Ronald Cobb underwent surgery to insert an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, Ill. When the procedure was completed on Feb. 3, 2009, Cobb was 51. Just two hours after the surgery, Cobb suffered a myocardial infarction in the recovery room and passed away.…
Articles Posted in Hospital Errors
$306,000 Illinois Jury Verdict for Patient Injured by Doctor in Gallbladder Surgery
In November 2008, 26-year-old Heather Hinshaw underwent gallbladder surgery at Trinity Medical Center in Rock Island, Ill. The general surgeon who did the surgery thought he saw a stone in the common bile duct during an intraoperative cholangiogram, which is a procedure using a catheter to inject dye into the…
$2.1 Million Cook County Jury Verdict After Doctor’s Failure to Diagnose Child’s Infection
Tony Love, 13, came through the emergency department at Ingalls Memorial Hospital complaining of left knee pain and a fever on Sept. 23, 2007. He was diagnosed with a quadriceps strain and was sent home. The next morning, Sept. 24, 2007, Love was seen by the defendant physician, Dr. Arun…
Illinois Jury Finds for Radiologist in Missed Brain Mass in CT Scan
In September 2007, 55-year-old Barbara Ann Drebek-Doyle underwent a CT scan of the sinuses due to her recurrent sinusitis condition. The test was performed at Advocate Condell Gurnee Outpatient Radiology Center. The scan was interpreted by the defendant Dr. David E. Foosaner, a radiologist. In a lawsuit that was filed by Ms.…
Medical Malpractice Injuries is the Problem, Not Litigation
It is estimated that 250,000 people die each year in the United States as a result of medical malpractice according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Approximately 80,000 Medicare patients suffer preventable adverse events that contribute to their deaths; as many as half of those deaths are…
$1.6 Million Jury Verdict for Fatal Brain Trauma in Hospital Room
South Korean immigrant Young Bahng, 60, was admitted to the University of Chicago Hospital on April 18, 2006. He was there to undergo a live-donor liver transplant from his son. Bahng was self-employed in the conveyor system business. He was suffering from end stage liver disease as a result of having hepatitis B…
Medical Malpractice Amputation Case Barred by Timeliness Under the Federal Tort Claims Act
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in Chicago has affirmed a district court’s order dismissing a medical negligence case brought against the Department of Veteran Affairs. Jerome Augutis underwent reconstructive surgery on his right foot at Illinois’ Edward Hines Jr. Veterans Administration Hospital in July 2006. Because of…
$600,000 Medical Malpractice Jury Verdict for Leg Amputation
Nereida Sepulveda was an 80-year-old retiree who underwent a bilateral knee replacement surgery at Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center on Nov. 9, 2009. The surgery was performed by an orthopedic surgeon, Dr. David Hoffman. Sepulveda suffered an artery occlusion in the right leg as a complication of the procedure. The defendant, Dr. Iyer,…
Settlement Reached in Wrongful Death of Fifty-Eight-Year-Old Man in Airway Presentation Case
A confidential settlement was reached with a hospital emergency room and doctors after a 58-year-old man underwent emergency surgery. The man went to the hospital emergency room after dislocating his hip prosthesis. During the emergency surgery, the attending anesthesiologist attempted unsuccessfully to place an endotracheal tube. The man, Doe, required an emergency…
Making Sense of the Electronic Medical Records with the Audit Trail
Continuity of care is paramount in patient healthcare. The goal is always to give the patient the best medical care while at the same time reduce medical errors. For the last 20 years hospitals and physicians have been using electronic health records (EHR). Although the intent was noble, EHR has caused serious…