Articles Posted in Medical Malpractice

Two preterm formula cases have been tried against manufacturers. The president of the American Academy of Pediatrics has emphasized that preterm infant formula is both routine and necessary in the care of preterm infants. However, last year, there was a major victory in Gill v. Abbott Laboratories, a preterm infant formula case, and hundreds of cases continue. If your baby was injured or died as a result of NEC that you believe was caused by preterm infant formula, call the seasoned Chicago-based lawyers of Moll Law Group. Billions have been recovered in cases around the country with which we’ve been involved.

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In Gill v. Abbott Laboratories, the plaintiff sued Abbott Laboratories on behalf of her preterm infant, claiming that the company’s cow’s milk-based preterm infant formula caused the infant’s necrotizing enterocolitis (“NEC”), an intestinal disease that often affects preterm infants. The science can be a little difficult to understand since the studies say that preterm infants exclusively fed the cow’s milk-based formula are at a higher risk of developing NEC than those fed only human milk, but studies have not firmly concluded that there is a direct causal link between NEC and cow’s milk-based formula.

During Gill v. Abbott Laboratories’ pre-trial motions and pleadings, the manufacturer defended itself under the learned intermediary doctrine, an affirmative defense. This is a doctrine that applies in some states to remove responsibility from manufacturers of prescription drugs and medical devices of the duty to provide direct warnings to patients or consumers of the risks associated with those drugs and medical devices, so long as the manufacturer gives appropriate information to the physician prescribing the medication or device. The physician then bears the responsibility of letting patients know what the pros and cons are, and what would be the most prudent course of treatment. In Gill, the plaintiff moved for summary judgment and asked the court to determine that the manufacturer wasn’t entitled to use the learned intermediary doctrine and other similar affirmative defenses.

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Sentinel events are significant medical mistakes that affect patient safety and result in severe temporary harm, permanent harm, or death. The data compiled by the Joint Commission for 2023 found that sentinel events were close to 2022’s record high. In 2023, there were 1411 reported and reviewed events. Of these, eighteen percent led to patient death. Fifty-seven percent led to severe temporary harm. Eight percent resulted in permanent harm. Twelve percent of these patients had to stay for an extended period in the hospital and go through more treatment. If you or a loved one experienced a sentinel event, you may be entitled to compensation. The experienced Chicago-based medical malpractice lawyers of Moll Law Group may be able to represent you.

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Most sentinel events are preventable. They can be the result of miscommunications, teamwork failures, and failure to adhere to standard policies and procedures. As in the previous 5 years, the 2023 data revealed that the most frequent sentinel events during 2023 were falls. They comprised 48% of all the sentinel events the Joint Commission reviewed. They were up 6 percentage points from falls in 2022. And in 2019, by contrast, patient falls only made up 18% of the sentinel events.

Other sentinel events included wrong-site surgery, wrong procedures, wrong patients operated upon, foreign objects left behind during procedures, sexual assaults, rapes, assaults, homicides, treatment delays, suicide, fire, burns, mismanagement of medications, self-harm, and perinatal events. Wrong surgeries (all three types of wrong surgeries) constituted 8% of sentinel events for 2023, as did two other categories, foreign objects left behind in the patient and crimes like rape, sexual assault, assault and homicide. Most of these 1358 events were voluntarily self-reported to the Joint Commission, either by a certified or accredited entity. The rest of the 53 sentinel events were reported by patients, anonymous sources or employees of the providers.

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The new feature length documentary “Born Free: Birth in America” is a 95-minute investigation into maternal mortality in the United States, and why it’s increasingly dangerous for mothers to give birth in this country. The movie was made by Paula James-Martinez, a British journalist who became a mother in 2018. It was released on May 14, Mother’s Day, of this year. For the documentary, Ms. James-Martinez went cross-country with an all-female crew to figure out why the United States is the most expensive and dangerous developed country in which to give birth. If your loved one died while giving birth and you suspect professional negligence, call the seasoned Chicago-based medical malpractice attorneys of Moll Law Group. We represent clients around the country and billions have been recovered in lawsuits with which we’ve been involved.

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Maternal mortality is defined to include any deaths during pregnancy or deaths that occur within a year after giving birth. Common causes of maternal mortality include excessive bleeding, infection, drug overdose, and suicide.

“Born Free” includes testimony from a wide range of parents who suffered birth trauma. One of the women went through an episiotomy, which results in the vagina being cut to be wider for childbirth, against her will. A Black man whose wife bled to death after a c-section delivery was interviewed; he filed a civil rights lawsuit against the hospital alleging discrimination in treating his wife. Ms. Martinez’s goal was to get the mortality information in front of those who might otherwise not have access and give them a way to advocate for themselves.

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CNN covered a recent report that found hundreds of thousands of deaths and permanent disabilities are the result of misdiagnosis of disease and other conditions. Every year, around 371,000 people pass away, while 420,000 find themselves permanently disabled with loss of limbs of organs, brain damage, blindness or metastasized cancer. If you were injured by burning hot food, consult the seasoned Chicago-based lawyers of Moll Law Group. Billions have been recovered in cases with which we’ve been involved.

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Researchers gathered data from other studies to figure out how often medical conditions were not diagnosed or misdiagnosed and how that resulted in permanent disability or death. The researchers concluded that patients still should not panic because there is less than a 0.1% chance of significant harms related to misdiagnosis. Around 40% of the significant harms relate to diagnosing five relatively common diseases: lung cancer, venous thromboembolism, pneumonia, sepsis, and stroke. Stroke is misdiagnosed far more than average and gets missed in around 18% of 950,000 cases each year, which results in 94,000 permanent disabilities or deaths in a year. Spinal abscesses are misdiagnosed over 60% of the time, which leads to about 5000 significant harms each year.

The researchers believe that the study’s findings can help determine which areas should be prioritized for interventions. Heart attacks are often diagnosed successfully, but it took a decade of intense effort to address the problem of misdiagnosis and to fund that problem. Researchers think this is a model for how to address misdiagnosis of other conditions.

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Photo Credit: Victor Moussa / Shutterstock.com

A stroke is essentially a “brain attack” that – like a heart attack – occurs when the blood flow to a portion of the brain is cut off. Strokes are the fifth-leading cause of death in the United States, with about 800,000 people suffering from a stroke each year. It is also estimated that approximately 80% of strokes can be prevented, and even those that are not prevented may be able to have their harmful effects reduced. However, an Illinois medical malpractice case can arise when a stroke is not promptly and competently addressed.

One of the ways that doctors treat a stroke in hopes of reducing its long-term effects is through medication. If medication can be provided to the patient soon enough after the stroke begins, blood may be able to be restored to the brain, reducing the chance of permanent disability or death.

Over the past few years, there has been a vigorous debate over the use of one stroke medication in particular, tissue plasminogen activator (TPA). According to those in favor of TPA, the drug acts as a clot-buster, opening blocked blood vessels and allowing blood to return to the brain. A recent news article discusses TPA, as well as the fact that despite having been around for over 20 years, it is still not commonly used to treat stroke victims.

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