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Harriet Cook, 83, suffered from a degenerative spinal condition in her neck. A pain management specialist, Dr. Michael Rubeis, did a fluoroscopic cervical epidural injection to help with Cook’s pain symptoms. During the procedure, Cook complained of pain. Nevertheless, Dr. Rubeis continued.

Afterwards, Cook discovered that her arms and legs were paralyzed. Her left arm remained paralyzed, which prevented her from living independently as she did before the procedure. Before she passed away, Cook sued Dr. Rubeis’ group, alleging negligent performance of the epidural injection. Cook claimed that Dr. Rubeis chose not to ascertain the location of the needle, leading him to inject steroid solution directly into Cook’s spinal cord, breaching the dura and causing nerve damage.

The jury returned a verdict of $3.5 million. However, the parties settled for an undisclosed amount.

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Kyle Wodzenski, 20 years old at the time of this accident, fractured his left index finger in a work-related incident. Orthopedic surgeon Fred Moore Carter II MD performed an open reduction surgery on Wodzenski, placing his finger in a plaster splint.

Wodzenski, who was suffering from significant pain, went to Dr. Carter’s office two days after his hospital discharge. Physician assistant John Rongo examined him in less than five minutes, choosing not to open the splint.

At an appointment the following week, Dr. Carter told Wodzenski that his index finger had become necrotic and required amputation.
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During a physical therapy session following her hip surgery, Anita Hanson began to experience increased pain in her leg. The pain did not subside and hospital staff later diagnosed her with a fractured femur.

Hanson and her husband brought a lawsuit against the physical therapy company and the hospital. It was alleged in the lawsuit that the physical therapist was negligent during the physical therapy session, that the hospital was negligent in choosing not to timely diagnose the fractured femur, and that Hanson was injured as a result of the negligence of both the hospital and the physical therapist. The defendants separately moved for summary judgment. The plaintiffs, Anita Hanson and her husband Marvin Hanson, filed an appeal.

On Sept. 8, 2014, Anita Hanson underwent a right total hip arthroplasty. The surgeon, Dr. Michael Vener performed the surgery. After the surgery, Dr. Vener took x-rays, which confirmed a properly placed artificial joint. The x-ray did not reveal any fractured bones.
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According to the report of this case, the Illinois Appellate Court has reversed the dismissal of a medical malpractice case. The case had been dismissed by the trial judge on the ground that the plaintiff did not meet the requirement of filing the 90-day certificate of merit, which is required by Section 2-622 of the Illinois Code of Civil Procedure.

A doctor’s affidavit, which was filed late, should not have been enough to reject a medical malpractice lawsuit, the appeals panel ruled.

According to the Illinois Appellate Court opinion, the Cook County Circuit Court judge abused his discretion when he dismissed Earnest and Mildred Lee’s lawsuit against Rush Oak Park Hospital and Dr. Juan Cobo. The circuit court judge dismissed the case because they did not file their Health Professional’s Report within the 90-day window.
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James DeGeorge, 84, was hospitalized for the placement of a pacemaker. He was labeled a high fall risk due to his unsteady gait and forgetfulness. A nurse gave him Ambien one evening as he reported he could not sleep. He was placed in a chair without an alarm.

An hour later, he was trying to get out of the chair but fell and hit his head. He suffered a subdural hematoma as a result of that blunt force. He died three weeks later and was survived by his wife and three adult children.

DeGeorge’s family and estate filed a lawsuit against the hospital for his wrongful death. The DeGeorge family asserted that the hospital chose not to take the necessary fall precautions and properly monitor his movements.
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William Mann had a history of smoking. He underwent a routine physical including a chest x-ray, which was interpreted as normal. However, three years later, he was diagnosed as having metastatic lung cancer.

In spite of chemotherapy, radiation and other cancer treatments, including a procedure to reinforce the bones in his back, he died 20 months after the diagnosis. He was 58 years old and was survived by his wife and four adult children at the time of his death.

The Mann family sued the United States alleging that the Veterans Administration (VA) radiologist chose not to identify a suspicious 1.5-centimeter density on the left lung visible on the chest x-ray done three years before Mann’s fatal diagnosis.
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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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David Robinson, who was in his 30s, found blood in his stool. He went to the office of his primary care physician, Dr. William Elder, where he was seen by a physician assistant, David Lamport. Lamport did a cursory physical examination and diagnosed internal hemorrhoids as the origin of blood in Robinson’s stool.

Unfortunately, eight months later, when Robinson’s symptom of blood in his stool persisted, he underwent a colonoscopy, which showed Stage IV colon cancer; it had spread to his liver.

In spite of cancer treatment, Robinson died within a year. He had been working in his family business earning approximately $90,000 per year. He was survived by his wife and three young daughters.
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Andrew Swanson had a history of various medical problems including diabetes, end-stage renal disease and gangrene. After undergoing a skin graft on his right foot, he was transferred to Regional Hospital for Respiratory and Complex Care.
He was in his mid-40’s and was treated with foot dressing to be changed daily and wrapped with non-elastic Kerlix dressing.

In spite of this procedure ordered by his treating physicians, a Regional Hospital nurse applied an elastic Ace bandage and left it in place for three days.
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Michael Fava, 58, went to the emergency department complaining of leg pain that had not improved since he was seen at another hospital the previous day. He was diagnosed with having a retroperitoneal hemorrhage and a lack of blood flow to the legs.

However, the treating vascular surgeons, Dr. Harold Chung-Loy and Dr. Vincent Moss, chose not to determine the cause of the bleeding.

Fava spent four days in the hospital, which ended when he had bilateral above-the-knee leg amputations as a result of the lack of blood flow to his legs.
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