Chicago Brain Injury Lawyer Blog

Our Illinois brain injury attorneys recently learned of a brain injury/wrongful death lawsuit that was filed by the mother of the victim of negligence that died while he was supposed to be receiving treatment at a drug rehabilitation center. The young man had been in the center for only two days when he died of hypoxic brain injury following what is believed to have been an over dosage of a medicine as well as an allergy to that same medication that he was being given at the rehabilitation center. The wrongful death lawsuit alleges that not only was he given medications that his body was not reacting well to and too much of that medicine, but that he was not monitored or paid attention to even after he was clearly reacting negatively to the medication.

Once the brain injury/wrongful death lawsuit was filed, family members of other patients from the facility also spoke out about all their problems with the drug rehabilitation center. Allegedly, other patients were also over-medicated and not monitored properly, and at least one of these other patients died as a result of this alleged negligence on the part of the rehab center. According to The Tennessean, the rehab center has just spent a great deal of money on expanding the rehab center and the center is the largest in the state. In addition to the claim that the patients are not medicated properly and are not monitored properly, many patients and their families feel that the center was severely understaffed, which could also add to the lack of monitoring patients issue. As a result of the issues that have been reported in connection with this facility, the state has at least temporarily stopped sending underage drug abusers to this particular facility for treatment. The fact that this kind of negligence may be occurring, and that patients may not actually be receiving the help they need, is very upsetting especially at a center that has the resources available to really be able to help their patients with their drug addictions.

The young man’s hypoxic brain injury may have resulted directly from the over-medication and from him not being monitored properly. A hypoxic brain injury occurs when the flow of oxygen to the brain is disrupted, and in this young man’s case that disruption was too severe and led to his death. If he was receiving too much medication, or the wrong medication for his body, a hypoxic brain injury could result. The rehab center claims that if the victim’s medical records were viewed that it would be clear that he was treated properly and that his death was not the result of the center’s negligence. However, the rehabilitation center will not release the victim’s medical records for what they claim is a confidentiality issue.

The wrongful death lawsuit seeks about $13 million dollars in damages for the family of the young man that died while a patient at the rehab center. This amount of money seeks to offer some type of compensation to the family that has had to suffer as a result of the negligence on the part of the drug center. If you or your loved one was at a facility that was supposed to be helping and monitoring their patients, and their failure to do so led to an injury or even death of a patient, please contact our Illinois personal injury attorneys to talk about what has happened to your family and to see what options may be available to you.

Our Chicago brain injury attorneys just learned of a lawsuit in which an energy company was sued after one of their employees unintentionally hit another employee with power tongs in June of this year. Power tongs are a type of hydraulic equipment used on many industrial sites, which are used to help the workers move large objects around and maneuver around the work site. The employee that filed the lawsuit and was injured by the other employee when he was struck with the power tongs causing him to be thrown headfirst into other equipment that was on the work site and as a result suffered from severe injuries to the head including fractured sinuses and a brain injury. The brain injury lawsuit is against the company that the two men worked at and alleges that the company was negligent in allowing this type of injury to be able to occur while employees were on the job. The lawsuit claims that the worker that stuck the victim was using the control lever on a piece of equipment and hit the wrong lever, which was the one that struck the victim in the face.

Brain injuries are often caused by slips, falls, pushes, and a number of other ways in which the head is hit so severely that the brain is injured as a result. Many of these brain injuries are the result of another’s (other than the victim) actions, like in the case discussed here. When the injury occurs at the victim’s place of work, the victim may have the option of suing the company if the negligence occurred while the people involved were on the job. Because companies may be liable for the negligence of their workers, or negligence while on the job, it is very important that all companies make sure to try to keep the job site as safe as possible and that they hire employees that they believe will act very safe and make safety their greatest priority while on the job.

A personal injury lawsuit is an appropriate option for someone that has suffered a brain injury as the result of another’s negligent actions. These type of lawsuits are a way in which to try to make the person responsible for your injury accountable for their actions and to receive compensation for medical bills, lost wages resulting from the injury, pain and suffering, as well as other damages that occurred. In this particular lawsuit the victim asked for compensation for his medical bills as well as for some other damages suffered as a result of the incident where he was injured.

