Chicago Personal Injury Lawyer Blog

When people think of frivolous lawsuits, most instantly think of the burn injury lawsuit brought by Stella Liebeck against McDonald's. However, "Hot Coffee," an HBO documentary, asks viewers to rethink their perceptions of the McDonald's lawsuit and exposes several other misconceptions about additional types of legal matters.

The HBO documentary is named for the personal injury lawsuit resulting from the third degree burns the plaintiff, Stella Liebeck, sustained after spilling a cup of McDonald's coffee on her lap. However, what is controversial about the film is that rather than framing Liebeck as an example of an overzealous American suing a company for insignificant injuries, "Hot Coffee" frames Liebeck as a case of the little guy versus the big, bad company.

For example, the documentary includes the little mentioned fact that the plaintiff did not rush to sue McDonald's Corporation. Rather, she first asked them to pay her out-of-pocket medical expenses she accrued as a result of her severe burns, an injury one would typically not expect simply from spilling coffee. It was only after McDonald's refused any liability and denied her request for reimbursement of medical expenses that Liebeck hired a lawyer.

Continue reading "HBO Documentary Shows Different Perspective on Personal Injury Cases and Medical Malpractice Lawsuits" »

The Illinois Appellate Court has affirmed a ruling by a Cook County associate judge who denied a forum non conveniens challenge brought by Motorola in Joseph Erwin, Jr., et al. v. Motorola, Inc., No. 1-09-2847. The Illinois birth injury lawsuit involved allegations that the plaintiffs' children suffered birth defects as a result of their parents' exposure to hazardous chemicals in the course of their employment in Motorola’s semiconductor industry “clean rooms”.

Motorola's motion involved a request of a change of venue, citing forum non conveniens rules to support its motion in the birth defect lawsuit. Forum non conveniens is Latin for "inconvenient forum" and are applicable when a lawsuit is filed in a location that is inconvenient for parties or witnesses. Under this principle, a judge is allowed to change a case's venue if a party can make a substantial case for its inconvenience.

Erwin was filed in a Circuit Court of Cook County court on the basis that Motorola's headquarters are in Schaumburg, Illinois. However, Motorola argued that a more appropriate venue was Travis County, Texas, on the basis that much of the plaintiffs' exposure to the hazardous chemicals took place in that county. It submitted a motion to dismiss the birth injury lawsuit on the basis of forum non conveniens, which the circuit court judge denied. Motorola then appealed this decision to the Illinois Appellate Court.

Continue reading "Forum Non Conveniens Motion Denied in Illinois Birth Defect Case - Erwin v. Motorola, Inc." »

An Illinois birth injury case involving allegations that a delayed cesarean section resulted in the baby's cerebral palsy and spastic quadriplegia recently settled for $9.5 million while the trial was underway. The Northern Trust Company, et al. v. Ghia, et al., 04 L 7500.

Like many birth injury lawsuits, the case involved claims that the hospital and obstetrician failed to recognize the baby was in distress and order a c-section in a timely manner. The mother, Alecia Owen, presented to the hospital at 41 weeks pregnant for an induced pregnancy. After being administered Pitocin and an epidural her labor progressed slowly and eventually raised concerns with the hospital's nursing staff.

Monitoring of the baby's heart rate was showing intermittent decelerations, which could be a sign of fetal distress. When the obstetrician, Dr. Nirali Ghia, was notified of the decelerations, he ordered an amnioinfusion, a procedure that can help reduce variable decelerations if there is a suspicion of cord compression. However, Dr. Ghia told not one, but several, nurses that the patient did not need a c-section even though the decelerations became more prolonged.

Continue reading "Illinois Birth Injury Lawsuit Criticizes Nurses For Chain of Command Breakdown - $9.5 Million Settlement in The Northern Trust Company, et al. v. Ghia, et al." »

The Illinois appellate court recently overturned a $12 million Illinois medical malpractice jury verdict, ordering a new trial with a new jury. The new trial involving Northern Trust Co., et al. v. Burandt, et al., No. 2-08-0193, will include evidence brought by defendant's medical expert that had been barred from being heard at the previous trial.

Burandt is an Illinois birth injury lawsuit filed by the parents of a child born with neurological injuries. The Illinois brain injury claim was brought against a family practice physician, alleging that the Illinois doctor contributed to the child's injury by delaying a Cesarean delivery.

The claims specifically accused the doctor of being too slow to obtain an operating room for the C-section and in negligently slowing down the mother's contractions before deciding to proceed with the C-section. The plaintiffs alleged that the child's brain injuries were the result of a decreased flow of oxygen during his delayed delivery.

