Illinois Car Crash and Medical Malpractice Combo Case Settles for $1.9 Million - Khourny v. Sarmed Elias, M.D., et al.
Many people's circumstances never require them to file one lawsuit, let alone two. Yet within the span of four months Jihan Khourny was injured on two different occasions, leading to her filing two different, but related lawsuits - one being an Illinois personal injury lawsuit, the other an Illinois medical malpractice lawsuit. Both cases recently settled for a combination of $1.9 million. Khourny v. Sarmed Elias, M.D., et al., No. 07 L 3871.
The personal injury claim arose from a car crash that occurred in Elgin, Illinois. Khourny was driving along Route 31 when she was hit by another car. The Illinois car accident lawsuit was brought against the driver of the other vehicle and settled for $100,000. The plaintiff was claiming property damage to her vehicle and a neck injury as a result of the car accident.
Shortly after the accident Khourny began seeking medical treatment for her neck injury. Her doctor recommended she try cortisone injections as part of her treatment plan. Cortisone injections are typically given to relieve inflammation and pain and are used for a wide variety of complaints, including arthritis, tendinitis, and carpal tunnel syndrome.
The healthy, young mother of two presented for the 
Calles involves the death of Jillian Calles, a three year-old girl who suffered smoke inhalation as a result of a fire her twin sister caused. The twin was playing with a butane lighter when she accidentally started the fire. The 
Burandt is an 
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, 
A recent settlement of an Illinois woman illustrates this point. The Cook County resident filed an 
The minor plaintiff was eight months-old at the time the 
This decision essentially states that the Illinois legislators interfered with a jury's right to determine the amount of economic damages in 
A recent 
Decedent Patricia Quirk was diagnosed with stage three endometrial cancer and received all of her radiation treatments at 
The facts of the case begin when the decedent presented to an otolaryngologist complaining of a severe nose bleed for six days straight. On examination, it was found that the decedent had a 5-millimeter opening to the airway on the right side with severe scarring and a polyp on the anterior part of his right nose. The bleeding was stopped by the doctor through cauterization and the decedent was advised to get a CT scan and referred to another doctor with more expertise. 
This case is an unfortunate example of the way that a series of seemingly minor delays and mistakes can lead to disastrous outcomes. The boy was born with a congenital heart defect and had a shunt placed just two days after his birth in an attempt to correct this defect. However, this proved inadequate and two weeks later the baby returned to the emergency room, at which time an echocardiogram suggested that the shunt was partially blocked.
This concept is illustrated by a recent 
According to the mother's statement, she waited for more than two hours in the obstetrical waiting area at 
This particular 
What was particularly interesting about the case was that the delivery was actually a 
The decedent's estate alleged that the Chicago emergency room nurses failed to appropriately triage the patient as “urgent” and to properly monitor her deteriorating physical condition, which it alleged was 
The plaintiff's, Kevin Cummings, original 
As early as 1991 the woman underwent a breast biopsy after her left breast showed an area of calcification. While that biopsy returned benign, i.e. non-cancerous results, the results did show atypical ductal hyperplasia. Furthermore, the woman was at an increased risk for developing cancer due to a family history of cancer. 
The decedent had undergone regular annual exams with his internist, which each year included an electrocardiogram (EKG) that was performed by the internist. EKGs are typically used to analyze a patient's heart rhythm and identify any abnormalities. The internist interpreted all of the decedent's EKGs from 1998 to 2002 to be normal. 
The mother arrived at 
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 
In the complaint, the decedent's estate claimed that the medical providers had failed to recognize a leak at the surgical site in a timely manner, and that this failure constituted 
The Chicago lawsuit claimed that the hospital's nursing staff discharged the patient despite her continued symptoms of nausea, severe abdominal pain, and faintness following surgery to treat her endometriosis. The woman returned to the hospital within less than 24 hours after her discharge, this time with complaints of extreme pain. She was prescribed an antibiotic, but it was not actually administered to her until 8 hours after it was ordered. Furthermore, the cause of her severe pain was not discovered for over 18 hours after she returned to the emergency room, depleting even more crucial hours in this woman's care. 
