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By Hurley, McKenna & Mertz

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Last Entry: November 08, 2009 at 18:52:58

Nursing Home Doctors are untouched even as facilities are cited

Posted on November 08, 2009
Hurley, McKenna & Mertz of Chicago handles cases against doctors and nursing homes for abuse, neglect, and wrongful deaths that occur in these facilities. The following story discusses one of the most serious recurring problems plaguing nursing home care ? the fact that even when facilities are cited, doctors remain fully licensed and undisciplined...

Substandard Medical Care: More is not always better

Posted on November 02, 2009
Hurley, McKenna & Mertz of Chicago represents many clients that have been harmed by substandard medical care, focusing primarily in nursing home, obstetrics and gynecology, and wrongful death cases. As medical malpractice lawyers, we find the issue of substandard medical care to be a critically important societal issue...

Giving babies Tylenol may blunt vaccines' effects

Posted on October 26, 2009
Marilynn Marchione reports on surprising new research that suggest, ?Giving babies Tylenol to prevent fever when they get childhood vaccinations may backfire and make the shots a little less effective? (AP for FinLaw, 10/16). The new research, which only studied the use of Tylenol to prevent fever, not its effect in reducing a fever, is the first substantial study about the potential link between the use of fever-reducing medicines and reduced immunity...

Nursing home dangers: Illinois Attorney General demands Reforms

Posted on October 19, 2009
The Chicago Tribune reported attorney general Lisa Madigan called for nursing home reform in Illinois and instructed nursing homes to ?beef up inspections and improve record keeping of criminal activity,? in order to protect elderly and disabled citizens from mentally ill felons who live in the same facilities (David Jackson and Gary Marx, 10/8)...

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FDA tells doctors new heparin formula less potent

Posted on October 11, 2009
The Food and Drug Administration is ?alerting doctors that a widely-used blood thinner has been reformulated to improve its safety, though the change could open the door to dosing errors? (AP for FindLaw, 10/1). The FDA is alerting doctors about the change in potency so they will be aware that patients may need higher dosages to achieve the same effect...

FDA approved device despite problems during review

Posted on September 28, 2009
As a medical malpractice lawyer, I am concerned by the following story. The FDA, as the chief regulatory agency for new medical devices, has a duty to make sure the devices are as safe as possible, and it is crucial, therefore, that the review process is untainted...

45,000 deaths per year are associated with lack of Health Insurance

Posted on September 27, 2009
As a medical malpractice lawyer, I am very disheartened by the following story, which illustrates the major affect that health insurance has on health outcomes and the health care system in general. Madison part reports for CNN, ?a freelance cameraman's appendix ruptured and by the time he was admitted to surgery, it was too late...

Health care issues: Medical malpractice lawsuits

Posted on September 21, 2009
A recent article broke down the key issues in the health care debate and supported assertions with nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office Data (AP for FindLaw, 9/10). As a medical malpractice lawyer, I am pleased to see the use of unbiased data to explain realistic conclusions...

Columnists oppose tort reform.

Posted on September 14, 2009
With the recent press about health care reform, the issue of tort reform is once again at the forefront. As a medical malpractice lawyer, I want to expel the incorrect notion that litigation is the primary cause of the rising cost in health care. Several columns around the country have addressed this issue, and a few were summarized in a recent AAJ news brief...

FDA: Problems with Genzyme study of Leukemia Drug

Posted on September 08, 2009
The AP reports (8/28, FindLaw) ?Federal regulators are questioning whether Genzyme?s leukemia drug should be approved for older patients based on limited studies conducted by the biotech drug maker.? Genzyme has asked the FDA to approve the drug Colar for use by adults who are over 60 years of age, but are not healthy enough to undergo chemotherapy...

Study: Ibuprofen is best for kids with broken arms

Posted on August 28, 2009
As a medical malpractice lawyer in Chicago, I am intrigued by the following story. Most generic medicines are tested on adults, but may have very different effects in children or elderly patients, so it is important to consider how bodies of drastically different ages may respond to the same medicines...

6 more cases of botched cancer treatment at Pa. VA

Posted on August 28, 2009
The AP reports, ?six more cases have been found of cancer patients being given incorrect radiation doses at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Philadelphia? (FindLaw News citing to the Philadelphia Inquirer, 8/18). These errors occurred during a common surgical procedure to treat prostate cancer...

