Chicago Medical Malpractice Lawyer Blog

Joseph A. Power, Jr. and Devon C. Bruce of Power Rogers & Smith P.C. have settled a medical malpractice lawsuit for 35 million dollars for claims made for personal injuries to a minor. On April 14, 2006, the minor plaintiff was three months old when he was admitted into the hospital due to respiratory difficulties. On April 15, 2006, the minor plaintiff became distressed and a code was called. Defendant anesthesiologist was one of the physicians who responded to the code. During the code, the anesthesiologist negligently intubated the minor plaintiff by performing the intubation without sedating the plaintiff; making multiple attempts at intubation and using an endotracheal tube that was too large. The result of the negligent intubation was that the child suffered subglottic stenosis. As a result of that injury, the plaintiff had to have a tracheostomy tube implanted to assist with his breathing.

Plaintiff settled this matter with that hospital for $2,000,000 and with the anesthesiologist who performed the intubation for $1,500,000.

The minor plaintiff was subsequently admitted to a second hospital in September of 2006 to receive treatment for additional respiratory difficulties. During this admission, the minor plaintiff was required to be continuously monitored with a pulse oximeter. His tracheostomy tube should have been suctioned by the nursing staff on an hourly basis. However, on September 21, 2006, the nursing staff at the Medical Center did not suction the plaintiff's tracheostomy tube as frequently as required. As a result of the failure to suction, the plaintiff developed a mucous plug which obstructed his tracheostomy tube. This caused his oxygen saturation to decrease and the pulse oximeter alarm to sound. Unfortunately, the nursing staff then failed to respond to the multiple visual and audible alarms that his oxygen saturation had dropped below the normal range. As a result of the lack of oxygen, the plaintiff suffered a respiratory and then cardiac arrest. He did not receive proper oxygenation for approximately 12-15 minutes.

The loss of oxygen left the minor plaintiff seriously brain damaged. He is now suffering from spastic quadriplegia. He will require 24 hour care and extensive medical treatment for the rest of his life.

Plaintiff settled this matter with the Second Hospital for $31,500,000.

Continue reading "Power Rogers & Smith, P.C. Settles Minor's Medical Malpractice Lawsuit For 35 Million Dollars" »

In light of a recent post on this blog, "Civil Filings Involving Sacred Heart Hospital Arising Out Of Unnecessary Procedures," Power Rogers & Smith, P.C. found the following article interesting and relevant. Recently, Denise Grady of the New York Times wrote an article titled "Hospitals Profit From Surgical Errors, Study Finds." This was a fascinating study done by the Times finding that hospitals make money from their own mistakes because the insurers end up paying them more for longer stays and extra cares. The article presented an interesting stance that 'we're working our tails off trying to lower complications, and the prize we're going to get is a reduction in profits." This article did not suggest that hospitals were trying to make money by deliberately causing complications, but did say that the current payment system makes it difficult for hospital to perform better because improvements can wind up costing them money.
Please read the article posted in its entirety below.

Hospitals Profit From Surgical Errors, Study Finds

Hospitals make money from their own mistakes because insurers pay them for the longer stays and extra care that patients need to treat surgical complications that could have been prevented, a new study finds.

Changing the payment system, to stop rewarding poor care, may help to bring down surgical complication rates, the researchers say. If the system does not change, hospitals have little incentive to improve: in fact, some will wind up losing money if they take better care of patients.

The study and an editorial were published Tuesday in The Journal of the American Medical Association. The study authors are from the Boston Consulting Group, Harvard's schools of medicine and public health, and Texas Health Resources, a large nonprofit hospital system.

The study is based on a detailed analysis of the records of 34,256 people who had surgery in 2010 at one of 12 hospitals run by Texas Health Resources. Of those patients, 1,820 had one or more complications that could have been prevented, like blood clots, pneumonia or infected incisions.

The median length of stay for those patients quadrupled to 14 days, and hospital revenue averaged $30,500 more than for patients without complications ($49,400 versus $18,900). Private insurers paid far more for complications than did Medicare or Medicaid, or patients who paid out of pocket.

The authors said in an interview that they were not suggesting that hospitals were trying to make money by deliberately causing complications or refusing to address the problem.