If you or a loved one suffered a brain injury on the job and it was due to the negligence of another employee or by negligence on the part of the company, you may have a personal injury lawsuit against the company where the injury occurred. Our Illinois brain injury attorneys have helped clients all over the state with their personal injury lawsuits and are here to listen to what has happened to you and discuss what options are available to you.

Our Illinois brain injury attorneys recently learned of a case in which the parents of a young man who was severely injured when he was run over by a boat are suing the driver of the boat that caused the serious and permanent injuries. The terrible incident occurred a little over two years ago while the boy was out kayaking with his father. While the boy was paddling out towards his father and wearing a bright orange life jacket, the driver of the speedboat was not paying full attention and hit the young man, severely injuring him. The boat ran over the boy cutting his body in multiple places. Because of the negligence of the boat driver, the young man suffered severe physical injuries including a ruptured spleen and a collapsed lung as well as permanent traumatic brain injuries. According to The News Tribune, the boat driver did help the injured boy get to shore following the accident but did not immediately admit that it was his boat that had struck the boy causing his severe injuries. No charges were filed against the driver but he was fined for operating his boat negligently.

The family of the injured young man alleges in their civil personal injury lawsuit against the driver of the speedboat that he was operating the boat in an unsafe manner and that he was driving too fast and not properly watching where he was headed when he crashed into their son. Following the incident the young man was hospitalized for several months and then was in a rehabilitation center for many more months. Now, more than two years later, he still requires a great deal of medical care and is permanently physically and mentally disabled as a result of being hit by the boat. The traumatic brain injury that the young man suffered as a result of the crash was so damaging that he will require lifetime rehabilitation and he will never be back to the way that he was prior to the accident.

The lawsuit against the boat driver does not only cover the costs associated with the medical bills and the boy’s long term medical care, but also aims to try to compensate the family in some way for all the emotional and long-term damage they have and continue to suffer as a result of their son’s lifetime injuries. When someone acts negligently and their actions cause serious injury to another party, the victim and their family should be held liable for these actions and personal injury lawsuits are a way in which the victims may be able to be compensated in some way for these injuries.

If you or a loved one suffered a brain injury as a result of someone else’s negligence, please contact our Illinois brain injury attorneys today to talk to them about what options are available to you and your family, and how the person responsible may be held accountable for their negligence. Our personal injury law firm has helped victims all over Illinois recover for their injuries that were caused at the hands of another and are here to listen to your story.

A medical malpractice case went to trial recently alleging that a neurosurgeon who performed a brain biopsy on an elderly man acted negligently and did not exercise due care in his treatment of the patient. Our Chicago brain injury attorneys found this case particularly interesting because an Illinois brain injury expert testified that the kind of mistake that the defendant physician made was such a basic and common issue that he believed that a person with no medical training could have made the proper decision. According the The Duluth News Tribune, the defendant physician performed a brain biopsy, which is the appropriate procedure when there is evidence of a tumor, when all of the man’s symptoms pointed to the fact that he had a stroke and there was no evidence of a tumor. Performing the brain biopsy turned a small brain stroke into a major brain bleed causing the patient a severe amount of brain damage that was all a result of the doctor’s negligence. The elderly man is now suffering from multiple cognitive defects, is having trouble speaking, and can no longer walk.

The brain injury lawsuit seeks over one million dollars in damages that include medical costs, as well as damage for lost wages and the loss of the quality of life that the man could have expected without the negligent operation. The lawsuit also alleges that not only should the doctor have realized that the symptoms likely were caused by a stroke, but also that he should have required that more MRI and CT scans were performed on the patient before making such a major decision to open up his head. The doctor’s attorneys argue that the patient had the information necessary and the consented to the procedure, knowing both the risks associated with the procedure and the alternate option available to him. However, the injured man’s attorneys argue that because of his stroke that he was not aware of what he was agreeing to and that the decision was not actually an informed one.

It is crucial that when dealing with an area of the body like the brain that a doctor takes steps to exercise the most care possible to avoid unnecessary procedures because of how sensitive the brain can be to injury. It is especially sad to see a physician trained in neurosurgery make this type of error in a case that other doctors agree is one in which a little more care and attention would have made it clear that the procedure was not the appropriate given his symptoms.

Continue reading "Doctor Performs Brain Operation When Symptoms Show Different Problem" »

The Quad City Times recently reported on a trial involving an injured plumber. A Scott County jury recently awarded a couple in Coal Valley, Illinois $3.6 million in a brain injury lawsuit.