In the case of brain aneurysms any delay in diagnosis can bring dire consequences and is often the difference between life and death. Therefore it is imperative that 
The child is now four and has sustained permanent injuries, including cognitive visual impairment and 
One suggestion is to come to your doctor's appointment prepared, which means writing down any medical questions or concerns you may have. This will ensure that you don't leave the doctor's office and later remember you wanted to know if you should be concerned about the new mark on your upper arm, or if your frequent headaches should be addressed. 
The case involved a 13 year-old girl who had presented to her physician with sinusitis, which the physician failed to diagnose. Following the bench trial, Judge Dow concluded that had the sinusitis been diagnosed that it probably would not have developed into bacterial meningitis, which would have increased her chance of survival. 
The plaintiff presented to the Victory Memorial Hospital ER complaining of headaches, pain in her left ear, congestion, a sense of dizziness when turning her head, nausea, and occasional double vision. Upon her arrival she informed the ER nurse that she had a medical history of sinusitis, was allergic to penicillin, and had previously been smoking about 2 ½ packs of cigarettes a day.
EFM has been used in the labor and delivery setting since the early 1970s. Essentially the EFM monitors the fetal heart rate and reproduces the fetal heart tracings on both a screen and paper to enable the medical staff to determine when a baby is distressed. The readings are ultimately used to determine if the baby needs to be delivered surgically by Cesarean section or can be delivered vaginally. 
The patient sued both the surgeon individually and the hospital where the procedure was performed. However, after the hospital settled out of court the surgeon requested summary judgment based on his opinion that he had satisfied the standard of care by relying on information he received from the nurses. After a surgical procedure the circulating nurse and scrub nurse are responsible for accounting for all surgical materials. In this case they had told the surgeon that the sponges were all accounted for, at which point the surgeon proceeded to stitch the patient up. 
Ms. Strong filed a Florida medical malpractice lawsuit against various physicians whom she alleged caused her injuries and resulting amputations. The physicians all seemed to agree that there were profound medical errors that caused Ms. Strong's injuries, but apportioned blame on each other.
Starting in the 1990s insurance companies began taking advantage of baby boomers by scooping up thousands of individual long-term care insurance policies. It seems that the expectation by the insurance companies was that the buyers would eventually give up paying the annual premiums and close out the files by taking the collected premium. 
I remember the first conversation I had with the decedent's husband, which took place shortly after her sudden death. During that conversation we discussed whether or not an autopsy should have been ordered. In my opinion whenever the cause of death seems unclear or suspicious it is wise to have an autopsy performed. However, in this case the woman's surviving family members opted not to get an autopsy done. 
Because of the confusion that exists around who treating physicians and staff are actually working for, 
In 2007, Illinois passed two pieces of legislation regarding the control of hospital-acquired infections, which were 
In 2003, the resident, Dorothy Lawrence, began living at Beverly Manor Nursing Home in St. Joseph, Missouri. At the time Lawrence's daughter, Phyllis Skoglund, had power of attorney for her mother and signed the contract with the nursing home on behalf of the resident. 
Early diagnosis is key in fighting all types of cancer, including cervical cancer. In fact, the most common pitfall doctors fall into regarding patients with cancer is 
Studies have revealed that the link between Fleet Phospho-Soda and these side affects could be the result of calcium phosphate tubules that form in a kidney, which can lead to acute renal failure. 
The mother in this 
In most cases the symptoms of preeclampsia disappear soon after delivery, so most women never have to think about it again. But in light of recent research findings women with a history of preeclampsia might need to think about it after all.
Since that ruling, judges nationwide have applied the Supreme Court decision to a wide range of cases where manufacturers was being sued. The most recent dismissal was just last week by the Wisconsin Supreme Court. 
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. 
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. 
In a split decision, the 
The key issue in the case was whether or not the the patient had reported symptoms that would have matched a diagnosis of acute lymphoblastic leukemia, which wasn’t diagnosed until hours before his death. 
some 220,000 former patients informing them that they might qualify for the vouchers. The value of each voucher to be awarded will be determined on an individual basis and depend on payments that the uninsured patient made to the hospitals. In order to be considered for a voucher, a patient must have paid some or all of at least a $500 medical bill during a one year period from September 2001 to September 2008. 