"Absolutely not," said David Sadoff, a managing director of the Boston Consulting Group. "We don't believe that is happening at all."

But, he said, the current payment system makes it difficult for hospitals to perform better because improvements can wind up costing them money.

Susan Pisano, a spokeswoman for America's Health Insurance Plans, a trade group for insurance companies, said in an interview that the study illustrated that the entire health care system needed to move away from what she called "the perverse incentives of the old fee-for-service system that emphasized quantity over quality, and toward methods of payment that reward better care."

The researchers say that to help reduce complications, insurers not only should quit paying for substandard care, but also should reward excellent care with bonuses. In addition, hospitals should be required to disclose their complication rates, because patients will shun those with high rates and force those hospitals to improve or shut down.

Dr. Barry Rosenberg, an author and a managing director of Boston Consulting, said the study came about because his firm was working with Texas Health Resources to find ways to reduce its hospitals' surgical complication rates, which, at 5.3 percent, were in line with those reported by similar hospitals. Part of that work involved analyzing the costs, and he said the team was stunned to realize that lowering the complication rates would actually cost the hospital money.

"We said, 'Whoa, we're working our tails off trying to lower complications, and the prize we're going to get is a reduction in profits,' " Dr. Rosenberg said in an interview.

The authors focused on one particular figure, called the contribution margin, which is an important measure of a hospital's income and ability to cover its costs. They said that when complications occurred, this measure tripled for patients with private insurance and doubled for those on Medicare.

Dr. Mark C. Lester, a study author and the executive vice president of Texas Health Resources, said its hospitals had begun to use a checklist system to help prevent complications. Dr. Atul A. Gawande, a Harvard surgeon who is a pioneer in using checklists and who took part in the Texas study, helped develop the system. Surgical checklists involve deceptively simple-sounding practices like double-checking the patient's identification and what part of the body is being operated on, and making sure that drug allergies have been noted and proper medications given.

Dr. Lester said it was not clear how low the complication rate could or should go. Zero would be great, but was not realistic, he said.

As to whether the hospital would lose money if more patients needed less care and went home sooner after surgery, Dr. Lester said, "to us that doesn't have an impact."

"Reducing complications and increasing safety is why we're there," he said. "If in doing that, some payments don't come our way, it's not of consequence. What's of consequence is that people who come to us are in a safer environment."

Dr. Robert M. Wachter, an expert on medical errors who was not involved in the study, said in an e-mail that Medicare and other payers had tried to encourage better care by refusing to pay for certain kinds of medical errors and cutting reimbursement if too many patients were readmitted or gave the hospital bad marks on patient-satisfaction surveys. But the new study "shows that we still have miles to go," said Dr. Wachter, the associate chairman of the department of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco.

Ms. Pisano, of the health insurance group, said Medicare and private insurers were already using a "never list" of things they will not pay for, like leaving a sponge or instrument inside a patient, or operating on the wrong organ or wrong limb.

In an editorial, Uwe E. Reinhardt, an expert on medical economics from Princeton University, called the study's findings "troublesome but not surprising." He called the current payment system "untoward," adding that it "can tempt otherwise admirable people into dubious conduct."

Continue reading "Hospitals Profit From Surgical Errors, Study Finds" »

Devon C. Bruce, Partner at Power Rogers & Smith, P.C., is pursuing lawsuits involving Sacred Heart Hospital's kickback schemes.

A motion to preserve evidence was filed in the Circuit Court of Cook County directed to Sacred Heart Hospital, and other respondents, to preserve and protect evidence concerning medical treatment rendered to the petitioners at Sacred Heart Hospital. This matter will be heard before Judge Rita Novak, a Judge at the Daley Center. Earlier this month, a federal indictment was filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois naming as defendants various physicians and officers of Sacred Heart Hospital. The federal indictment alleged that certain physicians and staff at Sacred Heart Hospital performed unnecessary surgical procedures and prescribed medications through an unauthorized physician in order to bill Medicare.

One of the petitioners who seeks to preserve and protect evidence, L.S., received medical care for an extended period of time by respondent, Dr. Kenneth Nave. Dr. Kenneth Nave was affiliated with Comprehensive Quality Inc. Foundation. Dr. Nave was the fifth physician named in the recent federal indictment. Dr. Kenneth Nave is alleged in the indictment to have been unauthorized to prescribe patients medications, but continued to do so.

