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…
Medtronic, the maker of Sprint Fidelis, a heart defibrillator cable, has taken its product off the market. But the problem with it still being used by some 150,000 people around Illinois and the country has resulted in several deaths in removing the defective cable. Medtronic estimates that the cable has…
An Illinois worker was crushed by a tractor-trailer at a loading dock while working for his employer. He collected Illinois workers’ compensation benefits from his employer, Ensign, and then he and his wife sued three companies in strict tort liability. Baltzell v. R&R Trucking Co.. The three defendants were R&R…
Two families brought a lawsuit on behalf of oil refinery workers killed in a 1995 fire at the Clark oil refinery in Blue Island, Illinois. Each decedent’s estate received payment from Clark Refining under the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Act. The current case involves a liability suit the decedents’ widows filed…
In a recent Illinois pharmaceutical error case, the First District Appellate Court of the State of Illinois reversed a $25 million punitive damage award against Walgreen Co. in Marston, etc. v. Walgreen Co., 1-07-0209. The case revolved around the death of an elderly man who was given the wrong prescription…
In 2007 Medtronic recalled their heart device, the Sprint Fidelis Cardiac Leads, which has caused the deaths of at least 13 people. Essentially the product, the Sprint Fidelis cardiac leads, connects the patient’s heart to a defibrillator. Along with deaths, the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) has received about 2,200 reports…
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…
The Moot Court Team of the John Marshall Law School of Chicago headed by Mary Nagel, their faculty sponsor, argued their moot court competition at Chicago’s Kreisman Law Offices before Civil Justice Attorney Robert Kreisman. Moot Court is an activity where law students participate in simulated appellate court proceedings. However,…
My brother is a physician and psychiatrist who frequently lectures on the benefits of certain drugs for prescription by family practice physicians, or other practicing physicians. At a recent gathering he reported that he played on the absurdity of drug companies distributing products carrying their name and logo by starting…