In 2006, a plumber was working in a trench as sewer and water service was being installed for a home under construction in Davenport. The trench collapsed when a skid loader drove too close. Rescue efforts successful dug the unconscious plumber out of the collapsed trench but the plumber suffered permanent brain damage in the work related accident.

The skid loader was being operated by an employee of Alliance Concrete Construction LLC of Davenport, Illinois. At trial, the injured worker and his wife were seeking damages from Alliance for lost wages and past and future medical expenses.

During the trial, the plumber’s wife took the witness stand and testified about dramatic changes in her husband’s behavior since his accident. She testified that since his brain injury, her husband suffers from severe nightmares that have caused the couple to sleep in separate beds at night.

The jury awarded the wife $300,000 for loss of consortium. Loss of consortium refers to the deprivation of the benefits of a family relationship due to injuries.

The defense attorney for Alliance argued at trial that the injured worker was at least partially responsible for his own injury because he failed to use a trench box and other safety precautions. The jury found the plumber 40 percent at fault. As a result of the plumber’s own negligence, he was awarded $1.8 million of his $3.6 million verdict. In Illinois, if an injured party is partially at fault for his or her injuries, then the total recovered amount may be reduced in proportion to the degree that the injured party was at fault.

For the full article on this brain injury case, see the Quad City Times.

Continue reading "Jury awards Illinois couple $3.6 million in brain injury lawsuit." »

ABC News followed up on a brain injury case in Northern California where a man was awarded $6.4 million after being injured while getting on the bus in April of 2008.

The case involved a disabled man who was injured while being lifted onto a bus in Roseville, California. As he loaded the bus, his wheelchair rolled backwards off the ramp. The man fell 6 feet and hit his head, causing severe brain injury.

The city’s public transportation company was ordered to pay 83% of the $6.4 million verdict, while the city was ordered to pay the remaining 17%.

Falls on public transportation can be the result of improper safety measures. In Chicago, many of the city’s buses and trains are operated by the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA).

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), falls are among the three main causes of brain injury in the United States and they are the leading cause of traumatic brain injury among people 65 and older.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that approximately 1.4 million people suffer traumatic brain injuries each year in the United States and about 50,000 people die from traumatic brain injuries.

Continue reading "Jury Awards $6.4 Million For Brain Injuries Sustained While Getting On The Bus" »

On September 17, 2007, Barbara Lefforge entered St. Edna Nursing home for rehabilitation purposes. Barbara had just had surgery to repair tendon damage in her foot. Barbara’s surgeon mistakenly prescribed 50mg of Morphine when he had intended to prescribe her 50mg of Demerol.

The improper prescription was noticed by the pharmacist from which the medication was to be received, but nevertheless St. Edna administered all of the morphine they had in stock (a total of 30 mg). Upon the drug administration, Barbara suffered an overdose. St. Edna failed to monitor her and failed to bring her to the hospital until the next morning. Consequently, Barbara suffered a significant brain injury. This injury led Barbara to file a medical malpractice action against both her original surgeon and St. Edna.

The jury found St. Edna 90% at fault and her original surgeon 10% at fault. Sadly, Barbara was only at St. Edna a little over five hours when the negligence that caused her injury occurred. This was an injury that could have easily been avoided, and one that happens all too often in both hospital and nursing home settings.

Doctors are not perfect, and as such a system of checks helps to mitigate the damages that some of their mistakes can cause. The pharmacist in this situation correctly told St. Edna that the prescription was a mistake, still, St. Edna failed to listen and now both Barbara and St. Edna need to live with the consequences of St. Edna's negligence.

According to PRWeb, a jury verdict awarded $12.2 million in damages to Emily Liou, a San Mateo County 17 year old who suffered a traumatic brain injury in a car-pedestrian accident. The accident occurred on March 28, 2006, as Emily was walking home. She had just left her friends after singing Karaoke. As she was crossing El Camino Real in a marked crosswalk, a woman with her child driving a Toyota sedan, struck Emily knocking her to the ground. The resulting injuries left Emily in a permanent vegetative state.

According to her attorney, “Emily was struck in a marked crosswalk located at the crest of a rise in the road, which does not come into view until a driver is about 100 feet away. Additionally, the crosswalk is located at an ‘uncontrolled’ intersection, meaning that there are no lights or stop signs controlling vehicular traffic. El Camino Real, which Caltrans (the California Department of Transportation) calls State Route 82, is among the busiest roads on the peninsula.”

