Posted on November 07, 2013 in General

By: Robert F. Geimer

When a 76 year-old truck driver fell asleep at the wheel and killed 10 people, including two families of four, along Interstate 44 in Oklahoma, it turns out that the truck driver had started his shift at 3 a.m. with just 5 hours sleep and had been driving for 10 hours when the collision occurred.  He never even applied the brakes.

Unfortunately, preventable tragedies such as this are on the rise.  A report released earlier this year by the American Association for Justice showed that 2011 (the most recent year complete data are available) marked the second straight year truck-car collision deaths rose, an 11.2% increase over 2009.  According to the report, “Truck drivers – compensated by miles driven, not hours worked – are pushed to ignore safety measures, delay repairs and drive in a fatigued state.”

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 Posted on October 25, 2013 in General

By: Daniel M. Kotin

As trial lawyers representing those injured and killed in motor vehicle crashes, we have been emboldened by data demonstrating that driver-assist technology has dramatically reduced the number of injuries and deaths from crashes on American roadways.

An October 20, 2013 Chicago Tribune feature by Jerry Hirsch discussed many of the newly implemented computer technologies designed to make driving safer.  Some new vehicles have rear-end collision sensors which will automatically slam the brakes to avoid a collision.  Some vehicles will warn the driver and self-adjust the steering wheel when a car is about to drift out of its lane.  Many new vehicles have self-adjusting headlamps to better illuminate turns in the roadway.

These accident avoidance technologies combined with other safety improvements like self-tightening seatbelts have reduced injury claims by up to 33%.  All of these advances are moving us closer to “autonomous driving” – a day when cars will literally drive themselves from one place to another, and we will simply ride along as passengers.  In fact, this technology already exists and has been tested in Google’s self-driving Toyota Prius.

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 Posted on October 18, 2013 in General

By: Robert F. Geimer

As reported by nbcchicago.com, 56 year-old Kent Carson was completely healthy until he developed an infection that resulted in the loss of an arm and both legs.  He learned to walk on prosthetic legs and now would like to replace the hook where his left hand used to be with a prosthetic hand in order to go back to work.  His insurance company, however, has refused, saying that “a prosthesis with individually powered digits … is considered investigative due to a lack of clinical evidence demonstrating its impact on improved health outcomes.”

It is exactly this kind of nonsense that has fueled the need for insurance reform.  Let’s hope that implementation of The Affordable Care Act will avoid situations like this and provide important patient safeguards to prevent insurance companies from profiting by denying essential treatment and services to patients.

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 Posted on October 02, 2013 in General

By: Robert F. Geimer

We’ve talked about dangerous doctors.  Now let’s focus on the good ones – doctors who take the time to care for their patients.  I’ve long said that the #1 thing you can do for your health is find a primary care doctor you like and get along with, and then see that doctor every year no matter what.  In fact, the best time to see your doctor is on a scheduled visit when you are feeling well.  Your doctor can talk with you, do a comprehensive physical exam, order appropriate testing, and follow-up as necessary.  Over time, your doctor will compile a comprehensive set of baseline data that will be useful if and when medical issues develop.  Most importantly, your doctor will know you and your medical history and, hopefully, be your advocate.

Does a caring doctor matter?

In a study in the British Medical Journal, patients with irritable bowel syndrome were given one of three treatments:  1) no treatment; 2) a placebo in the form of a fake acupuncture treatment; and 3) the same fake acupuncture except administered by a caring and empathetic practitioner who spent time with the patient.  The results?  28% of group 1 reported relief; 44% of group 2 reported relief; and a whopping 62% of group 3 reported relief.  The authors concluded that factors such as warmth, empathy and time spent with the patient might actually affect clinical outcome.  This study reinforces something we have long suspected - that sometimes the best medicine is a caring doctor.

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 Posted on September 06, 2013 in General

By: Robert F. Geimer

In a stunning report by Saul Elbein of the Texas Observer, a neurosurgeon in Texas killed and severely injured patients for several years until authorities finally suspended his medical license in June, 2013.  Among his victims was a 55 year-old woman who died after undergoing a routine operation for back pain.  According to the medical examiner, the cause of death was listed as “therapeutic misadventure.”  Apparently, the doctor sliced through one of her arteries and she bled to death.  She is survived by her husband and daughters.  The report is replete with similar horror stories, including reports of patients being paralyzed by inexcusable medical errors.

Even though other physicians alerted authorities, using phrases like “the worst surgeon I’ve ever seen,” Texas authorities took years to act.  Part of the problem was a series of conservative “reforms” that severely limited patients’ options for holding dangerous doctors and hospitals accountable for bad care.  For example, Texas passed a law that allows patients to hold hospitals accountable only if they can prove that the hospital acted with “malice.”  But it also passed a law to make it extremely difficult to obtain hospital records to prove a case.

