When we undergo surgery, we cannot think, breathe, make decisions and advocate for ourselves. We depend on the experts -- doctors and nurses -- who oversee the surgery to do what's best for us.

Trouble is, that does not always happen. Take the case of Sophia Savage. One night she felt a crushing pain in her abdomen, and she started vomiting. She went to a local emergency room and was admitted to a hospital. Her doctor discovered a medical sponge left over from the surgery when she had a hysterectomy. And how long had the sponge been in her body? Four years.

She sued the hospital in which the hysterectomy had taken place, and in 2009 she won $2.5 million in damages. But the award has been appealed. Meanwhile, she suffers from severe bowel problems and has been unable to work. She reports bouts of from anxiety and depression.

Most elderly people will tell you they'd rather remain in their homes as they age rather than going to live in a care facility. Now a new study shows that those who live at home are MORE likely to die in a hospital. That's because the elderly who live in their homes often do not receive the care of a nursing professional, resulting in a trip to the emergency room, and, eventually, death in a hospital bed.

The study was carried out by researchers from the Cicely Saunders Institute at King's College in London. It was funded by the National Institute for Health Research Health Services & Delivery Research (NIHR HS&DR) Program. But even though it was conducted in the United Kingdom, its findings are applicable in the United States.

The study found that 42 per cent of patients with advanced non-malignant conditions reported a preference for home death, yet only 12 per cent of deaths from respiratory and neurological conditions occur at home, and only 6 per cent for dementia.

The Obama administration wants consumers to be able to report medical mistakes and unsafe practices by doctors, hospitals, pharmacists and others who provide treatment.
Some hospital spokesmen say they are receptive to the idea, although they have concerns about malpractice liability,

Federal officials say medical mistakes often go unreported, and that patients have potentially relevant information. The information often entails drug mix-ups, surgery on the wrong body part, surgical instruments left in patients' bodies following surgery, radiation overdoses and other problems.

A new study shows that shoulder dislocation in older patients is more likely to be overlooked or misdiagnosed than among younger patients. The study warned that older patients whose shoulder injuries are not treated can face years of persistent pain and disability.

Published in the October 2012 issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, the study examines the differences in dislocation injuries between older and younger patients. It also suggests an approach to evaluate older patients that could help improve diagnosis and management of related injuries.

The study's lead author is Dr. Anand Murthi. He says understanding the very different ways shoulder dislocation can affect patients over 40 years of age is the first step in making an accurate diagnosis of dislocation-related injuries. Older patients are more likely to experience injury to the rotator cuff, which is the group of tendons, ligaments and other structures that help give the shoulder its range of motion, Dr. Murthi explained. He said this happens because the rotator cuff tissue becomes weaker and more brittle with aging and tears more easily.

The American Medical Association reports that a growing number of physicians are choosing to be "hospitalists." These doctors work in the hospital full time, while their colleagues provide care in local offices.

The advantage for the patient is that care is not disrupted when the doctor has to rush off to the hospital to attend to another patient there. Meanwhile, doctors don't have to drive to hospitals, search through parking lots for a place to put their cars, then rush into a hospital to find a patient to provide care.

The hospitalist program seems to be an advantage to everyone involved. But hospitalists say physicians in each community need to be involved closely in determining how hospitalist programs are structured. They say physicians should decide how information will be communicated between settings, who will do what, how reimbursement will be handled and the protocols for certain procedures.

Thirty-two-year-old Regina Ruff came to the emergency room at Advocate South Suburban Hospital in the morning on July 14, 2007 complaining of shortness of breath. Ruff had a history of congestive heart failure, hypertension, diabetes and non-compliance with the taking of some of her medicine.

At about 11:45 a.m., the emergency department doctor, defendant Sharon Smith, M.D., examined Ruff and ordered tests. That included lab, chest x-ray and EKG.

The chest x-ray that was done at 12:15 p.m. was interpreted by a radiologist at 12:30 p.m., suggesting bilateral pneumonia. Dr. Smith's review of the chest x-ray films was indicative of both pneumonia and congestive heart failure. The lab results showed an elevated white blood count consistent with infection like pneumonia and elevated BNP (B-type Natriuretic Peptide), which is a substance secreted from ventricles or lower chambers of the heart that show pressure increases. These occur when a person has heart failure.

Stroke is the fourth leading cause of death among Americans. Hospitalization and medical care immediately following a stroke are very costly, as is the rehabilitative care. So the question is how best to prevent a stoke or to help patients recover following a stroke.

