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Earlier this week the Illinois Supreme Court announced that it would likely release its decision on medical malpractice reform in the case of Lebron, et al vs. Gottlieb Memorial Hospital, et al today.

Unfortunately, it appears that the court did not release the decision today as anticipated. This is not an uncommon occurence. The Lebron case was argued before the court over one year ago and the supreme’s decision is much anticipated by the trial bar and general public.

The Medical Malpractice Reform Act of 2005 was determined to be unconstitutional by Judge Diane Larsen of the Circuit Court of Cook County. Her ruling determined that caps on damages in medical malpractice cases are not allowed by the state constitution, something that the Illinois Supreme Court has decided on two prior occasions.

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Bloomberg News is reporting that GlaxoSmithKline has paid almost $1 Billion to settle lawsuits over the antidepressant drug Paxil since 1993. Almost $400 million of those dollars have been used to settle lawsuits over claims that Paxil users were more likely to commit or attempt to commit suicide after taking the drug. Another $200 million was used to settle claims regarding Paxil related birth defects.

To date almost 450 Paxil related suicide lawsuits have been settled by the drug manufacturer. There are an additional 600 claims outstanding claiming that Paxil caused birth defects. In October, a Philadelphia jury found the drug maker responsible for birth defects in a 3 year old boy and ordered a $2.5 million dollar award to the boy and his family.

At Goldberg & Goldberg, LLC we routinely handle drug product liability cases and have the largest drug product liability verdict in Illinois history, and award of more then $127,000,000. Please feel free to contact us for a free consultation.

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Hollywood actor James Woods setttled a medical malpractice case brought on behalf of his brother who died while he was a patient in the Emergency Room of Kent Hospital in Kent County, Rhode. The Providence Journal Online Edition is reporting that while the financial terms of the settlement are confidential, the hospital took the unusual step of apologizing to the Woods family for their mistake.

james woods.jpgWoods said the impetus for the settlement came with a phone call from hospital president Sandra Coletta. In that call, he said he heard something he’d never heard from Kent Hospital before, someone saying she was sorry for his family’s loss.

It has been widely reported that apologizing for medical mistakes is the number one way a doctor or hospital can help curtail a medical malpractice claim. Often times patients and their families are looking for closure after the loss of a loved one. An apology is often the piece of the grief puzzle that helps wounds heal and allows people to move on after a tragedy.

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A ten-month old Laporte, Indiana girl was injured when she was attacked by a pet monkey at the home of a family member. Apparently the monkey was removed from her cage when she pulled on the back of the infant’s hooded sweatshirt and banged her head into the cage. The girl suffered injuries and was taken to a local hospital for treatment.

Last year a chimp severly injured a Connecticut women prompting outrage from the general public and calls fior enhanced legislation barring people from keeping primates as pets. The U.S. House of Representatives went to far as to pass The Captive Primate Safety Act in the hopes of banning monkeys as pets. The measure has stalled in the Senate. Unfortunately, there is no permit required in Indiana to own a pet monkey.

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An Amtrak train travelling from Chicago to Seattle struck and killed a man in Deerfield, Illinois on Sunday. Amtrak has identified the man as a “trespasser” walking along the tracks near Dundee Rd. in the north suburban town when the Amtrak Empire Builder struck and killed him at around 3 p.m.

Officials are reporting that the man is in his 20s, his identity has not yet been disclosed. Railroads are particularly agressive in blaming the victims of accidents for their own injuries and deaths in the immediate wake of a tragedy involving a train collision. Often times, after investigating an accident, we learn that the railroad is to blame for an accident that they initially blamed on the person who was injured or killed.

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Joanne Doroshow wrote an excellent article in the Monday, November 9, 2009 edition of The Huffington Post called Medical Malpractice Tort Reform – We Are Already Suffering And Don’t Need More. She points out that unless you are currently living under a rock you have heard the term “tort reform” but, sadly, probably don’t know what it really means.

In Illinois we have tort reform as it relates to medical malpractice. Starting in 1985, and every ten years thereafter, the state legislature has based some sort of restriction on the publics right to sue for personal injury. In the late 1990s the Illinois Supreme Court struck down these restrictions, overruling the legislature, and finding them to be unconstitutional. The legislature, bowing to pressure from the insurance industry, tried again in 2005 and passed limits on jury awards as they relate to doctors and hospitals only. That legislation is currently being reviewed for constitutionality by the Supreme Court and we expect a ruling on the issue in the near future.

The term tort reform implies that its results would be beneficial to everyone. Sadly, this is not the case. Tort reform in Illinois will only make it harder for average hard working men and women to seek redress for the harms caused to them as victims of negligence. The tort reform movement was started by and is funded by insurance companies. The same companies that have the most to gain financially by limiting jury awards.

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The family of Rachel Gilliam, a 25 year old woman who was killed by a hit and run driver on Chicago’s northside last week is offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of her killer. According to witnesses, Rachel was struck and killed by the driver of a silver 4-door Lexus as she attempted to hail a cab in the 4300 block of North Lincoln Avenue at approximately 3:30 a.m. November 1st. Rachel had just finished her shift at Bowman’s Bar & Grill where she was a bartender. Her colleagues stated she was dressed as a bride in celebration of Halloween.

We first reported on this tragic accident on November 3, and are sad to report that Rachel’s killer remains at large. Members of the public are asked to call the Chicago P.D. Major Accident Investigative Unit at 312-745-4521 or private investigator Susan Carlson of Carlson Investigations, Inc. at 847-491-9182 with helpful information. “At this time, the vehicle which struck Rachel is believed to be a silver Lexus and was seen heading South on Lincoln Ave.,” Carlson said. “If someone knows something, we urge you to come forward so that the Gilliam family can have justice for their daughter.”

A fundraiser is being held Tuesday evening at Bowman’s Bar & Grill at 4356 N. Leavitt Street beginning at 7 p.m.

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Chicago Police are searching for a silver Lexus they believe struck and killed a 25 year old Chicago woman who had just finished a busy Halloween night shift tending bar at a northside tavern.

Rachel Gilliam, age 25, was an employee of Bowman’s Bar and Grill in the North Center neighborhood on the city’s northside. She was struck and killed at almost 4 am at around 4314 N. Lincoln avenue. Police believe the Lexus rolled through a stop sign.

Gilliam was a Kansas City native who moved to Chicago to attend DePaul University. She was a world traveller. She is survived by her family,

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The Chicago Sun-Times is reporting that two people were killed in a two-car crash in northwest suburban Park Ridge. Police found the two vehicles involved in the car accident at 2 am Monday morning near the intersection of Oakton and Riverside Drive in suburban park Ridge, Illinois.

car crash.jpg

Police found one car located near the intersection and a second vehicle about 75 feet away in a wooded area. The accident claimed the lives of a 37 year old Morton Grove woman and a 24 year old resident of Des Plaines. Four other passengers in the vehicles were injured but survived.

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A downstate Illinois jury returned a $6.74 million dollar jury verdict to the family of a Decatur man killed at on of Archer Daniels Midland’s downstate Illinois facillities. The 26 year old man was working for a St. Louis based company installing pipes at the plant. The accident that was the subject of this wrongful death lawsuit occured in 2007.

Archer Daniels Midland, also known as ADM, is a argiculture conglomerate based in Decatur, Illinois with 270 plants worldwide that process grains and oilseeds used to manufacture food and beverages.

A machine on which the plaintiff was working malfunctioned, spraying him with scalding liquid and steam. The accident caused the plaintiff to suffer burns to over 90% of his body and later caused his death. The jury returned this verdict on behalf of the parents and siblings of the deceased.

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