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 Posted on September 06, 2013 in General

Assisted Living facilities, operating virtually regulation free across Illinois and the U.S., are increasingly the subject of litigation in cases of neglect and incompetence as our nation’s exploding senior population becomes more dependent on full time care.

As our population ages, there has been a nearly insatiable demand for assisted living facilities. The 1990s saw unprecedented growth in this sector as major corporations bought, built, and filled assisted living facilities nationwide.  Emeritus Senior Living, America’s largest such corporation, raked in a stunning $1.6 billion in revenue in 2012.  Publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange, Emeritus has an astounding number of facilities across the country, including five within 25 miles of Chicago.

Emeritus has also come under fire recently, as numerous lawsuits have been filed alleging neglect and incompetence.  Especially disturbing has been their documented lack of care for residents suffering from dementia, which number around 2/3 of all assisted living residents nationally.

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 Posted on August 30, 2013 in General

By: Shawn S. Kasserman

We all know (or should know) not to text and drive. But, have you thought about the dangers of knowingly texting a driver? An Appeals Court in New Jersey has - and determined that you could be liable if your text causes that driver to injure someone.

In September of 2009, two teens texted each other (as they customarily did 62 times per day). Unfortunately, one of the texters was driving down a highway as he exchanged the digital messages. At the same time a motorcyclist and his passenger were approaching from the opposite direction. The texting driver drifted across the center line and hit the approaching motorcycle head on.

Seventeen seconds after his last text - the driver was calling 911 for assistance for the people on the motorcycle whose lives he had just forever changed.

Finding that both the driver (receiver of the text) and the sender of the text are potentially responsible for the crash, a New Jersey Court focused its attention on whether the nondriving texter knew or should have known that the recipient is driving and  would be distracted by the text. Ultimately the court found that the “remote texter” had no reason to know her recipient was driving and thus shared no liability for the crash. However  the opposite could also be true: you will share in the responsibility for a crash where you knowingly distract a driver via text messages. Even worse, you will know that your actions contributed to ruining the life of an innocent victim.

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 Posted on August 22, 2013 in General

By: Robert F. Geimer

According to an investigation by USA Today, thousands of doctors who have been found guilty of serious misconduct, including some who have been banned by hospitals and other medical facilities, have never been disciplined by state licensing authorities responsible for protecting patients from dangerous doctors.  The investigation by USA Today reporters Peter Eisler and Barbara Hansen found:

• From 2001 to 2011, nearly 6,000 doctors had their clinical privileges restricted or taken away by hospitals or other medical facilities, but 52% - more than 3,000 doctors – never were fined or hit with a license restriction, suspension or revocation.
• Nearly 250 of the worst offenders, doctors labeled an “immediate threat to health and safety,” never lost their licenses and are still practicing today.

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 Posted on August 12, 2013 in General

By:  Daniel M. Kotin

I was summoned for jury duty in the Circuit Court of Cook County Law Division last week.  Although my service lasted only four hours, it was a good experience and it inspired me about our justice system, which happens to provide the foundation for my career.

My first exposure to the process involved watching the educational video which is played to everyone in the holding room who responded to their jury summons.  Not only was I surprised by how accurate and informative the short video was, but I was also impressed by the fact that most of the other citizens sitting in the room appeared engaged and interested in what they were watching.

Thirty-six of us were then taken to a courtroom where we were greeted by an impressive judge and two competent, veteran trial lawyers (both of whom I have known for years).  The voir dire (jury selection) questioning was fair. The dispute in the case (relating to the causal connection between a knee injury and a car crash) appeared legitimate.  All potential jurors were treated respectfully by the lawyers as well as the court staff.  Everyone seemed determined not to waste our time.

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 Posted on August 08, 2013 in General

Medical device manufacturers funnel billions into their coffers while patients struggle with financial ruin after receiving routine procedures. 

By: Timothy S. Tomasik

$13,000 or $78,000.  If you needed an artificial hip, which would you rather pay?  That stark choice was recently presented to 67-year-old Michael Shopenn of Colorado.  Mr. Shopenn’s choice provided a background for Elisabeth Rosenthal’s piece in Sunday’s New York Times highlighting the wildly anticompetitive behavior of American implant manufacturers, their expensive lobbying efforts, and compliant hospital policies that combine to leave more and more Americans stuck at similar crossroads.  Mr. Shopenn chose to take his business to Belgium, where the cost of his hip replacement, including a five-day hospital stay, doctors’ fees, operating room charges, crutches, medicine, a week in rehab, and a round-trip flight, totaled $13,660.  A similar hip implant procedure at home would have cost somewhere in the ball park of $78,000.

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