The National Institutes of Health is conducting ongoing studies to determine ways of preventing strokes. Some of the most recent studies include:

-- The use of dilation and stenting techniques similar to those used to unclog and open heart arteries has been proposed as a less invasive alternative to carotid surgery to remove the buildup of plaque within the carotid artery, which supplies blood to the head and neck. According to the NIH, carotid endarterectomy is considered the best treatment for preventing stroke and other vascular events. Stenting is a newer, less invasive procedure in which an expandable metal stent is inserted into the carotid artery to keep it open after it has been widened with balloon dilation. But the new NIH study found that the safety and effectiveness of the two procedures was largely the same. Following this study, doctors will have more options to tailor treatments for people considered at risk for stroke.

-- Another study found that walking on a treadmill -- both in a supervised rehabilitative environment and on a home device -- helped stroke survivors improve their walking. Only 37 percent of stroke survivors are able to walk after the first week following their stroke. The study compared a home exercise program managed by a physical therapist, aimed at enhancing patients' flexibility, range of motion, strength and balance as a way to improve their walking. This study found that stroke patients who had physical therapy at home improved their ability to walk as well as those who were treated in a training program that requires the use of a treadmill device followed by walking practice. In addition, the study also found that patients continued to improve up to one year after stroke. This defied conventional wisdom that recovery occurs early and tops out at six months.

-- In a third study, investigators looked at new approaches to stroke prevention for people with a history of small subcortical strokes. The trial was designed to compare: 1) aspirin alone vs. combined antiplatelet therapy (aspirin and clopidogrel), and 2) intensive vs. standard blood pressure control. Subcortical strokes, also called lacunar strokes, occur when the thread-like arteries within cerebral tissue become blocked and halt blood flow to the brain. They account for up to one-fifth of all strokes in the U.S. and are especially common among people of Hispanic descent. Researchers found that the combined antiplatelet therapy was about equal to aspirin in reducing stroke risk, but it almost doubled the risk of gastrointestinal bleeding.

-- A fourth study set out to compare the safety and effectiveness of aggressive medical treatment (i.e., intensive management of key stroke risk factors including blood pressure, cholesterol, and lifestyle modification) alone to aggressive medical therapy plus a Food and Drug Administration-approved intracranial stent to prevent another stroke in people who had already suffered a stroke. The results of this trial showed that the group that received the intensive medical management alone had better outcomes than the group who also received the stent. This study provides an answer to a long-standing question by physicians--what to do to prevent a devastating second stroke in a high risk population.

Kreisman Law Offices has been handling medical malpractice cases for more than 36 years for individuals and families in and around Chicago, Cook County, and surrounding areas, including Wheaton, West Chicago, Inverness, Des Plaines, Skokie, and Bolingbrook.

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It has become much more common to find that the known name for a nursing home is not related to its true nursing home ownership. Often, owners of nursing homes are carefully hiding the identity in a maze of ownership.

A plaintiff's lawyers who handle nursing home cases are cautious about researching ownership. Today more than ever, nursing home operators find that elderly residents are filling these facilities at higher occupancy levels.

There is more and more demand for elder care in independent living or assisted living in nursing homes. Because of the demand, ownership of nursing homes is on the private investment company favored list of acquisitions. Private equity enterprises and larger publicly traded companies are operating more nursing homes today than ever before.

On June 12, 2006, 35-year-old Tracy Ariss underwent an echo-cardiogram stress test at LaGrange Memorial Hospital after a workup for carpal tunnel pain in her arms was found to be inconclusive. Less than 3 minutes into the stress test, Tracy suffered a myocardial infarction -- a heart attack. She was immediately taken off the treadmill and treated with nitroglycerin, aspirin and other medicine.

The defendant Rod Serry, M.D., an interventional cardiologist, was called from the cath lab. Even though Tracy did not believe that she was pregnant, Dr. Serry ordered a pregnancy test. Tracy was about 2 ½ weeks pregnant. Her pregnancy complicated her medical treatment in that Dr. Serry did not know any other cardiologists who had performed a cardiac intervention on a pregnant woman after suffering a heart attack.

Dr. Serry called an obstetrician seeking help as to the proper course of treatment. The obstetrician told Dr. Serry that he should make medical choices for the mother as the primary concern. At the trial, Dr. Serry testified that the OB also stressed to him not to prescribe anticoagulants or other medicine long-term during pregnancy. However, this was not noted in the medical chart.

