Justia Lawyer Rating for Robert D. Kreisman

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Topamax is an anticonvulsant medication that is prescribed to treat epilepsy and the associated seizures, or can also be prescribed to prevent migraine headaches. Recently, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released a new warning about some birth defects associated with Topamax. Specifically, the drug warning states that mothers taking Topamax showed higher incidences of cleft lips and cleft palates than mothers not taking Topamax.

This discovery was made by the North American Antiepileptic Drug (NAAED) Pregnancy Registry, whose data showed that 1.4% of infants exposed to Topamax during the first trimester were likely to develop a cleft lip or cleft palate. The prevalence of cleft lips or palate in infants with no exposure to anticonvulsant medications was 0.07%.

In light of this new information, the FDA elevated the Topamax’s pregnancy category from C to D. Under Category D, “There is positive evidence of human fetal risk based on adverse reaction data from investigational or marketing experience or studies in
pregnant women despite potential risks.” Physicians are advised not to prescribe Topamax to pregnant women unless the potential benefits of the drug outweigh the potential risks to the fetus.

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The death of a high-power, Chicago executive at the University of Chicago Medical Center could lead to the Chicago hospital losing its medicare payments. James Tyree, CEO of The Chicago Sun-Times and Mesirow Financial, died from an air embolism that developed after his catheter was removed incorrectly. The medical negligence occurred while Mr. Tyree was being treated for pneumonia at the University of Chicago Medical Center.

The air embolism occurred after air entered the catheter as it was being removed. The air bubble then entered Mr. Tyree’s blood stream. This is problematic because when an air bubble becomes lodged in a vein or artery it can eventually block the flow of blood through that vein or artery. If your blood flow is blocked you are at risk of not getting enough blood to your heart or brain, which is a deadly situation.

This fatal medical error was not only preventable, but involved a skill that was so basic its being done incorrectly could be seen as gross negligence. After considering the facts of Mr. Tyree’s death, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services stated that the “deficiencies [which led to Mr. Tyree’s death] were so serious that they constitute an immediate threat to patient health and safety.”

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A $14.9 million settlement was reached in an Illinois medical malpractice case that left the plaintiff with permanent brain damage. The lawsuit of Jennifer Lee v. Palos Community Hospital, et al., 09 L 7824, was brought against the hospital where the plaintiff was treated, as well as the individual doctors who treated the plaintiff.

In 2009, plaintiff, Jennifer Lee, presented to Palos Community Hospital with severe dehydration from vomiting and diarrhea. The typical treatment for dehydration is to pump the patient with IV fluids and monitor their electrolyte levels. When Ms. Lee presented to the hospital, her initial blood work showed an extremely high level of sodium. While normal sodium levels range from 135 mmol/L to 145 mmol/L, Ms. Lee’s sodium level was at 165 mmol/L.

Typically, dehydration results in low sodium levels, not high sodium levels. Blood sodium levels can indicate whether there is an imbalance between the levels of sodium and water in your body. While Ms. Lee’s initial sodium levels were critically high, it fluctuated between critically high and critically low during the course of her admission. In fact, it was this change from critically high, to critically low, then back to critically high that caused the plaintiff’s brain damage and was the subject of her medical malpractice lawsuit.

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A $4.5 million settlement was reached between Advocate Christ Hospital and Medical Center and the family of a man who died after his bladder ruptured at the Chicago hospital. The claims in the wrongful death case of The Estate of Krzysztof Bialas v. Advocate Christ Hospital and Medical Center, No. 07 L 12141, were that the decedent’s death could have been avoided if the hospital’s radiologist had correctly read a CT scan that would have identified the problem.

The decedent, Krzysztof Bialas, was a 42 year-old warehouse worker who presented to Oak Lawn’s Christ Hospital with a fractured pelvis after being injured in a forklift accident at his job. Nursing notes from the hospital visit indicated that Bialas’s scrotum was extremely swollen. In response to this observation, doctors ordered a CT scan of Bialas’s abdomen and pelvis.

While Bialas’s fractured pelvis was appropriately diagnosed by x-ray, the radiologist failed to recognize the presence of a large amount of fluid in Bialas’s pelvic area. The medical malpractice complaint filed by the decedent’s estate alleged that it was this radiology error that ultimately led to Bialas’s death.

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A Cook County medical malpractice claim against Northshore University Health Systems for $1.2 million. The lawsuit, Deborah Bowden and Bryce Bowden v. NorthShore University Health Systems, et al., No. 09 L 8801, involved allegations that several physicians in the Evanston health clinic failed to recognize that the plaintiff was exhibiting symptoms of an impending stroke. As a result of this failure to diagnose Ms. Bowden’s stroke in a timely manner, the plaintiff ended up suffering a stroke which left her with permanent muscle and speech limitations.
The circumstances leading to the Illinois failure to diagnose lawsuit arose out of two office visits occurring over a period of five days in August 2007. The 53 year-old Bowden presented to NorthShore University Health System complaining of numbness and tingling in her hands and feet. She was sent home and the medical records indicated that the physicians she saw missed all the indications that she was at risk for a stroke.