Suit alleges medical device used to treat pelvic organ prolapse caused injury, deformity.

Posted on August 17, 2009
As a medical malpractice lawyer, I am upset by the following story and believe that this is just another example of why medical device safety needs to be evaluated more thoroughly. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (7/31, Poole) reports, several plaintiffs are "suing the maker of a medical device used to treat pelvic organ prolapse, alleging the product caused them serious injury...

Process of getting informed consent seen as "haphazard at best."

Posted on August 17, 2009
As a medical malpractice lawyer, I am disappointed that many young doctors are not being trained to obtain adequate informed consent. Informed consent is a necessary part of every medical procedure, and every patient should make sure they are aware of the potential benefits and risks of any procedure...

WI court: Doctors must tell patients all options

Posted on July 30, 2009
As a medical malpractice lawyer, I am pleased with the recent Wisconsin Supreme Court decision. The standard of care should require a physician to disclose all the treatment and diagnostic options, especially before sending a patient home from the emergency room...

Former Umpire seeks accountability for Failed Hip Replacement

Posted on July 30, 2009
Mark Hirschbeck ?had his dream job as a Major League Baseball umpire and reached a career high with the 2001 World Series, but he says what started as a routine hip replacement surgery cost him his career and has led to years of pain? (New Haven Register, Sullo 7/21)...

When Caregivers Harm: Problem Nurses Stay on the Job as Patients Suffer

Posted on July 24, 2009
As a medical malpractice lawyer, I find the following story extremely disturbing. In my opinion, the California Nursing Board is clearly not doing its job protecting hospital patients from bad nurses. Especially since people generally have no choice in their nurse and no way of knowing the nurse?s past disciplinary history, the Nursing Board plays a critical role in protecting these people...

$148,000 claim for preauthorized back surgery initially denied

Posted on July 24, 2009
John Yates reports for the Chicago Tribune, ?Michael Napientek of Clarendon Hills was in excruciating pain and needed back surgery. His wife has worked in the healthcare field for 30 years and thought she knew how to navigate the insurance bureaucracy...

Colorado: Surgery Tech suspected of exposing 5,700 to Hepatitis C

Posted on July 16, 2009
The Colorado Spring Gazette (7/2) reports, ?Federal officials Thursday warned that about 5,700 surgery patients, including 1,000 at a Colorado Springs surgery center, are at risk of having been infected by an operating room technician with hepatitis C,? because the surgery tech admitted to swapping her dirty syringes filled with saline for syringes filled with Feltanyl, a narcotic that is 100 times stronger than morphine...

Elderly Patients: The Patients Doctors Don?t Know

Posted on July 16, 2009
Rosanne M. Leipsig, a physician and professor of Medicine at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, published an article in the New York Times (7/1) commenting on the fact that ?American medical schools require no training in geriatric medicine,? even though elderly patients make up a substantial component of all patients for which graduating doctors will care...

Illinois Lasik doctor still practicing despite wealth of lawsuits

Posted on July 10, 2009
Hurley, McKenna & Mertz settles many medical malpractice cases each year. The following situation is upsetting, in my opinion, because Chicago area ophthalmologist, Dr. Nicholas Caro, is still practicing despite upwards of 50 medical malpractice suits and a year-old recommendation from the Illinois chief medical prosecutor that the Lasik surgeon have his license revoked (Chicago Tribune, Shelton 7/6)...

Brooklyn hospital staff falsified records to hide neglect

Posted on July 07, 2009
The Washington Post reports (AP, 6/20), ?staff members at a Brooklyn hospital falsified medical records and lied to authorities in an attempt to cover up the neglect of a patient who died on the waiting room floor.? Esmin Green, age 49, suffered for almost 24 hours in a psychiatric emergency room at the Kings County Hospital in Brooklyn, New York before collapsing from a blood clot...

FDA seizes generic drugs at Michigan facilities and calls on experts to discuss how to limit liver injury in patients who take acetaminophen

Posted on July 01, 2009
As a personal injury lawyer, I am pleased to see that the FDA has been proactive in considering health hazards from generic drugs. Consider two recent instances where the FDA has both seized drugs for violating manufacturing standards and called for a panel of experts to scrutinize the link between acetaminophen and liver injury...

University of Wisconsin requires physicians to divulge outside income

Posted on June 29, 2009
The impact that drug and medical device companies may have on physician treatment decisions is a cause for concern. Creating incentives for physicians to use a certain company?s devices or drugs may jeopardize patient care. As a medical malpractice lawyer in Chicago, I support the University of Wisconsin policy that requires physicians to divulge outside income...

