Chicago Medical Malpractice Attorney Blog

After reviewing a Cook County medical malpractice lawsuit for non-economic losses, a United States District Court judge for the Northern District of Illinois awarded the plaintiff $6.7 million in non-economic damages. Maldonado v. Sinai Medical Group, No. 06 C 4149 (April 2, 2010).

The Chicago medical malpractice case was brought by a Chicago man who developed paralysis from the waist down after being discharged from Chicago's Mt. Sinai Hospital with an ongoing spinal infection. While the Chicago hospital had diagnosed the infection and began treating it with IV antibiotics, it discharged the patient before the infection was gone.

Two weeks after his discharge, the Chicago native was unable to control his bladder or walk and was rushed to Rush University Medical Center. The ongoing spinal infection had continued to eat away at the man's vertebrae, which resulted in the removal of portions of his spine and ribs. The plaintiff underwent six surgeries during three months of hospitalization and was left paralyzed from the waist down.

The plaintiff brought a medical malpractice claim against the employees of Chicago's Mt. Sinai Hospital. However, because the hospital's employees were agents of the U.S. Public Health Service the Cook County medical malpractice case fell under the Federal Tort Claims Act. According to rules of the Act, the federal government was substituted for the hospital and its workers in the medical malpractice claim. The federal government admitted liability on behalf of the hospital. Therefore the only remaining issue for the judge to rule on was non-economic damages.

Continue reading "Medical Malpractice Verdict Non-Economic Damages Awarded by Illinois Federal District Court" »

An Illinois medical malpractice claim involving a failure to diagnose cancer was barred by the Illinois Appellate Court under the Local Governmental and Governmental Employees Tort Immunity Act. Defendant CGH Medical Center Auxiliary, d/b/a CGH Medical Center, was a municipal entity, and according to the Act, government entities, such as a public health clinic, are immune from certain types of negligence committed by the entity and/or its employees.

The Appellate Court reviewed Hemminger v. Nehring, et al., No. 3-08-0751, to determine whether the Tort Immunity Act immunized the defendants against allegations of medical negligence contained within plaintiff's complaint. The plaintiff's complaint alleged that the defendant's employee was negligent when she failed to correctly interpret the decedent's Pap smear, which showed that the decedent had cervical cancer. As a result of the defendant's negligence, the decedent's cancer went undiagnosed for six months. By the time her cervical cancer was diagnosed it was classified as Stage IIIb and eventually led to her death.

In response, the defendants filed motions for summary judgment, which if granted would result in the case's dismissal. In its motions, the defendants argued that they were immune from any liability or negligence under the Tort Immunity Act. They also argued that the case should be dismissed because the plaintiff failed to file the complaint within the one year statue of limitations set out for municipal entities. The plaintiff's complaint was instead filed within two years of the medical negligence, which would have met the statute of limitations for a non-government entity.

Continue reading "Illinois Medical Malpractice Claim Barred Under the Illinois Tort Immunity Act - Hemminger v. Nehring" »

A recent appeal in an Illinois wrongful death case begs the question of what constitutes an appropriate monetary award following a wrongful death or Illinois medical negligence. When Illinois medical negligence has occurred and changed the course of someone's life forever, what is the price we put on that negligence? This is something Chicago medical malpractice attorneys struggle with and even when you get a sizable verdict, it is no replacement for the damage that has been done. Dobyns v. Chung, M.D. and Sparta Community Hospital, No. 5-07-0568.

The Illinois wrongful death case was brought by the decedent's husband against a Randolph County hospital following the death of his wife. The plaintiff alleged that during the course of treating his wife for back pain syndrome that the defendant doctor had prescribed an inappropriately high amount of medications, which led to her wrongful death.

The defendant doctor testified at the Illinois trial that he had in fact prescribed her numerous medications during the two and a half years he treated her. The decedent had previously been diagnosed with a bulging disc in her back and had a history of pain in her back, leg and abdomen since 1992. However, despite the numerous narcotic medications the doctor prescribed, she continued to suffer pain in her back, abdomen, hip and knees. The doctor's testimony stated that during the several years he treated the decedent that he never saw any sign of over-medication.

Continue reading "Illinois Appellate Court Affirms Circuit Court Decision as to Medical Malpractice Damages Awarded By Illinois Jury" »