Discovery during the case produced the following information -- within the past 15 years, three other pedestrians had been killed in the same crosswalk. The trial lasted four weeks. The jury found that the California Department of Transportation was 50% at fault and divided the remaining fault between the driver (30%) and Emily (20%).

According to Brainandspinalcord.org, brain injuries 20% of traumatic brain injuries are caused by motor vehicle accidents. In addition, 15-24 year olds face the highest risk of traumatic brain injuries due to vehicle accidents.

Continue reading "California Teen Receives $12.2 Million Verdict for Traumatic Brain Injury" »

People with brain injuries may produce low amounts of melatonin which affect their sleep according to a recent study. The study was published in the May 25, 2010 print issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. While it has been recognized for years that brain injuries and sleep issues are linked, the exact causes of these problems had not been determined.

The study examined the sleep patterns of 46 people. Half of the participants suffered a severe traumatic brain injury an average of 14 months ago. The other 23 participants were healthy people of the same age. The participants were monitored for two nights at a sleep laboratory. The study showed that healthy people produced more melatonin than the people with brain injuries in the evening hours when melatonin levels are suppose to rise to signal sleep. The study’s author suggests that this is problematic since melatonin is a hormone that regulates biological rhythms, including sleep.

The study also showed that people with brain injuries had other differences in their sleep patterns. The participants with brain injuries spent more time in non-REM sleep than the healthy group. Additionally, the group with brain injuries spent less of their time in bed actually asleep than the healthy participants.

Each year in the United States an estimated 1.4 million people sustain a traumatic brain injury which can disrupt the function of the brain. The leading causes of brain injuries are vehicle accidents and crashes, birth injuries, slips and/or falls and medical malpractice.

Continue reading "Brain Injuries linked to Sleep Disorders " »

A new lawsuit highlights the dangers of using Taser stun guns. According to aboutlawsuits.com, a California man recently filed suit against Taser International after suffering serious brain damage when police used a Taser stun gun on him. The Taser stun gun, an electric control device, caused abnormal heart rhythms and cardiac arrest. The man was resuscitated, but he suffered brain damage and permanent disabilities as a result of the Taser stun gun. Taser International claims Taser stun guns are safe and do not pose risks for fatal or permanent injury. However, the company issued a warning to police officers telling them to avoid shooting people in the chest because it could result in cardiac arrest. The trial is to begin in August.

The American Heart Association describes how this man’s injury resulted. The organization explains that severe brain damage and permanent death begin to occur just 4 to 6 minutes after someone experiences cardiac arrest. Cardiac arrest can be reversed if treatment occurs quickly. However, the person’s chances of survival decrease 7 to 10 percent for every minute spent without performing CPR or defibrillation. The American Heart Association notes that during the first 10 months after automated external defibrillators were installed in Chicago airports, 64 percent of people suffering a Chicago cardiac arrest incident in the airports were revived with no resulting brain damage.

Similar to the Taser stun gun lawsuit, our Chicago brain injury attorneys have experience representing clients who suffer cardiac arrest as a result of someone else’s negligence. For example, we reached a $1.1 million settlement against a village, its paramedics and a hospital because their failure to timely transport a man to the hospital and provide resuscitative measures resulted in the man suffering cardiac arrest. If you or a family member have suffered cardiac arrest or brain damage and believe someone is at fault, call our Illinois brain injury lawyers because you may be entitled to recovery.

The jury in a medical malpractice trial, recently awarded $12 million for a hospital’s delay in evaluating and transferring an air rifle victim.

According to the Pasadena Star News, twenty-two-year old, Jessica Ramirez, was shot with an air rifle and the pellet entered her brain. Nevertheless, she remained conscious after the shooting and was able to ask for help. She was immediately taken to the hospital, which in turn sent her to another facility for surgery to remove the pellet. However, staff waited 5 hours before transferring her. At trial, the neurosurgeon who removed the pellet testified that, had he been allowed to operate sooner, her outcome would have better. Instead, her injury progressed into a traumatic brain injury that has left her in a persistent vegetative state.

More than $10.6 million of the award was for Jessica’s future medical care.

