Illinois Personal Injury Lawyer Blog

The leading cause of death for Americans under the age of 44 used to be disease. Thanks to modern medicine, that's no longer the case. The leading cause of deaths in Americans under 44 years of age: accidents. And it's accidental poisonings that have increased the most.

Since 2003, more people have died from accidental poisoning (except for those killed in motor vehicle accidents) than any other form of unintentional death. More Americans between the ages of 35-60 are killed from accidental poisoning than from motor vehicle accidents. The gap narrows every year. In Massachusetts, the leading cause of unintentional deaths in 2005 was accidental poisoning.

The Center for Disease Control sites prescription drugs as the leading cause of accidental poisoning. "The combined evidence seems to indicated that the increase in poisoning mortality is primarily among adults (20-64) of both sexes, and is mainly attributable to abuse of opioid analgesics," says the CDC report.

As alarming as the poisoning epidemic is, falls, suffocation, drowning and car accidents are all on the list of the leading causes of accidental deaths.

Forbes.com and the National Safety Council, ranked US cities by per-capita rates of accidental death for the 10 leading causes of unintentional death in 2004. With 2004 being the most recent date available. the rates for accidental deaths does not change substantially from year to year. However, deaths from accidental poisonings have increased so much that Forbes.com used a limited amount of data available from 2006 rather than using the 2004 which was dated.

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On May 8, 2006, Alinda Rust filed a lawsuit in Madison County Circuit Court, against VIP Manor In Wood River, Illinois alleging medical malpractice in the care of her mother, Viola Baehler. According to the lawsuit, Baehler suffered from dehydration, malnutrition and sepsis. Baehler was aresident at VIP Manor from May 12, 2004 up until her death on Sept 20, 2004.

Madison County's rule on mandatory mediation in medical malpractice cases was instrumental in the two sides reacing a settlement and avoiding a lengthy trial. The Illinois Supreme Court approved the rule in June of 2007 and the rule was implemented in September 2007. Madison County was the first in Illinois counties, to make mediation mandatory in medical malpractice cases.

The rule is unique in that it allows for the parties to choose between a judge or lawyer to act as mediators in the their case. The rule also sets restrictions on motions to dismiss involving certificates of merit.

On February 7, Madison County Chief Judge Ann Callis assigned the case to Associate Judge Ralph Mendelsohn to mediate.

If the two sides were unable to reach a compromise during the mediation, a jury trial would have started October 14. The terms of the settlement were sealed and and disclosed.

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Posted In: Medical Malpractice

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Josh Villa, 29, was in a coma for more than a year as a result of a traumatic brain injury. Doctors felt that nothing more could be done to awaken him. As a last resort, doctors enrolled Mr. Villa in a six week study in which an electromagnetic coil was used to stimulate his brain tissue. The coil was held over the front of his head.

In the beginning there was very liitle change in Mr. Villa's condition. After undergoing 15 sessions, he began to show improvement. The coil, was used to exite brains cells in the right pre-frontal dorsolateral cortex. This part of the brain is strongly connected to the brain stem. The brain stem sends out uplses to the rest of the brain that tell it to pay attention.

Mr. Villa, for now, is being care for at his home. He is speaking simple words. Hs mother, Laurie McAndrews of Rockford, Illinos who has been taking care of him, says "You started talking to him and he would turn his head and look at you. That was huge."

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Posted In: Traumatic Brain Injury

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An 18 year old west suburban teenager was allowed to operate commuter trains carrying passengers and boasted about it on MySpace. The incidents occurred numerous times and the teen posted picture images of himself operating the train on Flickr, an image and video hosting site. Someone contacted Metra after seeing the images on MySpace.

Three Metra engineers have been suspended for allegedly allowing the teen to enter the cab of the locomotive. An investigative hearing is set for early next month. Officials would not comment on what action would be taken if the engineers were found guilty.

Judy Pardonnet said that Metra is taking the allegations very seriously. “We have met with union officials and told them that we expect them to respond appropriately if these allegations are substantiated.

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On Tuesday, the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) announced a recall of 1.6 million cribs made by Delta Enterprise. The recall covered the Delta drop-side cribs sold in the US between 1995 to 2007.

The cribs resulted in the deaths of two 8 month old infants. The drop side detached from the frame creating a gap. The children fell through the gap, got stuck and suffocated.

The CPSC, recognizing that the current system of voluntary setting safety standards, has not been successful, is now pushing to establish tougher standards for the manufacturing of the cribs and other children’s products.

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A civil lawsuit was filed last month in Cook County against the county seeking damages for the family of Nicholas Grossi, 25, of Addision, who committed suicide in the Cook County jail. Grossi who had a little more than a week left in the facility, tied his bed sheet to the top bunk and tied the other end around his neck, then sat on the floor, obstructing his airway and taking his own life.