The Missouri Supreme Court has found that the statute that limits noneconomic damages in medical malpractice cases to $350,000 unlawfully infringes on a jury's constitutional right to determine the amount of damage that a person has sustained from medical negligence.

In this Missouri case, Deborah Watts filed suit for medical negligence against the hospital and others alleging that her son suffered catastrophic brain injuries because of hospital and medical providers' negligence. Ms. Watts went to Cox Medical Center at 39 weeks of pregnancy after she felt cramping and decreased fetal movement. No diagnostic tests were completed, and she was sent home. When she returned two days later, she was this time placed on a fetal heart tracing monitor. More than an hour later, her son Naython was delivered by Caeserean section. Unfortunately, Naython suffered catastrophic brain injuries.

The jury awarded $1.45 million in noneconomic damages and $3.371 million in future medical damages. However, because of the Missouri statute capping noneconomic damages, the trial judge reduced the noneconomic award to $350,000. Ms. Watts appealed, arguing that the statute violates the right to trial by jury and other violations of the state constitution.

In June 1991, Amanda Eckstein was born at Good Samaritan Hospital and delivered by defendant and obstetrician, Martin Gallo, M.D. In the plaintiff's complaint, it was alleged that Dr. Gallo should have ordered a Cesarean section rather than a vaginal delivery with forceps. Ms. Eckstein alleged that there was evidence of her fetal distress on the fetal monitor strips, which should have prompted Dr. Gallo to order the C-section.

However, with the vaginal delivery, Amanda's shoulder was hung up and caused shoulder dystocia, which lasted for approximately 5 minutes. Shoulder dystocia occurs in the delivery room when a child's head is delivered, but the shoulder gets caught on the mother's pelvis. Amanda was born without a heart rate and no respiratory rate for more than 5 minutes.

It was contended by Amanda that she had been without oxygen and suffered a permanent brachial plexus injury/Erb's palsy to her left shoulder because of the doctor's negligence. Erb's palsy is nerve damage or resulting weakness to the baby's upper group of the arm's nerves.

Since the middle of this decade, there have been repeated inquiries into the untimely deaths of nursing home residents caused by being trapped or strangled in bedrails. Bedrails are installed in many cases for those nursing home residents who are infirm, suffering from dementia or have a tendency to wander.

The evidence is abundant that the elderly are suffering grave injury and deaths at an alarming rate, mostly in nursing homes, assisted living facilities and at hospitals.

Both the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have been involved over these years in investigating deaths related to bedrails. Unfortunately, little has been done to force manufacturers and companies who distribute these bedrails to change the way they are utilized.

A recent Will County jury verdict found Provena St. Joseph Medical Center in Joliet, Ill., and an internal medical doctor responsible for the death of a 43-year-old man. The children of J.E., the deceased, will receive $3.35 million after a jury returned a verdict of $4.5 million to the 43-year-old man's four children.

J.E.'s children will receive $3.35 million because the family's attorneys and defense counsel entered into a high/low agreement before the jury's verdict. The high/low agreement is a way lawyers and clients protect a very high verdict or a very low verdict by agreeing in advance that the ceiling will be one amount and the floor another.

The attorney for J.E.'s children was William Cirignani, a partner of Cirignani Heller and Harman, who represented the estate.

DGK saw her primary care physician, Dr. Raymond Di Pasquo, for recently developed skin lesions. After having seen Dr. Di Pasquo on Nov. 20, 2001, DGK consulted with a dermatologist, Dr. Robert Signore, who biopsied the lesion on her right lateral thorax on Dec. 3, 2001.

The biopsy was sent to Pinkus Dermatopathology Laboratory, where it was interpreted by the defendant physician, Dr. Darius Mehregan.

On Dec. 20, 2001, Dr. Mehregan reported that the specimen was squamous cell carcinoma or a type of skin cancer; a low-grade malignancy believed to have originated from the neck of the hair follicle. This kind of tumor is reported to rarely progress into an invasive squamous cell carcinoma. From there, DGK was referred to a surgeon specializing in chemosurgery for removal of skin tumors.

In a lawsuit resulting in a Cook County jury verdict, it was alleged by plaintiff Ryan Drummond that in August 2004, the defendant, Dr. Robert Brossard, a radiologist, chose not to correctly interpret x-rays of Drummond's right hand. In addition, it was claimed that Dr. Brossard missed a fracture of the carpal bone of that same right hand. As a result of the doctor's miss, Drummond was improperly treated with splinting for a sprain.

