical malpractice lawsuit when it found that the surgeon was not responsible for a sponge that was left in a patient after performing a surgery. Two months after the procedure was performed the patient underwent an…
In September 2003, Lisa Strong reported a sharp shooting pain in her back. She thought it was yet another kidney stone and expected the discomfort to pass, but this time it was different and became worse. Because of a series of mistakes, misdiagnosis and miscommunication, Lisa Strong lost both of…
Last year our law firm reviewed a tragic Chicago medical malpractice case involving the death of a 28-year-old mother of three. While the facts seemed to point towards medical negligence as a contributing factor of the young woman’s death the medical records did not reveal a clear cut cause of…
When people receive medical treatment at a hospital they typically assume that the doctors are employees of that hospital. However, in many cases the doctor may be an independent contractor of the hospital and not a hospital employee. Because of the confusion that exists around who treating physicians and staff…
Hospital-acquired infections are on the rise and have become a serious health problem. A 2007 study showed that 99,000 deaths were attributable to hospital-acquired infections alone. Illinois responded to this health problem by becoming the first state to enforce requirements that hospitals report incidences of hospital-acquired infections. In 2007, Illinois…
A new DNA test has been developed by Qiagen to identify the human papillomavirus (HPV), a virus found to be associated with cervical cancer. Scientists state that this new test is an improvement on current testing methods and might eventually replace the Pap smear test as a way to diagnose…
Thousands of Americans across the country, Illinois, and in the Chicago area have suffered life-threatening kidney injuries after taking Fleet Phospho-Soda in preparation of colonoscopies and other surgeries. Fleet Laboratories is the principal manufacturer of Phospho-soda and has been promoting the product without warning of its drug side effects, which…
Preeclampsia is a condition that results in high blood pressure and leaky blood vessels during pregnancy. It has been estimated that 5% of pregnant women in Illinois will be affected by preeclampsia and that about 300,000 woman per year are affected in the United States. A growing body of evidence…
In its recent ruling the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that premarket approval from the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) does not preempt pharmaceutical companies from being held liable when their drug fails to meet state standards. In Wyeth v. Levine the court held that drug manufacturers can be sued in…
A February 2008 decision by the Supreme Court stands as a barrier to patients who desire to sue for medical device liability. The Supreme Court ruling in Riegel v. Medtronic, Inc. holds that patients or their surviving heirs would be barred from suing makers of complex medical devices like the…