Illinois updates in category: Medical Malpractice

A jury awarded a Florida couple $21 million after it found the doctor 90% negligent in misdiagnosing the child's birth defect. Dr. Boris Kousseff failed to diagnose Daniel and Amara Estrada's first son with a genetic disorder, Smith-Lemil-Opitz syndrome, which severely limits his ability to live a normal life. The doctor's failure to diagnose the first child caused him to tell the Estrada's...

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A Missouri hospital has been sued by the parents of one of its patients after the 8-year old girl received the wrong medication. The girl had been prescribed israpidine but was given risperdal instead.The girl suffered brain damage and kidney damage and will eventually require a kidney transplant."Sound-alike" medications cause the potential for medication errors. This arises from the custom...

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A lawsuit was recently filed on behalf of Judge Robert Bork against the Yale Club of New York City. Bork a leading advocate in the tort reform movement and has pushed to limit plaintiff damages on numerous occasions. He is now in the plaintiff's seat and seeking $1 million in compensatory damages, plus punitive damages. Bork filed the lawsuit after he fell at the Yale Club just prior to...

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A Menard Correctional Center inmate, serving a 70-year murder sentence, has filed a medical malpractice lawsuit against two doctors and the prison's medical service provider.He claims, had a growth on his larynx been properly diagnosed, he would not have had to undergo two unnecessary lymph node biopsy surgeries that have left him suffering with permanent nerve damage.Last year he voluntarily...

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At a recent administrative law hearing for unemployment benefits, a judge ruled that a nurse's discharge was not for cause -- even though she made many errors in the care of patients under her charge -- because the errors were the result of the multiple responsibilities that had been placed on the nurse. Therefore, the judge awrded unemployment benefits that the hospital had been contesting.The...

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Dr. Hicham K. Riba has lost his dental license for at least 18 months after over sedating a five year old child last year which resulted in her death. Diamond Brownridge died last Septemeber after she was given too much anesthesia when she was having a cavity filled. She lapsed into a coma and died four days later.It is believed that Dr. Riba gave Brownridge three times the recommended dose of...

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The family of Brenda Easter was awarded $534,025 in a medical malpractice case against the University of Mississippi Medical Center. Easter became ill after she gave birth to her daughter. She complained of trouble breathing but the hospital failed to treat her and instead sent her home. She died of pneumonia two days after she was released from the hospital.The University appealed the...

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A Houston TV station ran a segement recently on the occurrence of medication dispensing errors at local pharmacies, and the apparently lax discipline of pharamcists who make dispensing errors.In one instance, a cancer patient was prescribed medication to be taken four time per week, but was given instructions by the pharamcist to take four times daily. The cancer patient suffered permanent...

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Regis M. Reilly a 53 year old man from California was awarded $5.7 million after a jury determined him dermatologist was liable for his failure to diagnose Reilly's skin cancer. Dr. Powers failed to biopsy a cyst that had been removed from Reilly. The cyst later became cancerous.Reilly is now bedridden and receives 24 hour a day care. He was awarded $1.6 million for pain and suffering and...

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A Montana nurse admitted to a coroner's inquest that she adminstered a wrong medication to a patient who died shortly after receiving the drug. The patient came to trhe emergency room of the hospital with difficulty breathing. The doctor ordered lasix, a diuretic, to help draw out fluid that may have been contributing the respiratory problems.Instead of taking the lasix from the pharmacy, she...

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Caleb Spence died one year after he was born due to complications that occurred during his birth. Caleb's doctor, Dr. Emerson R. Julian Jr. was found liable for causing Caleb brain damage at birth, which later led to complications and his death. A jury found for Caleb Spence's family and awarded them $8.1 million. However, the award was quickly cut to $2.1 million because of medical...

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An employee in a drug compounding pharmacy who was mixing a medication made an error which resulted in a drug being sent to a clinic in a form which was 10 times more potent than intended. The medication was called colchicine, which is normally used to treat gout. It was being used in the clinic to treat back pain, which is off-lbael use of the drug. The way that the medication works is that...

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A Philadelphia family has filed suit against a local hospital after their father died following heart surgery. Two hours after having bypass surgery, the man had a fatal heart attack. The man's daughter, a doctor, reviewed his chart and saw that he was given an excessive amount of potassium, and she believes that this led to his death.Nurses are taught that they need to check their "R's"...

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In a dividend that reflects an improved financial picture, Illinois's largest medical malpractice insurer is planning to reimburse $18.4 to policyholders for a more secure liability environment for doctors.ISMIE Mutual Insurance Co. also says they will leave premium rates unchanged for the new policy year which starts on July 1. Premiums paid by doctors to ISMIE and other insurers spiked in 2002...

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Doctors have been fighting vigorously for tort reform to in the hopes that it will relieve them from sky rocketing medical malpractice premiums. Doctors and their advocates arguelarge payouts and frivolous lawsuits are causing high premiums, but recent insurance company profits may tell a different story.ISMIE Mutual Insurance Company went to battle two years ago and was able to persuade...

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