A Chicago jury examined the question of what duty of care does a surgeon owe his patients following a surgery in the medical malpractice lawsuit of Marvin Rieker v. Libby Kristal, M.D., 08 L 90 (LaSalle County). For example, is the surgeon required to keep an eye on his patient’s…
In Illinois, the statute of limitations governing civil cases, e.g. medical malpractice, product liability, and personal injury cases, is typically two years. However, the Illinois Appellate Court recently revisited exactly when that two-year statute begins in its analysis of the “discovery rule” as it relates to Mitsias v. I-Flow, 2011…
Despite testimony that a quicker response by a Cook County hospital’s staff could have increased a patient’s chance of survival by ten percent, a Chicago jury finds in favor of the defendant doctors and hospital. The Cook County medical malpractice lawsuit of Estate of Edward W. Dornhecker, deceased v. Dr.…
According to a recent survey in the Journal of the American Medical Association, male physicians age 55 or older are twice as likely to be sued for medical negligence as younger women doctors. This survey and other similar findings are the basis of a recent program on Radio Health Journal…
In medical malpractice lawsuits, documentation is key in proving both the plaintiff’s and defendant’s cases. A jury is much more likely to believe what is documented in the chart than testimony that is generally provided several years after the alleged medical malpractice took place. However, when something is not documented…
In order to prove medical malpractice occurred, the plaintiff’s attorney needs to show not only the plaintiff experienced a poor medical outcome, but that it was directly caused by medical negligence. In the Kane County medical malpractice lawsuit of Melissa Nyquist v. Dr. Taras Masnyk and DuPage Neurosurgery, S.C., 06…
In order to prove medical negligence, a plaintiff needs to demonstrate that the doctors or nurses operated outside of the standard of care, i.e. the regular level of care required in a given situation. If the plaintiff fails to demonstrate that the doctors or nurses acted outside the normal standards,…
A Cook County judge denied a defendant’s motion for a change of venue in an Illinois wrongful death case despite the fact that several defendants and witnesses did not live in Cook County. And even though the trial judge did deny the venue change, he expressed his discomfort with the…
A recent Wall Street Journal article focused on new developments in research on how our brain reacts to pain. The article revealed that new research has demonstrated that we have a lot of control over how we interpret pain and that new methods are being developed to try and train…
A Chicago man sustained a worse medical injury as a result of a radiologist’s error. And while the resulting medical malpractice case settled, the plaintiff brought an additional institutional negligence lawsuit against the hospital. The second lawsuit, Oscar Salinas v. Advocate Health and Hospital Corp., 09 L 3233, went to…