The fracture was later diagnosed on subsequent x-rays on Sept. 21, 2004. By that time, the window of opportunity for surgery to reduce the fracture had passed.

Drummond, 46, was a truck driver and sustained a nonunion of the trapezium, deformity to the base of the thumb, collapsed web space and development of severe arthritis. Drummond will need future arthroplasty surgery, which will mean a lengthy rehabilitation program.

Especially during the holidays, it is so important to visit loved ones, family members and friends who are residents of nursing home facilities, assisted living facilities and hospice care facilities. Nursing home residents who are surrounded by family and concerned friends always are uplifted. Too many times residents of nursing homes are lonely, become despondent, and their health declines.

Residents of nursing homes who choose not to take regular meals and may be lost at times by nursing home staff can also fall into depression. That's why it is so important for family members, loved ones and friends to regularly visit the residents of nursing homes, assisted living facilities and hospice care centers.

Not only is it more likely that nursing home staff will respond to requests made by the resident and family members when visitors are frequent, but the general outlook of an elderly person or one recovering from injury or illness is significantly increased by the presence of family and friends. The more visits, the better, as a general rule.

Holidays can be lonely for the young and healthy, but particularly those who are isolated in nursing home facilities and healthcare centers. Therefore, the more times residents are visited, the better it is for the health and outlook of the nursing home resident. Naturally, it is important to ask questions of the nursing home employees, nurses, doctors and nursing assistants who attend to a family member. The more questions asked, the better the response time will be in taking good care of a resident. Most nursing homes tend to be welcoming to guests of their residents.

Kreisman Law Offices has been handling nursing home abuse cases, dehydration cases, bed sore cases and nursing home neglect matters for individuals and families for more than 36 years, in and around Chicago, Cook County and its surrounding areas including, Bedford Park, Burbank, Aurora, Batavia, South Elgin, Elk Grove Village, Morton Grove, Park Ridge, Hoffman Estates and Darien, Ill.

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Lillie Teague, 74, underwent an angiogram, which is an x-ray exam that uses a dye and camera to look at the blood flow in an artery or vein. Many angiograms are used to examine the arteries near the heart, lungs, brain and the aorta. The procedure requires the use of a thin tube called a catheter placed into a blood vessel in the femoral artery at the groin. The purpose for the angiogram is to find a bulge in a blood vessel or the narrowing or blockage in a blood vessel.

In this case, Ms. Teague began bleeding from the place where the catheter was inserted; at the entry site of the femoral artery. Bleeding at the femoral artery is a known complication for an angiogram, which was done here.

The defendant nurse was alleged to have chosen not to properly and appropriately respond to the need to control the bleeding for up to 30 minutes. This caused massive blood loss. It was alleged in the plaintiff's complaint that because of the loss of blood, Ms. Teague consequently suffered a stroke.

The Illinois Good Samaritan Act (745 ILCS 49/25 (West 2010)) states that a medical professional who, in good faith, "provides emergency care without fee to a person" should be immune from civil damages except in the case of willful or wanton misconduct. Immunity from suit was the position taken by Dr. Michael Murphy because his patient, who claimed he was injured by Murphy's negligence, never got billed for the doctor's emergency room services at Provena St. Mary's Hospital. Dr. Murphy argued that he should be immune from liability for negligence after the patient filed a lawsuit against him.

The First District Appellate Court rejected that argument under the Illinois Good Samaritan Act because it found there was a genuine issue of material fact as to whether or not the doctor acted in "good faith" and found that since the doctor was compensated the act did not apply.

"Nowhere in the legislative history of the act is it ever stated that the intent of the act was to immunize emergency room physicians who are paid for their time," Justice Stuart Palmer wrote in the court's opinion.

Tracy Spevak had undergone a LASIK surgery on her right eye once before. However, in January 2007, the defendant ophthalmologist did a LASIK surgery to attempt to enhance vision in Tracy's right eye. During the surgery, Dr. Mark Golden, the defendant ophthalmologist, chose to re-cut the original LASIK flap, causing complications which necessitated additional surgeries on that eye.

Tracy now has permanent scar tissue in the central portion of her right eye. She has impaired vision, resulting in a kaleidoscope vision of lights at night, nausea, vertigo and migraine headaches. Her past medical bills totaled $8,274.

Tracy now will require a full or partial corneal transplant. At trial, the plaintiff argued that the medical standard of care required Dr. Golden to perform either a re-lifting of the original LASIK flap or a surface treatment.