Continue reading "Illinois Birth Injury Case to Be Retried: Will Include Previously Barred Expert Testimony" »

Complications during childbirth may lead to severe injuries if they are untreated or treated incorrectly. In a Chicago birth injury case, the family of a six year-old quadriplegic boy filed a lawsuit against the United States under the Federal Tort Claims Act, or FTCA, claiming that medical malpractice during childbirth was the reason the child contracted a bacterial infection that led to his brain damage.

Under FTCA, the United States is liable for injuries resulting from a federal employee’s negligence. The doctors who failed to correctly treat the infection were employees of the federally funded clinic, Erie Family Health Center and working at Northwestern Memorial Hospital when the child was born in May 2003.

The Illinois birth injury lawsuit falls under the FTCA even though Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where the child was treated, is a private company and not federally funded. This reason for this is because the doctors who allegedly committed the medical malpractice, and therefore were the ones the lawsuit was against, were federal employees at the time. So as long as a physician is employed by the federal government in any capacity, then your Illinois medical malpractice claim would be subject to FTCA rules, even if you are being treated at a non-federally funded hospital.

Continue reading "Chicago Birth Defects Result of Medical Malpractice: Claim Filed Under Federal Tort Claims Act" »

During labor and delivery minutes can sometimes be the difference between a good outcome and a poor outcome. So consider the case of a Chicago mother who was forced to wait over two hours before her baby was finally delivered. A recent Chicago birth injury malpractice case settled with Northwestern Memorial Hospital highlights the importance of timing during labor and delivery.

According to the mother's statement, she waited for more than two hours in the obstetrical waiting area at Northwestern Memorial Hospital before a physician even evaluated her. The plaintiff's lawyers alleged that this lengthy wait was negligent in light of the fact that upon arrival to the hospital she had been ordered for an immediate induction of labor due to her severe lack of amniotic fluid. Amniotic fluid is what protects the baby inside the womb and is extremely important to the baby's well-being.

During the two hour wait the physicians were apparently waiting for confirmation of the baby's status via newer tests. When the results finally did arrive they confirmed that the fetal heartbeat was very faint and that an emergency Cesearean section was in fact required. However, this delay resulted in a severe birth injury to the baby boy. He was born nearly lifeless and required resuscitation in order to be revived. He was diagnosed with severe brain damage and immediately placed on life support. The baby passed away a month after he was born.

Continue reading "Chicago Birth Injury Case Settled: Delay in Delivery Results in Severe Brain Damage to Baby" »

A Cook County birth injury lawsuit that alleged a baby boy had suffered severe brain damage during a delay in his birth was settled. The medical malpractice lawsuit was against Northwest Community Hospital, a nurse midwife, and the midwife's employer. The case was settled and approved by a Cook County Circuit Court judge.

What was particularly interesting about the case was that the delivery was actually a waterbirth. A waterbirth is a birthing method wherein the mother is immersed in a small pool of warm water. Proponents of this method argue that it is safe and offers improved pain relief for the mother and less trauma for the baby.

In this particular Cook County birth injury case, the baby's shoulder became trapped during the end of the delivery. The plaintiff alleged that the nurse midwife and assisting nurses did not drain the birth tub quickly enough to use the standard birthing maneuvers to free the baby's shoulder, and that their actions delayed the baby's delivery. Any delay in delivery can result in harm to the baby, and in this case the plaintiff alleged that the delay resulted in oxygen deprivation and brain damage in the form of cerebral palsy.

Continue reading "Negligent Cook County Delivery Results in Brain Damage to the Child" »

A Cook County medical malpractice case was settled for $9.5 million after an injured child's parents reached an agreement with his delivering obstetrician, Elmhurst Memorial Hospital, Elmhurst Clinic, LLC, and Elmhurst Memorial Healthcare. The Northern Trust Co. et al. v. Nirali Ghia, M.D., Elmhurst Memorial Hospital, et al., Case No. 04 L 7500, Circuit Court of Cook County.

In December, 2002, the now six year-old boy's mother arrived at Elmhurst Memorial Hospital to induce labor. However, the labor did not run smoothly, and after over four hours had elapsed the medical providers opted to perform a cesarean section. When the baby boy was delivered it was found that he had cerebral palsy.

The parents' Cook County birth injury complaint alleged that the obstetrician had failed to adequately assess and recognize that the fetus was not tolerating the stress of labor. During labor and delivery it is imperative that the nursing and medical staff not only monitor the baby and mother's condition, but also properly interrupts the information available.

The plaintiffs further alleged that a four hour delay in performing the cesarean section led to the child's permanent brain injury. The baby boy now suffers from cerebral palsy, a neurological disorder that affects muscle coordination and body movement.

