On Feb. 13, 2008, Richard Potrawski was taken by ambulance to Little Company of Mary Hospital in Evergreen Park, Ill., after suffering a head injury during a slip and fall on ice. Mr. Potrawski was brought to the emergency room at 12:30 pm. He had a large contusion above his…
Virginia Gettys was admitted to St. Joseph’s Hospital in Highland, Ill., with abdominal pain, abdominal distension and a report of bloody stools. This followed a recent colonoscopy. Gettys was admitted to the hospital on Jan. 14, 2004. The defendant, Dr. Jose Diaz, a general surgeon, performed an exploratory laparotomy to see the cause…
In a 9th Circuit decision handed down in January 2013, the court of appeals found that the Medical Device Amendments (MDA) to the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetics Act were not a wedge to prevent a plaintiff from making a state negligence claim against Medtronic. In a series of previous cases…
A confidential settlement was reached with a hospital emergency room and doctors after a 58-year-old man underwent emergency surgery. The man went to the hospital emergency room after dislocating his hip prosthesis. During the emergency surgery, the attending anesthesiologist attempted unsuccessfully to place an endotracheal tube. The man, Doe, required an emergency…
Continuity of care is paramount in patient healthcare. The goal is always to give the patient the best medical care while at the same time reduce medical errors. For the last 20 years hospitals and physicians have been using electronic health records (EHR). Although the intent was noble, EHR has caused serious…
On July 8, 2013, the U.S. District Court in Charleston, W.Va., started the first bellwether jury trial in the C.R. Bard, Inc. Multidistrict Litigation (MDL). Bard manufactures transvaginal mesh products. Not long after the beginning of the trial, the trial judge declared a mistrial. After opening statements and the testimony of at least…
The Illinois Supreme Court has reversed an Illinois Appellate Court ruling concluding that Section 3.150(a) of the Emergency Medical Services Systems Act immunizes an ambulance driver in a non-emergency transfer of a patient. According to the Act, Section 3.150(a), “Any person . . . certified, licensed or authorized pursuant to…
On June 22, 2006, Raymone Bowe, a 10-year-old boy, was brought by his mother to the emergency department at Norwegian American Hospital in Chicago with a sore throat, headache and a history of fever and vomiting. Raymone was seen in the ER by the defendant, Dr. Joseph Mejia, an occupational medicine/ophthalmology…
Jungie Kim underwent surgery to repair an abdominal aortic aneurysm at Rush Northshore Medical Center on Sept. 24, 2003. Kim was a 55-year-old housewife. The surgery was done by a vascular surgeon, Dr. Douglas Norman, a contracted employee at Rush Northshore. Following the surgery, Ms. Kim experienced severe ischemia in…
The U.S. Department of Labor reports that in 2008 only 12% of doctors were self-employed. With the implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and other healthcare reforms, the future of employment by physicians in hospitals will be overtaking the past trends. Hospital employment of doctors is expected to increase between 10…