Today, our top Chicago medical malpractice lawyers discuss a serious condition, pulmonary embolism, which can be deadly if not detected early and treated properly. A pulmonary embolism (PE) occurs when a blood clot, generally from the legs (but sometimes from other places, such as the arms or even the heart), travels to a victim’s lungs…. Read More
Overcoming Bias in Favor of Doctors
If you read the papers or watch t.v., you may believe that medical malpractice suits are “out of control.” Conventional wisdom is that medical malpractice verdicts are soaring, and that “innocent” doctors are suffering at the hands of greedy plaintiffs, otherwise known as the individuals injured by those doctors. Many otherwise rational people even believe… Read More
Unnecessary Stent Implants Shows Financial Motive for Medical Malpractice
The Chicago medical malpractice lawyers of Passen & Powell recently discussed an Illinois appellate court’s ruling that evidence of financial motive can be relevant and admissible in medical negligence cases. As news of doctors performing unnecessary stent implants for financial gain continues to emerge, the importance and implications of this ruling become increasingly clear. In… Read More
Acquired Brain Injury in Children Caused by Negligence at Birth
This week, Passen & Powell’s Chicago personal injury lawyers have been discussing hypoxic-anoxic injury (HAI), a serious form of acquired brain injury. Our lawyers understand how devastating hypoxia and anoxia-related brain injuries can be for those who sustain such injuries, as well as their families. As with all permanent brain injuries, HAI carries… Read More
Study Shows Deadly Hospital-Acquired Infections Widespread
Hospitals, especially Intensive Care Units (ICUs), are supposed to be clean, sterile environments. According to a recent study published in Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), more than half of all patients in ICUs around the world develop infections and are more than twice as likely to die than those patients without infections. Hospital-acquired… Read More
Hospital ‘Report Cards’ Show Frequency of Medical Errors
As the debate over medical liability reform continues, an often forgotten statistic is the number of patients injured or killed by medical malpractice. In New Jersey, for example, a story from the Star-Ledger found that doctors and hospitals in that state committed 9,400 “serious errors” in 2007, which were defined as a medical error leading… Read More
State Enforcement of Medical Misconduct: The Illinois Medical Practice Act
A previous post discussed state medical boards generally, which are charged with enforcing the practice of medicine within each state. In Illinois, that law is known as the Illinois Medical Practice Act of 1987 (225 ILCS 60/1 et seq), not to be confused with the Illinois statutes governing medical malpractice lawsuits (735 ILCS 5/2-1701… Read More
Doctor Unqualified to Testify Against Nurse in Medical Malpractice Case
A recent Illinois appellate court case discusses the expert witness requirements in medical malpractice actions. The holding comes as no surprise to experienced Chicago medical malpractice lawyers: a doctor is not considered qualified to testify concerning the “standard of care” of a nurse in a medical negligence action. In the case, Smith v. Pavlovich, M.D.,… Read More
Study: Medical Liability Reform Has No Impact on Health Care Costs, Including Insurance Premiums
According to a recent study concerning medical liability reform conducted by the Americans for Insurance Reform (AIR), a coalition of nearly 100 consumer and public interest groups around the country, there is no correlation between medical malpractice reform and decreases in insurance rates for doctors. The study concludes that there is “absolutely no reason to… Read More
Misdiagnosis or Failure to Diagnose a Medical Condition
According to a recent news story in Ohio, a pathologist claims to have new evidence that proves hundreds of women patients were misdiagnosed with human papillomavirua and precancerous conditions at the Ohio State University Medical Center. This story highlights a common, and often devastating form of medical negligence: the misdiagnosis, or failure to diagnose, of… Read More