Chicago Brain Injury Lawyer Blog

When most think about lawsuits and brain injuries, it is traumatic brain injuries that come to mind. These are injuries caused by blunt trauma to the head usually from automobile accidents or falls. They spur lawsuits when the underlying car accident or fall was caused by the negligence of another. Of course car accidents are usually the result of mistakes made when behind the wheels and falls can arise when one doesn’t reasonably keep a location clear of potential fall hazards. Our Illinois traumatic brain injury lawyers work with many individuals who have been hurt in this way.

Yet, brain injury lawsuits can also be sparked in different contexts, including cases of medical malpractice. For example, MLive reported this week on the end of a wrongful trial trial where a family alleged that their mother was killed after suffering a brain injury as a result of mistakes made during what was supposed to be a routine surgery. The victim in this situation was a 66-year old woman who went in to have neck surgery to remove her thyroid and parathyroid glands. Her family was told that the operation did not have any particularly high risks.

Everything seemed to be progressing well at first. The woman was put under anesthesia, the surgery was performed, and she left the operating room with doctors assuming that everything would be fine once she awoke from the anesthesia. Unfortunately, she never did wake up. No matter what doctors did they could not revive her, and she eventually had to be put on life support. About ten days after the surgery her family was forced to make the decision to remove the medical equipment.

It was only later that all of the pieces were put together and it was figured out what went wrong. Apparently after the woman was put under via a general anesthetic, the oxygen tube that was supposed to provide her needed oxygen during the procedure was moved. She could not breathe on her own during the procedure and so with the tube removed, she was in serious trouble. Her brain was deprived of oxygen for a significant period of time, leading to severe brain damage as a result. The complications from that injury ultimately took her life.

The family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the anesthesiologist who was in charge of ensuring the proper use of the anesthetic during the operation. The case went to trial late last month. After all of the evidence was presented the jury deliberated for three days before reaching a verdict in the plaintiff’s favor. They found that the doctor was negligent in the way that he handled the operation which led to the woman’s injury and death. The family was awarded $1.23 million as for their losses. The defendant’s attorney explains that they are still considering their options and are not yet sure if they will appeal. One of the woman’s eight daughters issued relief at the verdict, noting that they now finally have accountability for the loss of their mother. She noted that getting answers and closure was a key part of the process of demanding responsibility for those whose negligence resulted in the tragedy.

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Brain injury lawsuits take many forms. In most traumatic brain injury situations—such as those caused in falls or car accidents—lawsuits name other car drivers or property owners as defendants. The defendant is the one who acted unreasonably in any given situation. In other brain injury cases, perhaps less often, medical professionals, hospitals, and clinics are named as defendants. These are types of medical malpractice cases where the plaintiff is arguing that their brain injury was caused (or made worse) by inadequate care being provided by those who were charged with helping them to recover.

This week, for example, Mercury News reported on the end of a medical malpractice trial involving a woman who suffered a severe brain injury as a result of a series of misguided decisions by her medical caregivers. The plaintiff in this case first visited a medical foundation complaining of migraines. Her doctors at the foundation told her that she needed to have an angiogram performed. An angiogram is a brain test that uses dye inserted into veins in the brain to test the functionality of those veins. The medical professionals told the patient that an abnormal vein in her brain was likely the cause of her migraines.

Doing what any reasonable patient would do in the situation, the women heeded her doctors’ advice and had the procedure performed at a nearby hospital. The medical foundation which ordered the test lacked the resources to perform the procedure themselves.

Sadly, the angiogram did not go well. When the dye was inserted into the woman’s veins, she suffered a stroke that threw her into a coma. She stayed in the coma for two weeks. When she finally awoke she discovered that she had lost all function in her arms and legs.

It was soon learned that the angiogram itself had been completely unnecessary. The abnormal vein had nothing to do with the migraines that the woman had complained about. Even worse, the evidence suggested that the doctors who ordered the test should have known that the angiogram was unnecessary. Their mistake in ordering the unnecessary test, therefore, caused the harm that befall the woman.

The woman eventually filed a medical malpractice lawsuit. In arguing the case, the patient’s attorney explained that the medical foundation’s ordering of an unnecessary and risky test was a clear cause of the woman becoming a quadriplegic. The jury agreed, and awarded the woman $22 million. The significant sum was reached in large part because the plaintiff now requires around-the-clock care and will need it for the rest of her life. However, a large part of the award will be cut because of arbitrary damage caps in the state.

If you have suffered brain injury in any form in our area and suspect that this might have been caused by the misconduct of others, please consider contacting our Chicago brain injury lawyers to learn more. We have vast experience in these cases and can explain how the law might apply in your specific situation. There is nothing to lose, so please reach out today.

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Many Illinois Brain Injury Victims Never Fully Recover

According to the Madison County Record, a brain injury lawyer has filed a complaint on behalf of an Illinois woman who suffered serious brain and brain stem injuries as a result of medical malpractice by a Belleville neurologist.

The medical malpractice lawsuit report explains that the woman was seriously injured after her neurologist failed to refer her to another doctor, a neurosurgeon, for consultation after he discovered a lesion in her carotid artery. The carotid arteries supply blood to a person’s brain. The Illinois medical malpractice lawsuit further alleges that due to this failure, her lesion doubled in size and this growth caused her to suffer severe brain and brain stem injuries.

Brain injuries can manifest in many different ways and have varying affects on the victims. Brain injuries can be caused by medical malpractice, such as this case, but also in car and truck accidents, in sports related accidents, or events such as a fall. According to the Brain Injury Association of America, over 795,000 people suffer non-traumatic brain injuries every year. Every injury is different and can cause different symptoms. In this woman’s case, she suffered from headaches, memory loss, and vision impairments. The lawsuit also claims that she suffered permanent disability pain.

When someone suffers a brain injury due to another’s person’s negligence, the victim may be able to seek compensation for their injuries. Victims have a right to recover economic and non-economic damages. Our Chicago brain injury attorneys have helped brain-injured victims across the state seek compensation by holding wrongdoers accountable for their mistakes.

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.

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.

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.

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.

The children of an Illinois man have filed a product liability suit against two corporations for negligence that occurred during their father’s lung surgery. The operating doctor used the device as intended but due to the corporation’s negligence the medical device failed leading to surgical error and major blood loss. The children claim the surgical device manufactured by the defendants malfunctioned which caused their father brain damage and other severe personal injuries.
To read the full story click here.

Recently a colleague referred a case to me involving blatant medical negligence. The referring attorney explained the series of events involving a misdiagnosis, a failure to diagnose, and a relatively simple procedure essentially done backwards causing material to be pumped out of the patient’s stomach of pumped into the patient’s stomach. As he explained the situation to me, it was clear that the doctor had made mistakes and caused the patient severe pain and permanent injury. It was no surprise to me that the patient had decided to pursue legal action. Apparently, however, the patient was reluctant to file a personal injury claim based on the medical malpractice of the doctor. The patient was reluctant to file a personal injury lawsuit , that is, until the doctor behaved arrogantly and refused to admit any wrongdoing. The old rule in medicine was to never apologize and never admit mistakes, but the old rule may not be the smart rule. In a recent New York Times article, a doctor explains a mistake he made and how his apology diffused the situation and even won over the patient. As an personal injury attorney I have seen that, unfortunately, mistakes are more commonplace in medicine than anyone would like to admit. Even more unfortunately, apologies are nearly non-existent.

For the complete New York Times article, click here.