Articles Posted in Failure to Diagnose

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On March 26, 2009 we reported on the efforts of one family to have the Feres doctrine legislatively overturned.  If you recall the Feres doctrine prohibits an active member of the United States military from suing the an Army hospital for medical malpractice.  This prohibition on medical malpractice suits brought by members of the armed services has long been an unfair bar to the legitimate claims of our nation’s heroes.

We are glad to announce that a House Judiciary subcommittee recently approved legislation to correct the injustice that is the Feres doctrine.  This new bill would allow servicemen and their families to hold the military accountable for medical malpractice.  The Carmelo Rodriguez Military Medical Accountability Act of 2009 is sponsored by Rep. Maurice hinchey (D-NY) and is named after serviceman Carmelo Rodriguez who died in 2007 after his cancer was misdiagnosed by military doctors.  Below is a CBS news report about the late Sgt. Rodriguez.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=5l7BObKkb5Q

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A Wisconsin jury awarded $2.1 million to a Chicago, Illinois man who was the victim of medical malpractice in southern Wisconsin.  49 year old Daniel Nelson was injured in a motorcycle accident near Lake Geneva, Wisconsin almost nine years ago.

While rehabbing in a Burlington, Wisconsin hospital after the accident, Nelson’s tracheotomy tube became obstructed.  Doctors waited too long before calling for an emergency team skilled in airway management to clear the tube.  As a result, he nearly died and was in a coma for weeks.  Nelson has since partially recovered, and now suffers from significant speech and memory problems.

Wisconsin.jpgThe jury awarded Nelson $994,716 in medical expenses, $1 million for pain, suffering and disability, $50,000 to Nelson’s wife for loss of consortium and $65,000 to Nelson’s son,  Nelson has had multiple surgeries since the medical malpractice occured and is now confined to a wheelchair.

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A Tennessee jury awarded a 33 year old woman $12 million dollars yesterday in what is being reported as one of the states largest ever jury awards.  The jury returned the verdict against a local gastroenterologist who left the girl brain damaged after a procedure that was meant to diagnose bowel problems.

The injury occured when the plaintiff suffered a tear in her small intestine during an edoscopic exam.  The doctor defended himself by trying to blame the victim for not going to the emergency room quickly enough once she began to experience symptoms of the tear.

Goldberg & Goldberg, LLC is a Chicago, Illinois law firm representing the victims of medical malpractice and other serious personal injury matters for over forty years.

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More than 100 people have already died from the swine flu in Mexico, major news sources are reporting.  The swine flu is an influenza virus that normally infects pigs.  This swine flu outbreak is alarming because it appears the virus has crossed species and is infecting humans as well.  It appears that the virus which is running rampant through Mexico now is a genetic mixture of the swine, avian and human virus that maintains the architecture of a pig-like flu.  While no cases have yet been reported in Chicago or Illinois, there have been 20 reported cases in other states including New York, California, Kansas and Texas.  The United States Center For Disease Control and Prevention is an excellent resource for swine flu information.

The flu appears to be transmitted through the respiratory system, either through phlegm associated with coughing or sneezing.  Droplets of human fluid get on people’s clothing, hands or faces causing contamination.  Contact with pigs or pork have nothing to do with the transmission of the virus.

The symptoms of the swine flu are a fever of over 100 degrees, body aches, coughing, sore throat, respiratory congestion and in some cases, vomitting and diarrhea.  One to four days usually elapse from the time of infection to the onset of symptoms.  There is no vaccine for the swine flu.  If you think that you are infected please call your doctor immediately.

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The Chicago Sun-Times reported today in its health column about a frequently misdiagnosed medical problem in newborns called malrotation.  Malrotation is an abnormal alignment of the bowels which can cut off blood flow to the baby’s intestines.  Malrotation occurs in 1 in 500 births, and most cases are diagnosed within the first year of life.

