Chicago Medical Malpractice Lawyer Blog

The Illinois Department of Public Health (or IDPH) was formed "to regulate medical practitioners." Medical practitioners include doctors and hospitals. The IDPH's is "responsible for protecting the state's 12.4 million residents...through prevention and control of disease and injury." Despite these obligations, the IDPH has failed to investigate 85% of hospital complaints it received last year including complaints of serious patient abuse and death.

Of the hospital complaints received by the IDPH, one included a bacterial infection that spread through Harrisburg Medical Center and killed at least one patient. During this time, nurses and doctors in that hospital reportedly failed to wear protective gloves and gowns--basic precautions used to reduce the spread of serious infection. In response, the IDPH declined to investigate. At Abraham Lincoln Memorial Hospital, the IDPH received a complaint a nurse misused an IV machine, resulting in a near fatal medication error. In response, the IDPH declined to investigate. In addition, the IDPH received complaints that patients at Greater Peoria Specialty Hospital were being left in their own feces and, as a result, developed dangerous infections. Once again, the IDPH declined to investigate.

Federal law requires that complaints of serious personal harm or death in hospitals be investigated within 48 hours. This law applies to all states, including Illinois. Despite these federal requirements, the IDPH usually never conducted any investigation into complaints of serious personal injury or wrongful death at anytime--let alone within 48 hours.

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Last month, a Chicagoland dentist was arrested for allegedly driving his Porsche the wrong way down the Regan Tollway, crashing head on into another vehicle, killing a father and his daughter. Earlier this week, the lawyer for Dr. William Howe said his client has Huntington's disease and suggested this condition contributed to the crash. As a Chicago personal injury lawyer, I am concerned this argument may allow Dr. Howe avoid any responsibility for his (seemingly) reckless behavior.

Huntington's disease is a disease that is inherited and causes a breakdown of nerve cells in the brain. Most with Huntington's disease do not develop signs or symptoms until their they reach their 40s or 50s. The disease can cause movement, cognitive, and psychiatric disorders. Dr. Howe was reportedly diagnosed with Huntington's disease several years before the crash. According to his lawyer, the disease may have also contributed to Dr. Howe's decision to close his dental practice before the car accident.

Dr. Howe has been charged with two counts of reckless homicide. Generally, reckless homicide is killing one or more people through reckless behavior. Under Illinois criminal law, reckless homicide occurs when a person unintentionally kills an individual while acting recklessly acts (ie., acting in a way that is likely to cause death or great bodily harm).

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As a Chicago personal injury lawyer and father of two children, I am always concerned about the safety of any product my children use. Cars seats are certainly no exception. Like many parents, when researching the safety of car seats, I focused primarily on how I thought the seats would hold up in the event of a crash. As revealed in a recent study, crash worthiness (ie, the ability of the seat to protect a child during impact) is not the only important concern. We as parents must also consider whether the car seat is filled with dangerous chemicals. Indeed, healthystuff.org found more than half of 2011 child car seat models contain one or more potentially hazardous chemicals.

Healthstuffy.org is a project of the environmental not-for profit group, The Ecology Center. The group found "chemicals of concern" in 60% of more than 150 seats tested. "Chemicals of concerns" are defined as any chemical linked to serious health problems including reproductive troubles, developmental and learning disabilities, hormone imbalances, and cancer.

Arsenic was one of many potentially hazardous chemicals found in the 2011 child car seat models. Although arsenic a naturally occurring element in our environment, excessive exposure to arsenic is known to cause many dangerous conditions, some fatal, including cancer. Very high doses of arsenic have been used in murder and suicide cases.

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On July 24, 2011, a Chicago lawyer was killed when a train struck her vehicle in downstate Illinois. According to authorities, the accident occurred at about 8:30 PM in the town of Buckley, 100 miles south of Chicago. Cheryl Wilson-Segal, age 47, left behind a husband and two children. As a Chicago personal injury lawyer, husband and father of two children, I feel heartsick for the family.

Police reports suggest the train gates were down when Wilson-Segal was struck while driving her 2007 Audi. However, those close to Wilson-Segal indicate crossing train tracks with the gates down would be completely out of character for her. According Carol Hogan, a partner at Wilson-Segal's firm, "she was not a reckless person in any sense of the word." Hogan added, "we can't know what happened until we were in her place. I'd say if this could happen to Cheryl, it could happen to anyone."

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