Continue reading "Cook County Birth Injury Settlement Reached in Illinois Cerebral Palsy Case" »

A recent Cook County medical malpractice case illustrates the importance of a timely delivery. The Illinois birth injury case involved the late delivery of a child after the mother presented to the hospital with warning signs of an uterine rupture.

The child is now four and has sustained permanent injuries, including cognitive visual impairment and cerebral palsy. A Cook County Circuit Court judge dismissed the case after the family reached a settlement with Loyola University Medical Center.

In this case the mother had arrived at Chicago's Loyola University Medical Center with weak contractions and after being evaluated was assessed as not being in labor. In order to induce labor the attending physician and resident decided to administer Pitocin, a drug designed to accelerate contractions and labor.

As the staff continued to wait for the labor to progress the baby's heart rate began to weaken, which is yet another sign of uterine rupture. Yet the physicians continued to focus on a vaginal delivery and wait. It wasn't until the fetal heart rate had slowed to dangerously low levels that the Cesarean section was even ordered. But unfortunately by this time it was too late and the child was delivered with lifelong impairments.

Continue reading "Chicago Birth Injury Case Settled For $11 Million" »

A recent New York Times editorial caught my eye about a woman in Pakistan who lost her baby after a long, difficult labor and delivery. Her experience was used to demonstrate the lack of emphasis placed on medical practices that we in America take for granted, such as giving birth to your child at a hospital, and the effect that this has on maternal and child birth injuries in impoverished countries.

Recent research suggests that worldwide perhaps as many as one woman dies every minute from complications of pregnancy or childbirth, which is about 20 times greater than the number who have suffered childbirth injuries. As a firm we have taken on several Illinois birth injury cases and there are no words you can offer the family for their loss and pain. What is so striking about The New York Times article is that it suggests that these startling statistics could improve if more emphasis was placed on maternal well being.

For example, while Sri Lanka is an impoverished country it has succeeded in saving more mothers because it simply has tried to do so. And while this sounds like an oversimple solution in our country where a great deal of emphasis is placed on prenatal care and delivery, in impoverished countries this is not the case. The girl portrayed in the article was not taken to a hospital until after she had already been in labor for over 24 hours. By the time a c-section was performed her baby was already too weak to survive. If she had been taken to the hospital and followed by medical professionals from the start of her labor then the outcome might have been different. Yet this is not the standard in her native Pakistan, where one in 74 woman die from pregnancy complications.

Continue reading "Child Birth Injuries And Maternal Deaths On The Rise In Poor Countries" »

A mother whose daughter was born mentally disabled and prone to seizures received $6 million in settlement from the University of Chicago Medical Center. Chicago birth injury lawsuit claimed that a Cesarean should have been ordered 35 minutes earlier and that because of the late delivery the child suffered brain damage due to lack of oxygen.

The mother in this Illinois medical negligence case was admitted to the University of Chicago Medical Center to have labor induced. At her admission two tests were done that could not establish the fetal well-being. While labor was being induced the fetal heart rate was not showing accelerations even though it should. Over the next two hours the fetal heart rate steadily declined.

The plaintiffs argued that due to that heart rate trend a Cesarean section should have been ordered immediately. The doctors waited until the baby’s heart rate fell between 100 and 105 beats per minute to order an urgent Cesarean section surgery. The baby was delivered about 30 minutes from the time the procedure was ordered. That baby is now an adult and is mentally disabled.

Continue reading "Chicago Hospitals Pays $6 Million to Settle Birth Injury Lawsuit for Late Delivery of Child" »

Birth injuries are tragic and traumatic for parents, the child, and the whole family. Compared to the number of healthy live births in the United States, those children born with injuries are a small percentage. Improved medical devices and practices have reduced the number of birth injuries and can go a long way to preventing future birth injuries.

For example, clinicians use electronic fetal monitoring (EFM) and ultrasound equipment to visualize the fetus to confirm that the unborn child is moving, breathing, and posturing properly and to evaluate the amniotic fluid and monitor the laboring mother’s contractions. All of this information is used to detect signs of fetal distress including hypoxia, which is the lack of oxygen, and ischemia, which is the lack of blood flow.

If there is a detection of non-reassuring fetal heart tones or indications of over stimulation of the uterus during the early stages of labor then the fetal environment can become threatening and very dangerous. When the fetus is endangered the risk of neurological damage, asphyxiation, and other birth injuries increases.

Continue reading "Birth Injuries Are Devastating to Children and Parents" »

This year New Orleans was the host city for the American Association for Justice’s mid-year meeting. Illinois attorney Robert Kreisman, a civil justice attorney, attended the seminars and the birth trauma litigation group’s day long event on Monday, February 9, 2009.