Massachusetts General residents doctors not getting enough sleep

Posted on June 23, 2009
As a Chicago medical malpractice lawyer, I support restrictions on the hours that residents can work. Resident doctors need to be well rested in order to learn and adequately perform complicated surgical procedures, and consequences of overworking residents could be fatal for patients...

"Rogue" VA cancer unit reportedly botched 92 of 116 procedures

Posted on June 23, 2009
At Hurley, McKenna, & Mertz, we have argued many cases of institutional negligence. Institutional negligence occurs when a hospital, nursing home, ?surgicenter? or other health care facility violates its independent duty to act reasonably in providing care to patients, and in supervising the provision of that care in the facility, resulting in injury to a patient...

Medical device maker accused of improper marketing

Posted on June 18, 2009
The New York Times (6/16) reports ?a medical device maker, Synthes Inc., and four of its executives were indicted Tuesday on federal charges that they improperly promoted a bone filler for purposes not approved by the Food and Drug Administration including encouraging its use in what prosecutors called ?unauthorized? human trials...

AAJ Response to President Obama?s Comments at the AMA

Posted on June 16, 2009
American Association for Justice President Les Weisbrod issued a statement following President Obama?s comments (6/15). Mr. Weisbrod agreed that ?it?s clear America?s health care system is in crisis. Over 40 million people are without health insurance and costs are skyrocketing...

Illinois Attorney General sues Crestwood for lying over tainted water

Posted on June 11, 2009
The Chicago Tribune (6/10, Hawthorne) reports that Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan ?filed a civil lawsuit Tuesday that accuses Crestwood officials of lying more than 120 times about their secret use of a [Chicago area] community well contaminated with cancer-causing chemicals...

Study shows that growth in Medical Malpractice claims is exaggerated

Posted on June 09, 2009
A blog on the New York Times (6/6) website discusses the different points of view on the medical malpractice ?crisis?. Jeremy Peters wrote, "For years?health care lobbyists have argued that the exceedingly high cost of medical malpractice insurance was a result of a runaway legal system that allowed juries to award huge judgments to victims of doctors' mistakes...

Questions about new Hip Resurfacing Procedure attract attention

Posted on June 05, 2009
In 2006, the hip resurfacing procedure became available in the United States. Since that time, some physicians have aggressively promoted the procedure because it supposedly allows for better and quicker return to normal activities and should last longer than the 15-20 year life span of normal hip replacements...

FDA tobacco regulation legislation to reach Senate floor Tuesday

Posted on June 04, 2009
CQ Today (6/2, Armstrong) reports that Senate legislation authorizing the FDA to regulate tobacco (HR 1256) "will come to the Senate floor Tuesday, after two committee chairmen persuaded Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) to cancel a Tuesday cloture vote on a railroad antitrust bill (S 146) that was the only item on the calendar ahead of the tobacco bill...

Illinois Court Issues Landmark Wrongful Birth Decision; Allows Parents to Seek Damages for Negligent Infliction of Emotional Distress and Lifetime Medical Expenses

Posted on April 22, 2009
Today the Illinois Appellate Court held for the first time that under Illinois law, the parents of a disabled child in a ?wrongful birth? case can recover damages for the costs of caring for the child after he reaches the age of majority. The previous Illinois Supreme Court decision which first recognized a claim for wrongful birth, Siemieniec v...

ER Patient Neglected in Chicago

Posted on March 31, 2009
Medicare threatens to revoke University of Chicago Medical Center's certification after patient's death. The AP (3/28, Robinson) reported, "Medicare officials are threatening to take away the University of Chicago Medical Center's certification after the death of a man who sat in the emergency room for hours without being logged in, a center spokesman said...

Facilitated Communication - Discredited by the American Psychological Association

Posted on January 23, 2009
Resolution on Facilitated Communication by the American Psychological Association Adopted in Council, August 14, 1994, Los Angeles, CA Facilitated communication (FC) has been widely adopted throughout North America in special/vocational education services for individuals with developmental disabilities who are nonverbal...

Dr. Sanjay Gupta is not the right choice for Surgeon General

Posted on January 23, 2009
As soon as I saw that Dr. Sanjay Gupta was being considered for Surgeon General I was both surprised and dismayed. Dr. Gupta has actively supported facilitated communication (FC) as a valid means of helping autistic people communicate. FC has been thoroughly discredited by the scientific community, a fact which Dr...