The second petitioner who seeks to protect evidence, C.M., underwent multiple surgical procedures at Sacred Heart Hospital. One or more of these surgical procedures performed by the physicians at Sacred Heart Hospital was neither authorized nor medically necessary.

The petition to preserve evidence was presented and filed by Devon C. Bruce, a partner at the law firm of Power Rogers & Smith, P.C.. Mr. Bruce stated, "We want to preserve and protect this evidence as quickly as possible." Mr. Bruce further stated, "I feel confident that the evidence will establish that Sacred Heart Hospital and Comprehensive Quality Inc Foundation were clearly negligent in the retention and continued employment of these physicians. These patients and many others like them should never have been subject to unnecessary medical procedures and treatment."

If you have any questions, please contact Attorney Devon C. Bruce at 312-827-6105 or his assistant, Stacey Dalton, at 312-827-6109 or via email at sdalton@prslaw.com.

Continue reading "Civil Filings Involving Sacred Heart Hospital Arising Out Of Unnecessary Procedures" »

A 76 year old female underwent elective mitral valve surgery at Evanston Hospital on August 22, 2007. During the procedure, the bypass equipment failed to return a flow of oxygenated blood. The hand crank attempted to be used was ineffective which caused an arrest and led to brain damage followed by death on September 8, 2007. The decedent was survived by her husband and two adult children. Recently, the family's lawyers, Joseph A. Power and Joseph W. Balesteri of Power Rogers & Smith, P.C., settled the case for $2.8 million dollars.

On August 22, 2007, Ms. W. underwent elective mitral valve surgery at Evanston Hospital. The bypass pump utilized for returning oxygenated blood to Ms. W. while her valve was repaired failed. As a result, Ms. W. received low oxygenated blood and later no oxygenated blood for fourteen minutes. The perfusionist, who was an employee of Evanston Hospital, Mr. Brown, testified that there was a machine failure during the case. Defendant, Medtronic, Inc., was the manufacturer of the bypass machine and its accessory equipment, including the hand crank, which were relevant to this case. When the pumping apparatus failed, Mr. Brown looked for a cause, found none and then left Ms. W. and the machine to locate a hand crank to operate forward flow manually. Upon returning to the bedside, the hand crank would not seat on the external drive to permit Ms. W. to receive blood flow. Mr. Brown felt the design of the hand crank was not appropriate for use on the external drive while he attempted to seat the hand crank. Mr. Brown had never attempted hand crank use of an external drive in his career, nor had he been trained or drilled in such an application. Mr. Brown was unaware that two different Medtronic hand crank alignments were required depending upon the choice of what drives bypass forward blood flow - the external drive of the bypass console. The hand crank retrieved by Mr. Brown was a console hand crank which did not properly fit on the external drive. During the critical time for Ms. W., Mr. Brown attempted to fit the hand crank for the console on the external drive. In order to switch from the console mounted hand crank to a pole mount, Mr. Brown testified it would have taken him five to ten minutes. Eventually, while Ms. W. was experiencing brain damage due to anoxia, Mr. Brown left the room to bring in another machine as the surgery was finished.

The medical negligence aspect of the case related to the failure of the perfusionist to ensure the proper hand crank was available immediately for use prior to the case (as power failure and other system failures result in the immediate need of hand cranks from time to time to ensure adequate blood flow). Relative to the product case, the manufacturer of the device did not make it clear, through the sale of the equipment and its service contract with Evanston Hospital, that there should be an additional hand crank for the external drive available for the cases occurring at Evanston Hospital. There was a lack of training and information relative to the instructions for use conveyed to the perfusionist at Evanston Hospital by Medtronic in this regard. Ultimately, the hand crank used by Mr. Brown was ineffective which caused an arrest and led to brain damage followed by Ms. W's death on September 8, 2007.

Continue reading "Power Rogers & Smith Settles Medical Malpractice/Product Liability Lawsuit For $2.8 Million" »

Power Rogers & Smith, P.C. is currently investigating potential lawsuits on behalf of patients who have suffered from metallosis and other injuries after being implanted with the Stryker Rejuvenate hip implant. Stryker recalled their product in July 2012 due to a risk of corrosion.