The defendant, Dr. Golden and his practice company, contended that re-cutting the flap was not a rule that was broken. It was argued that the standard of care was performing the enhancement and continuing with the laser ablation, cutting away tissue, which provided the plaintiff with 20/25 visual acuity in the right eye.

The jury's verdict of $362,274 included loss of services to Tracy Spevak's husband, Gary Spevak. The $308,274 in damages were broken down in the following fashion:

• $205,000 for pain and suffering;
• $95,000 for loss of normal life; and
• $8,274 for medical expenses.

$54,000 to Gary Spevak for loss of services.

The attorney for Tracy and Gary Spevak was Glenn C. Ronaldson. The demand before trial was $500,000. The offer to settle before trial was $100,000. According to the Cook County Jury Verdict Reporter, there was no demand or offer made until jury selection.

Tracy Spevak and Gary Spevak v. Dr. Mark I. Golden and Doctors for Visual Freedom, Ltd., 08 L 14080 (Cook County).

Kreisman Law Offices has been handling medical negligence matters, nursing home abuse cases, wrongful death matters, car accidents, truck crashes and bicycle accidents for individuals and families for more than 36 years in and around Chicago, Cook County and surrounding areas including, Schiller Park, Northlake, Bensenville, Chicago (Garfield Park), Oak Park, Forest Park, Bedford Park, Burbank, Bridgeview, Chicago Ridge and Crestwood, Ill.

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Sue Carter brought Joyce Gott to the Odin Nursing Home in 2005. Carter signed an arbitration agreement as Gott's "legal representative." Gott also signed an arbitration agreement with Odin after she was admitted to the nursing home facility.

Carter's lawsuit filed against Odin claimed that the nursing home's negligence caused Gott to die from gastrointestinal bleeding, anemia and respiratory failure.

Count I of Carter's complaint was brought for Gott's personal-injury claim preserved by the Illinois Survival Act. Count II of the complaint was for Gott's heirs under the Illinois Wrongful Death Act.

This case went to the Illinois Supreme Court on the anti-waiver provisions in the Illinois Nursing Home Care Act and on the additional issue of whether arbitration was blocked or pre-empted by the Federal Arbitration Act.

The case was returned to the lower court and then found its way to the Illinois Supreme Court again as to a different dispute that had to do with the survival claim and arbitration.

Odin argued that Carter was obligated to arbitrate Count II, the wrongful death case, because the claim was "an asset of the deceased estate." Referring to §2.1 of the Wrongful Death Act, the Supreme Court rejected that argument explaining that the language of the statute does not treat a wrongful death action as an asset of a decedent's estate, as Odin had argued.

The Supreme Court added that because Carter signed the arbitration agreement solely as Gott's "legal representative" and Count II seeks compensation for losses sustained by Gott's family, Carter was not obligated to arbitrate the wrongful death claim.

The court stated that, "It is clear that under Illinois law, a wrongful death claim may only be brought by the personal representative of the decedent. Moreover, Section 2.1 of the Wrongful Death Act specifically references a cause of action for wrongful death as being an asset of the decedent's estate . . . "

However, the court wrote that the language in Section 2.1 of the Wrongful Death Act and the language in the statute as a whole, "does not evince an attempt by the legislature to treat a wrongful death action as an asset of the deceased's estate for the purposes that the defendant urges, i.e., to allow the deceased to control the forum and manner in which a wrongful death claim is determined." The court rejected the defendant's argument that the wrongful death claim is an asset of Gott's estate that should limit the arbitration agreement.

The court concluded that although a wrongful death action is dependent upon the decedent's entitlement to maintain an action for his or her injury, had death not ensued, neither the Wrongful Death Act nor this court's case law suggest that this limitation on the cause of action provides a basis for dispensing with basic principles of contract law in deciding who is bound by an arbitration agreement. Even though the plaintiff signed the 2005 arbitration agreement, she did so only as Gott's legal representative. Accordingly, the plaintiff is bound to arbitrate only to the extent that the plaintiff is acting in Gott's stead.

Carter v. SSC Odin Operating Co., 2012 IL 113204 (September 20, 2012).

Kreisman Law Offices has been handling nursing home abuse cases, nursing home bed sore cases, nursing home sepsis cases, nursing home neglect cases, medical malpractice cases and car accident cases for individuals and families for more than 36 years, in and around Chicago, Cook County and its surrounding areas, including Chicago (Roscoe Village), Schaumburg, Hanover Park, Glendale Heights, Lombard, Downers Grove, Summit, Burbank, Vernon Hills, Crystal Lake and Algonquin, Ill.

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