Justia Lawyer Rating for Robert D. Kreisman

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A problem has developed with the St. Jude implanted heart device: A wire or lead that connects a defibrillator to a patient’s heart has been failing, often with fatal results. The lead, a model called Riata, has been used by more than 128,000 patients worldwide.
The electrical wires within the Riata lead have been known to break through the insulation, causing shocks in some patients and other more serious injuries. More important, the Riata wire failure does not react to the need for a lifesaving jolt to keep a failing heart beating.
St. Jude stopped selling the Riata product in late 2010. In December 2011, The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced the voluntary physician recall of the Riata and Riata Silicone Defibrillation Leads as a Class I Recall. This means that the FDA believed there was potential risk of serious injury or patient death caused by the devices’ malfunction.
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Michelle Phibbs, 29, had a history of mental illness. She was admitted to Heartland Behavioral Healthcare, a state-run psychiatric hospital, for an inpatient stay after experiencing difficulty following the death of a close family friend.

A psychiatrist diagnosed bipolar disorder, borderline personality disorder, and alcohol abuse, among other problems, and prescribed Ativan, Geodon and Thorazine.

One morning, after Phibbs was released from restraints, a nurse noted that she had forced breathing and was gasping. In the next hour, the facility’s staff checked on Phibbs three times until a nurse found her unresponsive.
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Jonathan Rabkin, 53, went to a hospital emergency room complaining of the sudden onset of upper abdominal pain radiating to his back. The attending emergency room physician, Dr. Vikram Varma, ordered a chest x-ray and chest CT scan without contrast.

Radiologist Dr. Paul Shieh interpreted the CT scan as showing a 5.2 cm ascending thoracic aortic aneurysm. An aneurysm by definition is an excessive localized enlargement of an artery caused by a weakening of the artery wall. In too many patient cases, an aneurysm left unrecognized and untreated can be deadly.

Rabkin was then admitted for observation and five hours later underwent an enhanced CT scan, which showed a type A aortic dissection.
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A proposed Illinois law would limit the number of patients each hospital nurse would be allowed to care for at one time. The proposed legislation was based on a national survey, which suggested that such a rule would lead to better working conditions for nurses and would benefit patient care.

However, Illinois’ leading hospital lobbying group remained solidly opposed to the idea, arguing it would result in the closure of many hospitals, especially in less populated rural areas, and would accelerate the already rising costs of healthcare.

The survey was conducted in 2018 by the group Nurses Take DC, a national organization that lobbies for stricter nurse-to-patient ratios.
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Isatu Sheriff, 39, underwent the removal of a bunion by a podiatrist and was placed on blood thinners following the surgery. One week after finishing the blood thinning medicine, she went to an urgent care facility complaining of leg pain. An emergency room physician performed a workup for muscle pain and back pain and prescribed opioids.

Sheriff collapsed and died eight days after that urgent care facility visit. The cause was determined to be a pulmonary embolism that traveled from her leg to lodge in her lung. She had been a certified nursing aid earning approximately $38,000 annually and was survived by her husband and two minor children.

Sheriff’s husband sued the doctor alleging that she chose not to test for and diagnose deep vein thrombosis. The Sheriff lawsuit alleged that the doctor should have ordered a Doppler ultrasound and a D-Dimer test, which would have revealed a treatable blood clot.
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Rodney Knoepfle, 67, suffered from significant health problems. He had a history of stroke and orthopedic and cardiac problems. Before all this took place, he executed an advance directive, which designated his wife to make healthcare decisions and stated his desire to forego life-sustaining healthcare treatment should that become necessary. In other words, he signed this directive stating that he did not wish to be resuscitated in case of a deteriorating medical condition.

When Knoepfle began feeling poorly, he was admitted to St. Peter’s Hospital. He provided his advanced directive to the nurses and staff who entered a do-not-resuscitate (DNR) order into the hospital computer system.

However, two days later, Knoepfle became non-responsive, prompting a nurse to call for help. When no one responded to the call, the nurse called a code. The on-duty hospitalist, Dr. Lee Harrison, came to Knoepfle’s bedside and performed chest compressions for 10 to 15 minutes. Knoepfle was resuscitated; however, he then coded the following day. Dr. Harrison then gave Knoepfle adrenaline.
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Johnny Terrell Sledge, 24, suffered a gunshot wound to his back. He was taken to the DCH Regional Medical Center emergency room where an emergency room physician recognized the need for surgery.

On-call trauma surgeon Dr. Bradley Bilton was paged repeatedly but responded that he was in surgery and that someone else should be called to assist Sledge. The hospital staff could not locate another surgeon; Dr. Bolton was paged again.

Instead of coming to the emergency room after completing the surgical procedure that he was involved in, Dr. Bilton started a second elective surgery instead of coming to the aid of Sledge.
Unfortunately, Sledge died while waiting for an emergency laparotomy. He is survived by his family.
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Christine Coffey was diagnosed as having a “berry aneurysm.” The vascular surgeon assigned to Coffey was Dr. Henry Woo who reviewed Coffey’s images and advised her that an untreated aneurysm could cause sudden death.

Dr. Woo performed an Onyx brain aneurysm procedure. During the procedure, Coffey suffered brain damage that has left her with permanent hemiparesis. Hemiparesis, or unilateral paresis, is the weakness of one side of the body. Hemiparesis can be caused by different medical conditions, including stroke.
Coffey had worked at a hospital, but she is now unable to work. She also has an impaired ability to take care of her young child.

Coffey sued Dr. Woo alleging negligence in that he chose not to obtain an informed consent. The lawsuit claimed that Dr. Woo had forced the liquid Onyx embolic agent into Coffey’s small aneurysm, causing the Onyx particles to escape the aneurysm and cause a stroke. Coffey also asserted that Dr. Woo decided not to advise her of the dangers of the surgery and safer available alternatives.
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Questions about nursing home facilities’ staffing are always important to know whenever there is a report of an injury, neglect or abuse in any nursing home setting. A study from the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College concluded that when the economy is strong, death rates at nursing homes rise. This research shows that when general employment levels rise, staffing at nursing homes drop. It turns out that the reason is that many nursing home staff prefer to work elsewhere. Therefore, the loss of caregiving for the elderly is linked with higher death rates, particularly in older women who outlive their male partners.

As Americans live longer, the need for nursing home facilities and care-giving resources are being stretched to their limits. Those living into their 80s are among the fastest growing age groups in the United States.

Because the federal and state governments have reduced Medicare funding for nursing home facility reimbursement rates, the elderly face much greater financial pressure. There is continued pressure to reduce healthcare spending, particularly on caregivers. The study found a precipitous rise in deaths at nursing facilities as the economy expands and workers find jobs in other work places.
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Many people are considering careers in the medical field, particularly in nursing. According to one study, the state of Michigan faces a critical shortage of nurses.

In order to meet this estimated job shortage, many workers are changing from their current volatile careers to what they see as a more stable career choice. A recent New York Times article showcased some Michigan natives making the shift to nursing, many of which were male. Examples are the 49-year-old grocery warehouse employee who now works at a nursing home, or the 59-year-old nursing student who used to work as an automotive vibration engineer. These men represent the growing trend of keeping their options open and finding work where it’s available.

Currently, Michigan’s unemployment rate is at 4.3 percent. In order to not become a number in that statistic, many former automotive employees are turning to nursing as a way to jumpstart a new career. In fact, the trend is so common that Oakland University in Rochester, Mich., established a program specifically geared toward training former autoworkers in nursing careers.
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