Grossi's family says that Grossi suffered from clinical depression, and was taking Xanax prior to his arrest. Grossi who was serving a two week sentence on drug charges, was not allowed by Cook County jail officials to take his medications. Grossi's family contacted officials on Dec. 31, 2007 telling them that Grossi needed his medication. Grossi was found dead less than 24 hours later

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Posted In: General Personal Injury

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A Chicago woman shopping at a local toy store was injured when a box fell of a shelf landing on her head. She sustained neck injuries which required physical therapy. The toy store’s insurance company refused to settle and a lawsuit was filed against the toy store.

At trial it was proven that the employee of the store was negligent in stacking the merchandise onto the store shelves. The improperly stacked shelf caused the merchandise to fall and hit the woman in the head.

The woman was awarded $20,0000 for her injuries.

Donald W. Fohrman & Associates, Ltd. was the attorney for the injury victim.

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The 2008 Hospital Professional Liability and Physician Liability Benchmark Analysis was released on Monday. Their findings: that one out of six medical malpractice liability claims against health care entities result from infections, injuries and other conditions which are acquired at the hospital.

The study was conducted jointly by Aon Corp and the American Society for Healthcare Risk Management, both based in Chicago. It is intended to provide health care risk managers with a better understanding of the cost of risk compared to an industry benchmark. Hospital acquired illnesses were included in the study for the first time this year. The goal is to establish a benchmark for future liability costs for such ailments to which they can be compared.

Aon said in a statement that health care organizations can look at trends in frequency, severity and total loss cost to help better manage their liability concerns.

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Posted In: Medical Malpractice

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Phillip Seaton, 61, scheduled a circumcision to treat inflammation. However, when he awoke from the procedure, Seaton discovered that his physician, Dr. John M. Patterson, had, without consent, removed his penis.

The doctor's post surgical notes indicate that the doctor thought he detected cancer. Later tests revealed that Mr. Seaton did not, in fact, have cancer.

Philip Seaton and his wife have filed a medical malpractice case seeking compensation for "loss of service, love and affection." The amount of compensation they are seeking was unspecified.

Their attorney, Kevin George said, "It was not an emergency. It didn't have to happen that way.

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Posted In: Medical Malpractice

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The Woodstock Residence in McHenry County was fined nearly $360,000 at which five suspicious deaths were being investigated. Illinois Department of Publich Health regulators investigating the deaths said that improper use of drugs like morphine sulfated contributed to the deaths.

The regulators alleged that an employee prepared drug cocktails and administered them to residents so as not be bothered during her shift. Marty Himebaugh, 57 allegedly told a co-worker in reference to a patient,"She won't make it through the day. I made sure of that," accoring to a 130-age report. The employees are not mentioned by name in the report instead using codes and including a separate staff "identity key"

On Oct 31, 2006, Himebaugh a licensed practical nurse was fied from the Woodstock Residence. The Illinois State Police, who were investigating the deaths, made the suggestion to her superiors.

Penny Whitlock, 59, the former director of nursing, along with Himebaugh, was indicted in April on criminal charges for endangering the lives of the residents at Woodstock Residence.

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Posted In: Nursing Home Abuse

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A Rockford Illinois who slipped and fell at a flower and plant shop has reached a settlement in her case for $22,500.

The woman was shopping for outdoor plants was leaving the store when she tripped and fell on a concrete step in between the indoor and outdoor portions of the store. Her attorneys, Donald W. Fohrman & Associates, Ltd., argued that the area where our client fell was not adequately illuminated and therefore the client did not see the step down to the outside portion of the store. The insurance company denied liability. A lawsuit was subsequently filed on the client’s behalf.

The suffered a fractured wrist. She underwent medical treatment for the fracture which included immobilization and a cast. She ultimately healed and the cast was removed.

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The State of Illinois cracked down on motorists caught speeding by high-tech photo enforcement in construction zones along the state’s highways.

A recent Chicago Tribune analysis of court records reports that not one single motorist caught speeding through construction zones has been convicted. The majority of offenders’ charges were dismissed or drastically reduced to a regular speeding ticket with much smaller fines and penalties. A conviction of a motorist speeding through construction zones carries a hefty fine as well as increased court costs.

The minimum fine of speeding through a construction zone is $375.00 Priscilla Tobias, safety engineer with the Illinois Department of Transportation states that the concept of the high fine would promote voluntary compliance with the 45 mph speed limit through construction work zones.

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Motions in a medical malpractice case against a plastic surgeon were decided on by Judge Andy Matoesian today. The motion were filed by Attorney Bob Perica of Wood River asking the courts to prevent testimonty as to the petitioner’s receipt of public aid and to ban any referance to his client’s wealth or poverty.

Zang, of Witt, IL., has accused Dr. R. Craig McKee Medical Malpractic by negligently peforming a breast reduction surgery and violating the standard of while performing a bilateral reduction.

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Posted In: Medical Malpractice

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