Electronic health records may help reduce malpractice suits

Posted on December 24, 2008
The November 24 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine discusses a new study that suggests that the use of electronic health records (EHRs) may help reduce paid malpractice settlements for physicians. An abstract of the article can be found

Hospital infection lawsuits on the rise

Posted on December 17, 2008
Hospital infections are on the rise and so are lawsuits that claim medical malpractice caused the infections.

Growing Sense of Outrage Over Executive Pay

Posted on November 23, 2008
Finally, it appears that Wall Street executives are getting what they deserve.

Patient sues Chicago Hospital, doctor for contracting HIV and hepatitis from infected kidney donor

Posted on November 21, 2008
A Chicago transplant patient filed a medical negligence suit this week against the University of Chicago Medical Center and one of its surgeons, alleging that she contracted HIV and hepatitis C after receiving a kidney from an infected donor.

Minority Trauma Victims More Likely To Die Than Whites

Posted on November 17, 2008

Failure to perform timely PSA tests leads parties to settle wrongful death case for $875,000

Posted on November 16, 2008
A recent wrongful case involving claims that a doctor failed to diagnose prostate cancer settled for $875,000. The decedent?s estate claimed a hospital and treating physician failed to perform annual prostate-specific antigen (PSA) testing in the two years before the diagnosis...

Hospital and Illinois Drug Company sued for Heparin overdoes

Posted on September 22, 2008
The families of two newborns who died after they were inadvertently given massive doses of heparin have sued an Indianapolis hospital and the Illinois-based company,

Does Linking Chicago Doctors? Pay to Performance Mean Better Healthcare?

Posted on September 09, 2008
Does linking Chicago doctors? pay to performance mean better healthcare? That?s essentially the question posed by Dr. Sandeep Juahar this week in the

18 California Hospitals cited for substandard care

Posted on August 27, 2008
Shaya Tayefe Mohajer of the

Supreme Court to hear arguments on Unconstitutionality of Illinois' Medical Malpractice caps

Posted on August 25, 2008
A lawsuit testing the constitutionality of Illinois' medical malpractice damage caps is expected to come before the Illinois? Supreme Court this fall. The 2005 state law limits medical malpractice awards for non-economic damages such as pain and suffering to $500,000 for doctors and $1 million for hospitals...

Medical Credit Scores unethical and illegal

Posted on August 20, 2008
Those focused on fighting hospital negligence have long been concerned that hospitals may begin to routinely consider a patient?s credit rating or ability to pay for health care when making treatment decisions. Last week in fact, in a

FDA warns that CT scans can interfere with pacemakers or defibrillator function

Posted on August 14, 2008
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a warning last month to doctors who treat patients with electronic devices such as pacemakers, cardiac defibrillators and insulin pumps. Judith Graham of the

BCBS of Illinois to Refuse to Pay for Medical Errors

Posted on August 08, 2008
A recent article in the Chicago Tribune reports that Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois will start to refuse to compensate physicians and hospitals for poor medical care that results in an injury to a patient. Previsouly, payment was expected even if there were major errors that resulted in an injury to the patient...

Hurley McKenna & Mertz Files Suit for Murder of Nursing Home Resident

Posted on June 11, 2008
Hurley McKenna & Mertz has filed a suit under the Illinois Nursing Home Care Act against Somerset Nursing Home of Chicago alleging civil violations of Illinois state law arising out of the violent murder of a resident of the nursing home. The suit alleges that the nursing home negligently permitted the resident, who was under physician orders to be supervised at all times by nursing home staff due to a history of seizures from a brain tumor, to leave the nursing home without any supervision...

Apologies can be more effective than an army of defense lawyers

Posted on May 20, 2008
University of Illinois Hospital has adopted the approach of the University of Michigan in dealing with medical errors. Rather than run from the truth doctors involved in medical malpractice are being honest with the victim and apologizing. The result has been fewer lawsuits and less cost for malpractice litigation...

Abused Boy Scouts

Posted on November 20, 2007
Today Hurley McKenna & Mertz filed suit in the Circuit Court of Winnebago County against Charles Bickerstaff, The Boy Scouts of America and the Blackhawk Council of the Boy Scouts of America. Charles Bickerstaff is a 57 man that served as an executive for the Boy Scouts of America for 33 years before he retired...

