Articles Posted in Family Practice Medicine

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Mildred Vick, 65, underwent a Salpingo-oophorectomy performed by gynecologist Dr. Lawrence Bandy. Salpingo-oophorectomy is the surgery to remove the ovary fallopian tubes. This procedure is used to treat a variety of conditions, usually ovarian cancer.

Following this procedure, metabolic testing showed an abnormal glomerular filtration rate and creatinine level. The glomerular filtration rate (GFR) is a test used to check how well the kidneys are functioning. It estimates show much blood passes through the glomerular each minute. Glomerular are the tiny fibers in the kidneys that filter waste from the blood.

Creatinine is a waste product produced by muscles from the breakdown of a compound called creatine. Creatinine is removed from the body by the kidneys, which filter almost all of it from the blood and releases it in the urine. The creatinine test measures the amount of creatinine in the blood and/or urine.
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Kimberly Suchomel, 28, suffered from a seizure disorder. When she ran out of her seizure medicine, she called the office of her treating neurologist, Dr. Eduardo Gallegos.

She asked for a refill of the medicine but was told by a receptionist that the doctor’s office said she would have to be seen by the doctor in order to receive a refill. An appointment was scheduled for the next available time, which was two months later.

Before this appointment, the doctor’s office told Suchomel that Dr. Gallegos would not see her and that she would not receive her refill until she paid the outstanding balance due to his office.
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Ms. Doe, 47, had a family history of breast cancer. When she discovered a mass in her right breast, she consulted with Dr. Roe, a family practice physician. The doctor aspirated the mass with an 18-gauge needle but did not send the aspiration collection to cytology for analysis.

Cytology is the examination of cells from a patient’s body under a microscope to determine the presence of disease or illness. Instead, Dr. Roe referred Ms. Doe for a mammogram and ultrasound, which reported the presence of a hematoma.

Ms. Doe’s mass continued to grow. Dr. Roe allegedly attributed this to an enlarging hematoma during Ms. Doe’s multiple later visits.
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Robert Suryadeth, 64, suffered from valvular heart disease. Before he underwent an outpatient surgery for his back issues, he met with Dr. Aruna Paspula, an internist, who had never seen him before that day.

Dr. Paspula performed an electrocardiogram, listened to his heart, and cleared him for the back surgery.

After the surgery, Suryadeth was discharged to home where he died later that day. An autopsy revealed three blocked coronary arteries and identified the cause of death as cardiac arrest. He was survived by his wife and three children.
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This lawsuit arose out of a wrongful-death and medical malpractice case brought by the plaintiff, Lawanda Freeman. She was the special administrator of the estate of her deceased husband, Terrance Freeman. In her complaint against the defendant, Gayle R. Crays, M.D., she alleged that Dr. Crays was negligent in the treatment of Terrance’s cardiovascular disease and that negligence was the proximate cause of Terrance’s death. Right before the trial was set to start, the trial judge ruled that Freeman’s only expert witness was unqualified to offer any opinions on the issue of causation, thus creating a fatal evidentiary gap in the plaintiff’s case.

In response to the trial judge’s ruling barring this expert witness, Freeman moved to voluntarily dismiss her complaint. The trial judge granted the voluntary dismissal without prejudice.

Shortly thereafter, Freeman refiled her complaint. Upon learning that Freeman intended to disclose an additional or new medical expert witness to offer opinions on the issue of causation, Dr. Crays’ lawyers moved to adopt the rulings from the earlier case and bar any testimony of plaintiff’s newly disclosed expert opinion pursuant to Illinois Supreme Court Rule 219(e).
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