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The State of Illinois has been investigating Alden Village North and assessing whether the quality of care provided at the Illinois nursing home meets state standards. If not, the state plans on closing the Chicago nursing home because of overwhelming reports of nursing home abuse and neglect. New reports of five additional deaths caused by poor health care at the facility does not bode well for its future.

In addition to the state’s investigation, a federally-backed watchdog group, Equip for Equality, found that illnesses at Alden Village North were not properly treated, doctors ignored pages, lab results were discarded and investigations into the deaths of its residents were found to be superficial at best. The Chicago-based Equip for Equality group started its own investigation as part of a nationwide advocacy group that has been granted broad powers by Congress to help protect people with disabilities.

As part of its investigation, Equip reviewed patient records at Alden Village North in order to assess the quality of nursing home care being provided. Its investigation is now completed and Equip filed its official report with the State of Illinois this past month. Presumably the state will consider Equip’s report as it makes its decision about the future of the Chicago nursing home.

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A recent Illinois Supreme Court decision changed the way damages can be sought under the Illinois Nursing Home Care Act. The Court ruled unanimously in a 6-0 ruling that punitive damages cannot be awarded for wrongful death cases under the Nursing Home Care Act in Thomas Vincent v. Alden-Park Strathmoor, Inc., No. 110406.

Punitive damages are different than compensatory damages, which are awarded by courts and juries as payment for actual harm or losses suffered as a result of the defendant’s actions. While compensatory damages are seen almost as a way to reimburse the plaintiff for their loss, punitive damages are meant as a way to punish a defendant for its actions. Punitive damages are typically awarded in addition to compensatory damages and are only awarded when the defendant’s actions are so grossly negligent that additional censure is needed.

In the underlying Chicago nursing home malpractice case, Thomas Vincent, the legal representative for his deceased mother’s estate, filed a complaint that contained three counts requesting damages be paid by Alden-Park Strathmoor, Inc. for its negligent care and treatment of his mother prior to her death. While two of the counts sought compensatory damages, the third and final count was a survival claim filed under the Nursing Home Care Act which included a request for punitive damages for the nursing home’s allegedly willful and wanton conduct.

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A Cook County medical malpractice settlement for $5 million was approved by Cook County Circuit Court Judge William B. Maddux, marking the close of the Illinois lawsuit of The Estate of Shamiran David v. Rush Northshore Medical Center, et al., No. 07 L 8444. The Chicago medical negligence lawsuit was brought by the family of a woman who suffered a brain injury in the days following her heart surgery at Rush Northshore Medical Center.

While Mrs. David’s aortic valve replacement and coronary artery bypass grafting performed at Rush Northshore Medical Center went well, it was the complications following the surgery that led to Mrs. David’s brain injury and subsequent death. The case of Mrs. David can serve as a reminder to both patients and doctors that a successful surgery alone does not guarantee a positive outcome for a patient.

Mrs. David was discharged from the hospital following her surgery and sent home. However, the 59 year-old Cook County resident began to develop complications from her cardiac surgery within a few days of her discharge. She presented to her primary care physician with complaints of difficulty breathing and chest pains.

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Wincrest Nursing Center on Chicago’s North Side has been investigated by state and federal authorities for violations committed in its nursing home. The most recent result of this ongoing investigation was a 21-page document theCenters for Medicare & Medicaid Services submitted to the nursing home facility in late February.

Included in the Medicare & Medicaid report were allegations of nursing home abuse, specifically that Wincrest failed to notify state officials of felons living within the facility, which is required under Illinois law. In addition, the report accused Wincrest of being aware that some of its residents had used illegal drugs while housed at its nursing home facility and had been involved in crimes in the area surrounding the nursing home.

Wincrest is an 80-bed home located near Chicago’s Loyola University in Roger’s Park. While Wincrest is mostly home to adults with mental illnesses, some of its residents are known to have felony records. There are seven Loyola resident halls located within a block radius of Wincrest, which house about 600 students.

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The Illinois Appellate Court has found that a medical expert in a medical malpractice case may be impeached with the use of the physician’s §2-622 (Illinois Code of Civil Procedure) report as a prior inconsistent statement. This issue before the court was one of first impression in the state and was decided upon in Iaccino v. Anderson, No. 1-07-0207.
In the Iaccino birth injury lawsuit, the plaintiff’s attorneys alleged that the defendant doctors and hospital were responsible for the brain damage that the minor plaintiff, Jonathan Iaccino, suffered as a result of oxygen deprivation during his birth. The plaintiff’s attorneys alleged that the defendants’ medical negligent occurred as a result of their failure to monitor Jonathan’s fetal heart rate and their lack of response to the hyperstimulation of the uterus during his labor and delivery.

Gary Blake, M.D. provided a Illinois Code of Civil Procedure §2-622 affidavit as one of the plaintiff’s medical experts in Iaccino. When Dr. Blake signed the §2-622 report he stated that the decelerations recorded on a fetal-monitor strip were “variable decelerations.” However, at the trial, Dr. Blake testified that these strips showed “late decelerations” or “variable decelerations with a late component.”

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