Michael Mals, 57, underwent a hip replacement at Lutheran General Hospital on Aug. 14, 2008. He was given Coumadin, a blood thinner, to prevent deep vein thrombosis (DVT). Three days later he was transferred to a nursing home for rehab where his INR (international normalized ratio) became supratherateutic and Coumadin…
A Will County, Ill., jury entered a $1,066,000 verdict against an orthopedic surgeon, David Burt, M.D. Virginia Faletti, 82, underwent endoscopic carpal tunnel release surgery on her right wrist at Edward Hospital. The surgery was done to relieve pressure on the median nerve because of crowding within the carpal tunnel…
An 11-year-old lawsuit finally came to an end in St. Clair County, Ill., when the jury entered a $1 million verdict for the medical malpractice-wrongful death of 71-year-old Margaret Janet Brown. The case stemmed from a 2002 coronary artery bypass surgery that failed. In this case, the wrongful death-medical malpractice…
Andrew Hanson, 49, was injured at his job. He went in to see his family practice physician, Dr. Ronald Davis, who diagnosed a crushed injury to his chest. Hanson then underwent a work-up, which showed a left chest contusion. The next day, Hanson experienced other symptoms, including shortness of breath. …
Thomas Jackson, 57, underwent a hernia repair surgery by a general surgeon, the defendant, Dr. Kenneth Goldman. Hours after the surgery, Jackson complained of severe stomach pain. His condition deteriorated overnight; the next morning Jackson developed a fever and a rapid pulse. The hospital staff noted a decrease in urine…
Tony Love, 13, came through the emergency department at Ingalls Memorial Hospital complaining of left knee pain and a fever on Sept. 23, 2007. He was diagnosed with a quadriceps strain and was sent home. The next morning, Sept. 24, 2007, Love was seen by the defendant physician, Dr. Arun…
A confidential settlement was reached wherein a 63-year-old woman’s misdiagnosed lung cancer led to her untimely death. The woman, identified only as Doe, underwent a CT scan while she was hospitalized. This showed a lung lesion that the interpreting radiologist reported as possible cancer. A hospitalist reported these findings to Doe’s primary care physician. …
It is estimated that 250,000 people die each year in the United States as a result of medical malpractice according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Approximately 80,000 Medicare patients suffer preventable adverse events that contribute to their deaths; as many as half of those deaths are…
South Korean immigrant Young Bahng, 60, was admitted to the University of Chicago Hospital on April 18, 2006. He was there to undergo a live-donor liver transplant from his son. Bahng was self-employed in the conveyor system business. He was suffering from end stage liver disease as a result of having hepatitis B…
A Cook County jury has decided that Northwestern Memorial Hospital was not negligent after a back surgery on 83-year-old JoAnn Smith went wrong. On Aug. 5, 2010, Smith underwent an L4-5 microendoscopic foraminotomy and discectomy at Northwestern Memorial Hospital for management of her back pain. After the surgery, she was diagnosed…