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The Chicago Transit Authority’s Blue Line was disrupted early Thursday morning when a car travelling on the Eisenhower Expressway jumped the retaining wall and landed on the railroad tracks, where it was struck by an oncoming train.

The driver of the car was able to exit the vehicle before it was hit by the oncoming CTA train. Seven of the thirty passengers riding in the train were injured. Two passengers in another vehicle involved in the collision were also injured and treated at local hospitals.

Blue line service was shut down for more then three hours during the morning’s rush hour service, the CTA is reporting.

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On June 5, 2009, the First District Court of Appeals issued an opinion in Chicago affirming a trial court ruling by Judge Daniel M. Locallo clarifying certain issues related to the Illinois Supreme Court’s 1993 ruling in Gilbert v. Sycamore Memorial Hospital,156 Ill.2d 511, 622 N.E.2d 788 (1993).  The opinion is captioned Spiegelman v. Victory Memorial Hospital, 1-07-3195 (1st Dist. June 5, 2009).

In 1993 the Illinois Supreme Court recognized that a hospital can be held vicariously liable for the conduct of a non employee doctor provided that the hospital 1) acted in a manner that would lead a reasonable person to conclude that the individual who was alleged to be negligent was an employee or agent of the hospital; 2) created an appearance of authority and 3) the plaintiff acted in reliance upon the conduct of the hospital or its agent.  Gilbert v. Sycamore Memorial Hospital,156 Ill.2d 511, 622 N.E.2d 788 (1993).  

Now, the First District Appellate Court, which covers Chicago and Cook County, has decided another apparent agency case, Spiegelman v. Victory Memorial Hospital, 1-07-3195 (1st Dist. June 5, 2009), further clarifying the higher court’s earlier apparent agency rulings.  The court ruled that the mere existence of a release signed by the plaintiff identifying its physicians as independent contractors does not, in and of itself, create an insurmountable hurdle to the holding out element.  The court reasoned that based on the totality of facts and the ambiguity of the consent form, a jury could reasonably conclude that the consent was ambiguous and therefore did not adequately inform the plaintiff of her doctor’s independent status.

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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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The Chicago Tribune is reporting that a 14 year old suburban Chicago girl is in critical condition after the atv she was operating collided with another driven by her eleven year old brother.  While the children were wearing helmets, the girl was injured when the two vehicles collided in suburban Wadsworth.

The child has been hospitalized with a head injury.  Her brother escaped major injury with cuts and bruises.  All terrain vehicles have been the subject matter of extensive litigation surrounding their safety.

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The number of swine flu cases reported in Illinois has risen to 41 as of Thursday, April 30, 2009 according to the Chicago Sun-Times.  11 of those cases are being reported in the Chicago Area.  109 cases of swine flu have been confirmed nationwide.

Chicago area schools are closing in the face of what may be a pandemic outbreak of the virus.  State and local officials anticipate the number of confirmed cases in Chicago, Illinois to rise in the days and weeks ahead.

If you or a loved one has symptoms which may be swine flu please call your local doctor or hospital before you go to the office or emergency room.

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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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A bus full of tourists visiting California crashed on a highway south of San Francisco leaving four dead and dozens injured.  The crash occured on the popular US 101 highway which travels north-south along the California coast.  The bus apparently struck a center divider ejecting and killing several passengers.

Thirty-two passengers are believed to be injured.  Passengers were taken by bus and helicopter to area hospitals.  The bus tour originated in San Francisco and was headed south to Santa Barbara for a wine tasting tour.  Identities and  the origins of the victims of this tragedy are not currently being reported.

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The plastic surgeon who treated Kanye West’s mother the day before she died has given up his medical license in California.  Donda West, the longtime Chicago, Illinois resident and mother of rap artist Kanye West, died the day after cosmetic surgery at the hands of Dr. Jan Adams.

Adams has had a host of legal and personal problems since 2001, including four malpractice judgments, two DUI arrests and convictions and allegations that he failed to pay child support.  Rather then fight proceedings against him, he voluntarily gave up his medical license.

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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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One of the principal arguments backers of tort reform use to justify damages caps is that increased insurance premiums have an adverse effect on health care costs that are passed on to the consumer.  This argument persists in spite of the fact that there is little or no evidence that this actually occurs.  In California, for instance, caps on medical malpractice damages have been in place for more then thirty years and there has been health care savings passed on to the patient.  The Dallas Morning News is reporting this morning that tort reform is not a panacea for health care costs.

In Texas voters were convinced to amend the state constution to impose a $250,000 cap on pain and suffering damage award.  Again, caps have failed to lower health care costs.  One study, from Dartmouth College, found that health care costs actually rose 24% in the three years after tort reform damages caps were imposed.

Now researchers at the University of Alabama have analyzed health care costs in the 27 states where there is some limit on damages imposed by the legislature, otherwise known as tort reform.  They concluded that there is no correlation between tort reform damages caps and decreased costs of health care.  In fact the price of health insurance has doubled in those states with damages caps and medicare spending has increased on average nearly 5% a year.

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