In many cases, especially those involving brain injuries, prompt evaluation and treatment is necessary to prevent treatable injuries from resulting in permanent damage or death. When doctors, hospitals, and other medical professionals fail to respond in a timely manner, they place their patient’s lives at risk. When this risk results in harm, they can be found liable for medical malpractice.

Click the following link for the full account of this traumatic brain injury verdict.

A 59-year-old woman was awarded a $6.3 million verdict after a hospital’s negligence caused her to suffer irreversible brain damage. The treating physician and hospital’s negligence caused the woman to lose most of her short-term memory and her ability to speak. According to the medical malpractice lawyer who represented the victim, she must now live with her grown son and requires help with everyday activities such as eating and even chewing.

The woman went into the hospital for back surgery. The brain damage occurred after the surgery when hospital staff administered a dangerous mix of medications, creating serious respiratory problems. The hospital staff failed to intubate the victim in a timely manner, causing a lack of oxygen to the brain. The verdict included future medical expenses, lost wages, pain and suffering, loss of consortium and loss of the ability to perform daily tasks. To access the full article on this medical malpractice verdict follow the link.

According to the St. Petersburg Times, a nine-year-old boy received an $11.1 million jury verdict for the brain damage he sustained as a result of medical malpractice by a hospital. When the boy was 3 months old, his mother took him to the hospital several days after he began vomiting and was having diarrhea. Hospital staff sent the mother and child home, but the following day she rushed him back to the hospital because he was barely breathing. During his first visit, the hospital failed to diagnose or treat his severe dehydration and as a result the boy suffered significant brain damage. To read more about this brain injury verdict, follow the link.

Last week, a jury awarded a verdict of $7.4 million to a child who suffered permanent brain damage as a result of a hospital’s failure to treat an infection that eventually developed into meningitis.

The child was only one month old when she began showing symptoms of an infection at the hospital. Rather then administering antibiotics at the first signs of the infection, the doctors in the neonatal intensive care unit delayed treatment for eight hours, causing the infection to worsen. As a result of this negligence, the infection eventually progressed into meningitis which, in turn, lead to the child suffering brain damage.

The child has since been fitted with a permanent shunt to drain excess fluid from her brain and prevent the buildup of intracranial pressure, which could cause further brain damage. Now, at the age of five, she requires both physical and behavioral therapy.

For more on this hospital’s failure to treat the infection, click here.

Three Doctors testified this past week as to the extent of a traumatic brain injury suffered at the 2006 Windsor BluesFest. The man was injured when he was allegedly sucker punched to the ground hitting the back of his head on the pavement. The man responsible for throwing the punch has been charged with second-degree murder. The injured man died the next day as a result of the brain injuries. To find an Illinois Lawyer to represent you in brain injury lawsuit, contact Levin & Perconti. To read more about this brain injury trial, please click here.

An 11-year-old North Carolina boy was left with a permanent brain injury after doctors made numerous medical mistakes during his treatment. After falling from a tree, the boy received treatment riddled with instances of medical malpractice. After detecting a shoulder injury, the boy was given herapin, a blood thinner, to treat a blood clot in his shoulder. The boy’s brachial plexus nerves of his spinal cords had been damaged and that injury had gone unnoticed, and as a result, the herapin caused bleeding in the spinal cord. Additionally, a mass called a subdural hematoma was located in his skull and doctors placed a halo around his head to stabilize his spine. One of the four screws used to keep the halo in place was screwed in ¾ inch too far by a medical resident, which caused further bleeding in the brain. As a result, the child suffered a significant brain injury and will be forced to live with severe cognitive impairments, preventing him from ever living independently or holding a job. A jury ruled in favor of the boy in the medical malpractice lawsuit, awarding him over $10 million from the various defendants. For the full story, click here.

Traumatic Brain Injury Staff Training has released self-study modules online for staff working with people with traumatic brain injury. Its comprehensive modules provide overviews of the nature of traumatic brain injury and its impact.

For the full article.

The father of a man who has filed a personal injury lawsuit provided emotional testimony regarding his son’s brain injury. His testimony could help determine jury damages to be awarded to the son and his family who care for him daily as a result of his brain injury. The father stated that medical expenses to date are $626,000.00. It is estimated that the man will require an additional $4.6 million for medical expenses related to his brain injury in his expected lifetime.

For the full article.