Suit filed against Boy Scouts of America and Charles Bickerstaff

Posted on November 20, 2007
Today Chicago law firm Hurley McKenna & Mertz, filed suit against Charles Bickerstaff and the Boy Scouts of America and the Black Hawk Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America for civil damages arising out of the sexual abuse of their minor client while Bickerstaff was the Senior District Executive for the Black hawk Area Council in Rockford, Illinois...

Caps on Damages Unconstitutional for Victims of Malpractice

Posted on November 16, 2007
In a victory for victims of negligent medical care in Illinois, Circuit Court of Cook County Judge Diane Larsen, ruled that caps on damages for medical malpractice are not constitutional in Illinois. The case will now proceed to the Illinois Supreme Court where the justices will address the constitutionality of the caps...

Product Liability

Posted on November 12, 2007
?The Bush administration, responding to a wave of recent food and product recalls, is set to announce today its most aggressive regulatory proposals yet on policing imports. But much of their success depends on congressional action, and some lawmakers and outside experts already contend they are inadequate...

Woman Ignored in Emergency Room Files Suit

Posted on November 12, 2007
As a Chicago medical malpractice lawyer I wish I could say that things like this never happened: ?The family of a woman who died earlier this year after collapsing on an emergency room's floor as she waited for treatment has filed a $45 million lawsuit against the county...

Boy Scout sex abuse

Posted on October 29, 2007
This story from Idaho provides an excellent example of why there should be no statute of limitations for sex abuse cases. Children fear telling the story and as in this case in Idaho when the story does get told there are forces in the community that lash out at the victims...

Medtronic Leads may be riskier for children

Posted on October 27, 2007
?The defibrillator leads pulled off the market this week by Medtronic Inc. may pose a higher risk of fracture in younger adults and children, a population for whom the devices were particularly popular in part because of their small diameter. Children make up a relatively small share of patients who receive the implanted devices...

FDA approval does not insure a the safety of a medical device

Posted on October 27, 2007
As a Chicago medical malpractice lawyer I have known for a long time that drugs and medical devices are not necessarily safe just because the FDA says so. The fact is that the FDA is full of people that either used to or want to work for the drug and medical device companies...

Medical Care on Cruises

Posted on October 27, 2007
Cruise lines seem to want it both ways. They want you to feel secure knowing there is a doctor on board but they do not want to take responsibility when the doctor is negligent. The Wall Street Journal reports: ?In October 2005, during her 37th wedding anniversary cruise aboard Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd...

Why are medical errors kept secret?

Posted on October 27, 2007
Before you check into a Chicago hospital wouldn't it be nice to see some statistics on medical errors. That information is available but not to the public. Why not? My guess is it has to do with money. Hospitals with bad safety records are afraid to lose patients and revenue if their safety records became public...

Madison County Adopts Rule Requiring Mediation

Posted on October 16, 2007
As a Chicago medical malpractice lawyer I would be happy to see a similar rule in Cook County. Too often cases that should settle do not even come close to settling until the eve of trial. Madison County has addressed this: "The Illinois Supreme Court has approved rules adopted this year by the Madison County court for handling medical malpractice cases, Chief Judge Ann Callis said Wednesday...

Insurance Companies Avoid Paying Claims

Posted on October 16, 2007
As a Chicago medical Malpractice lawyer I have long experienced insurance comapanies that do not pay their claims until they absolutely have to pay. Consider this: "We've known the insurance company game for a long time. We just didn't have any proof...

Hospital Liability Claims at 8 Year Low

Posted on October 16, 2007
"Hospitals of all sizes that that cover their primary professional liability risks through alternative risk-financing measures are keeping their claim frequency and severity rates to eight-year lows, according to a new study. The frequency of claims for the 1,000 facilities?part of 80 health care organizations?that participated in the study did not increase for the third consecutive year, reports the '2007 Hospital Professional Liability and Physician Liability Benchmark Analysis...

McDonalds Liable in Sex Abuse Case

Posted on October 16, 2007
?A jury awarded $6.1 million Friday to a woman who said she was forced to strip in a McDonald's back office after someone called the restaurant posing as a police officer. Louise Ogborn, 21 years old, had sued McDonald's Corp., claiming the fast-food giant failed to warn her and other employees about the caller who already struck other McDonald's stores and other fast-food restaurants across the country...