The condition is often misdiagnosed because its symptoms are often confused with other, less serious conditions, like acid reflux or colic.  The condition can have serious consequences if it goes undiagnosed.  The longer the blood flow is cut off from the intestines, the more harmful the condition can become.  Undiagnosed and untreated it can result in death.  The gold standard treatment is a surgical procedure which untwists the bowel.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=i1pYz0yi_Fw

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Sadly, medical mistakes continue to be one of the leading causes of death in the United States.  There are close to 100,000 preventable deaths a year in America making medical errors the fifth leading cause of death in our country.  A culture of shame and a lack of accountability often times prevents full disclosure of medical mistakes to the victims or their families.

In Great Britain steps are being taken at the legislative level to change the secrecy that often involves a medical mistake.  Legislation is being introduced which would make it a doctor’s duty to inform the patient or his family if a medical mistake has occured.  This duty of candor will be imposed upon all health care providers and their corporate managers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=-fWOmfpa3n8

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Five medical malpractice cases pending in California settled this week for a sum of $1 million.  The settlements arise out of improper patient care that occured at a Northern California kidney transplant center that has been at the center of a controversy revolving around a poor record of patient care.

Federal and state investigators forced the hospital to close after the transplant waiting list grew to 1600 patients in 2006 while the center did less then 70 transplants.  It has been alleged that these transplants were either delayed or not performed due to bureacratic barriers at the the institution which caused some of the patient’s conditions to decline or die before they could receive life saving treatment.

The low dollar figures in these settlements are emblematic of the unfairness caused by California’s arbitrary cap on medical malpractice damages which sets the maximum compensation for these types of claims at $250,000.  This cap figure has remained unchanged since it was imposed in the 1970s.  The Supreme Court in Illinois is currently deciding the constitutionality of caps on medical malpractice awards.

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The Illinois Appellate Court, First District has extended damages in Wrongful Birth lawsuits to include the damages the victim will sustain after reaching the age of majority.  This is a significant extension beyond the victim’s usual rights in these types of cases which were first recognized in Illinois in Siemieniec v. Lutheran General Hospital, 117 Ill.2d 230 (1987). 

Now parents of severely disabled children who were born with disabilities due to the negligence of a doctor who failed to recognize the same in utero can recover damages necessary to care for their disabled child after that child reaches the age of majority.  The court stated that from a public policy perspective the financial burden of this type of care should be borne by the tortfeasor and not the state or the chilld’s parents.  Additionally, it now appears that the law in Illinois might recognize damages for the negligent infliction of emotional distress.

Justice O’Brien wrote “that such claims are judged by the ”zone-of-physical danger” rule set in Rickey v. Chicago Transit Authority, 98 Ill.2d 546 (1983), which provides that before someone can recover for emotional injuries stemming from the tortious injury of a third person, they must show that they were endangered by the defendants’ negligence and suffered a physical injury because of it” Clark v. Children’s Mem. Hosp., 1-08-0610 (Ill.App. 4-9-2009)

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The Nevada Supreme Court has ordered litigants in medical malpractice cases to take steps to resolve those matters in order to decrease the court’s backlog.  Two senior judges have been assigned in Clark County to conduct a settlement marathon in May in the hopes of resolving the 216 oldest cases on the court’s docket.  The Judges plan to hold up to eighteen settlement conferences a week.

Apparently Clark County, Nevada, home to Las Vegas, has more then 400 medical malpractice cases pending statewide.  This number seems relatively small in comparison to the number of cases we have pending in Cook County, Illinois.

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Alex Parker of the Chi-Town Daily News is reporting that according to the Illinois Department of Public Health, the University of Chicago Medical Center is guilty of violating a federal law by not giving an elderly patient who later died adequate medical treatment.  The University of Chicago’s own internal investigation demonstrated that its staff did not follow the U of C’s own policies and procedures when caring for the patient.

The Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA) is a federal law that requires every emergency room to offer stabilizing treatment to any patient who comes to the emergency room for treatment, regardless of ability to pay.

Anyone who meeds medical care at an emergency room is absolutely entitled to be triaged and monitored regardless of the circumstances.  EMTALA absolutely forbids hospitals from engaging in the practice of patient “dumping” including outright denials of treatment or a referral to another ER.  This practice often occurs when a low income or senior citizen appears at an ER facility and does not appear to be able to pay for care.

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