In 
Perhaps even more alarming is that at least half of these dangerous interactions involve the use of over-the-counter medications, such as aspirin or dietary supplements. According to the study, one in 25 older adults are at risk for serious drug interactions, the study has found. And for men ages 75 and 85, the risk is as high as 1 and 10. 
For example, let's say that a Chicago patient has known allergies to certain medications which his or her physician has prescribed. The nurse has a duty to be aware of these allergies and inform the physician. If the nurse does not inform the attending physician that the patient should not be receiving these medications then he or she is acting below the standard of nursing care. This is just one example of how a nurse can fail to perform his or her duties. 
Dr. Roozrokh, the transplant surgeon, was found not guilty of a felony count of abuse of a dependent adult. Two other charges for administering harmful substances and unlawful prescription medicines had both been dropped last spring.
Lebron is appealed directly from the Cook County Circuit Court following a decision by Circuit Court Judge Diane J. Larsen that caps on damages were unconstitutional. These caps were enacted as part of an amendment to the Medical Malpractice Act. The caps dealt specifically with non-economic damages and imposed a legal limit of $500,000 for physicians and healthcare professionals, whereas the cap for hospitals is $1 million. 
The issue in Longnecker was whether Loyola University Medical Center was negligent when they transplanted the decedent with a severely hypertrophic replacement heart. The harvested heart was severely diseased and was only considered for transplantation because the harvesting doctors did not examine it. Despite the diseased state of the new heart, the decedent's heart surgeon went ahead with the transplant. The decedent died without ever waking up from the surgery. 
The majority of newly approved medical devices undergo a 501(k) review. Under this review process the manufacturer needs to prove that their device is substantially similar to another device that has already been approved for the market. Once they have done that, the manufacturer just needs to show that the device does what it claims. Yet in the field of medicine, just performing a function is different than guaranteeing the supposed outcome. 
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 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. 
In one of our cases, a treating radiologist viewing an MRI scan noted certain changes in her lumbar spine. But later, this same patient was re-examined by another orthopedic surgeon who ordered new scans. And this time around the radiology report found none of those subtle changes. The meaning of all of that is that the treatment plan laid out by our client's first treating physician relied on scans that were flawed. The images seen were different on the second set of MRI scans.
Making the decision to entrust an elderly relative to receiving care at a nursing home is a hard one. Laws like the Illinois Nursing Home Care Act seek to alleviate some of the anxiety of the nursing home decision by addressing concerns of inadequate, improper and degrading treatment of patients in nursing homes. The Act provides residents with a wide range of rights, including the retention of a person’s own personal physician at their own expense. Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley, then a State Senator for the 23rd District, was one of the chief sponsors of the Act when it was passed in 1979. 
However, too often we hear about nursing home residents with Alzheimer's who receive substandard care and come to harm because of a lack of understanding regarding their disease. Take for example the case of 87 year-old Melanie, a nursing home resident suffering from the Alzheimer’s disease. One day she became increasingly aggressive and the employees called for nursing assistance to assess the situation. But no one answered the repeated calls for assistance over the next several hours. 
In March 1998 Gil underwent surgical repair of a rectal prolapse. When his condition worsened after the unsuccessful surgery Gil sought medical aid from a physician's assistant at his prison. But the physician assistant refused to give Gil medical attention, stating he was abusing the facility's emergency care. 
The baby's mother brought an 
For example, if a patient presents with a persistent cough but isn't sure for how long this makes a large difference in the initial work-up by the physician. A cough is not a red flag for a serious, life-threatening disease and oftentimes is indicative of nothing more than a common cold. However, when combined with other factors, such as a history of smoking, recent unexplained weight loss, or bloody phlegm, it can be a clue to a more serious problem.
A Lake County, Illinois circuit court presided over Muno v. Condell Medical Center, et al., (No. 2-06-0587), a medical negligence case where a minor died after the planned surgery failed with respect to the anesthesiology provided. In this case, the anesthesiologist and his group decided not to bill the family after this child died during surgery. When the family brought suit against the anesthesiologist for his 