Attorneys practicing civil justice traveled from all over the United States to attend the meetings. Different seminars were available each day from Saturday, February 7 through Wednesday, February 11, 2009. At the birth trauma litigation group’s full day seminar, attendees were treated to new developments in electronic fetal monitoring tracing and other issues in medicine, nursing, and hospital practices.

Additionally, the AAJ conference featured a session with a emergency department physician speaking about sepsis, pneumonia, strokes and other potential medical malpractice issues in the emergency department.

All of the speakers, medical professionals and colleagues provided insight and valuable new information to keep up to date on medical legal practices.

Continue reading "Chicago Attorney Robert Kreisman Attends a Civil Justice Conference" »

In the many years that I have practiced medical malpractice in Cook County and Illinois, my clients have warned me that the pertinant medical records in their case had been falsified, changed, deleted or simply removed from the hospital and medical charts.

In Illinois, the “intentional destruction, mutilation, alteration or concealment of evidence” is called spoliation of evidence. If medical records were to be destroyed or altered, the Illinois Supreme Court can impose a sanction upon any party who unreasonably refuses to comply with any discovery rule or order entered pursuant to the Illinois Supreme Court Rules. The court has the power to stay the proceedings pending compliance; default the case, barring further pleading related to the issue; dismiss a claim or counterclaim related to that issue; exclude testimony related to the issue; to strike any relevant portion of the offending party’s pleadings and enter judgment on the issue; and to enter a default judgment or dismissal against the offending party.

In 1995, the Illinois Supreme Court recognized a separate cause of action for negligent spoliation of evidence. So if your medical records in a medical malpractice case were altered by the medical staff, then you could file a separate lawsuit regarding the altered evidence. And because adequate remedies for the destruction of evidence already exists under Illinois Supreme Court Rule 219, a new tort wasn't created. Instead, the Supreme Court held that an action for negligent spoliation could be brought under existing negligence law.

Continue reading "Medical Records Falsified In Birth Injury Case" »

Erb’s palsy is a injury to a child's brachial plexus nerves caused by an abnormal or difficult child birth. The brachial plexus is a cluster of nerves in your neck that control all arm movements. Erb’s palsy can be caused by excessive pulling on the shoulders of the infant by the medical staff during delivery. The resulting paralysis affecting the movement of the child's shoulders, arms or hands can be partial or complete. And while sometimes the paralysis can resolve on its own, it could also necessitate physical therapy or surgery.

In a recent Illinois case, baby Tanisha Ruffin’s shoulder became impacted on her mother’s pelvic bone during delivery, which put stress on Tanisha's shoulders. In order to free up her shoulders from her mother’s pelvic bone, the defendant obstetrician testified that he used a vacuum extractor cup and a gentle traction on the baby’s head to manipulate her out. Nonetheless, Tanisha was born with Erb’s palsy because of the damage to the brachial plexus nerve network in her shoulder area.

The big issue at trial was whether the Illinois birth injury was caused by excessive traction with the extractor cup, or by the natural propulsive forces of labor.

Continue reading "Illinois Erb's Palsy Medical Malpractice Case Turns on Engineering Expert's Testimony" »

A Cook County jury verdict was entered in favor of the University of Chicago Hospitals in a 2005 trial and was upheld on appeal to the Illinois Appellate Court (Kashief Weathers et al. v. University of Chicago Hospitals, et al., No. 1-061726). In the case, several doctors were accused of causing brain damage to an infant born with his umbilical cord wrapped around his neck. The plaintiff child now suffers from cerebral palsy and severe brain damage.

The baby's mother brought an Illinois birth injury malpractice claim against University of Chicago Hospital alleging that defendant doctors failed to relieve the trauma caused by his umbilical cord during his birth in October 1988. There were also allegations that the doctors didn't timely treat the baby's seizures after his birth.

The plaintiffs’ obstetric expert testified that the defendant doctors deviated from the standard of care by not performing a cesarean section, which would have sped up the delivery. The expert felt that a quick delivery could have changed the child's outcome because the brain damage likely occurred at some time during labor.

But the defense expert, a pediatric neurologist, disagreed. He felt that a cesarean section would not have made a difference because in his opinion the baby was injured at least one day prior to his birth. So by the time his mother was in labor there was nothing the doctors could have done to alter his outcome.

The trial jury sided with the defense and entered a verdict in favor of the University of Chicago Hospitals. The plaintiff brought the case for appeal on several counts.

Continue reading "Illinois Appellate Court Upholds Verdict Over Expert Qualifications" »