Stryker's website says, "While modular-neck hip stems provide surgeons with an option to correct certain aspects of a patient's anatomy and hip biomechanics, we decided to voluntarily recall these modular-neck hip systems due to the potential for fretting and corrosion at the modular-neck junction which may result in ALTR (adverse local tissue reactions), as well as possible pain and/or swelling at or around the hip."

Stryker's warning continues by advising surgeons, "Surgeons should consider performing a clinical examination, such as blood work and cross section imaging on all patients who received a Rejuvenate or ABG II modular-neck hip stem regardless of whether a patient is experiencing pain and/or swelling. Repeat follow-up examination, such as blood work and cross section imaging, should be considered even in the presence of normal initial findings."

Patients who experience pain and/or swelling are advised to speak with their doctors. Should this fretting or corrosion occur, patients may be at greater risk for adverse local tissue reactions, metallosis, early revision, and other complications. Early reports show that some patients have reportedly developed metallosis after having the Stryker Rejuvenate hip device implanted. Although initially researchers and doctors believed that such a condition was not possible--because the Stryker Rejuvenate does not have a metal-on-metal ball and socket design--the Stryker hip device has a metal neck piece that can, under some conditions, rub against a metal stem, causing metallic debris to come loose. This metallosis is a very serious condition; in some instances this is proving to be a similar situation to that which was found in the DePuy Hip Implants which this blog has discussed.

If you or someone you know has received a Stryker Rejuvenate hip implant that failed or is causing pain, please contact Power Rogers & Smith, P.C. today to discuss your options and let us answer any questions you may have.

Following up on our Personal Injury blog from a few months ago, "DePuy Hip Implant Lawsuit Moves Forward for Illinois Plaintiffs" - recently, unsealed documents suggest that the medical-device firm knew about the specific hip implant risks.

In a front-page story of the New York Times released this morning, "Maker Aware of 40% Failure In Hip Implant," coverage continues on the lawsuits Johnson & Johnson faces over its 2011 hip implants recall. The New York Times noted that newly disclosed court records revealed that an internal analysis conducted by Johnson & Johnson in 2011 not long after it recalled a troubled hip implant estimated that the all-metal device would fail within five years in nearly 40 percent of patients who received it.

A trial, which is slated to begin Friday in California Superior Court, will consider what "officials of Johnson & Johnson's DePuy Orthopaedics division knew about the device's problem before its recall" and what, if any, actions they took to remedy the problem. The forthcoming trial is also expected to "provide a guide to the consequences" of the Articular Surface Replacement device issue both in terms of J&J's "finances and its reputation."

DePuy is a multi-national company owned by Johnson & Johnson that sells products used for repairing and reconstructing joints and other portions of the skeleton. It is the largest maker of replacement hips worldwide. The ASRs manufactured by DePuy belong to a category of devices known as "metal-on-metal" implants. Surgeons have largely abandoned such devices in standard hip replacements because their components can grind together, generating large amounts of metallic debris that damages a patient's tissue and bone.

During the last two years, nearly 10,000 Plaintiffs from all over the country have filed complaints against DePuy Orthopaedics for its role in designing, manufacturing, marketing and distributing faulty hip implants that led to serious and permanent injuries. Devon C. Bruce of Power Rogers & Smith, P.C. represents many of these Illinois Plaintiffs.

***Photo taken by Joshua Borough for the New York Times.

Continue reading "DePuy Hip Implant Update" »

On November 27, 2012, the Honorable Elizabeth Budzinski approved the settlement of a medical malpractice action brought on behalf of A. Moore, a minor, for injuries she suffered during her birth at Westlake Community Hospital. The lawsuit was filed against Jean Alexandre, M.D. and Westlake Community Hospital. The total value of the settlement was $1,150,000. The minor Plaintiff was represented by Todd A. Smith and Sean M. Houlihan of Power Rogers & Smith, P.C.

A. Moore's mother, Minerva Urbina, presented to Westlake Community Hospital to give birth. Dr. Jean Alexandre was her obstetrician. After what was termed a difficult delivery, A. Moore was born full term. During the delivery, Dr. Alexandre encountered shoulder dystocia, an acute obstetrical emergency where A. Moore's right shoulder became entrapped upon her mother's public synthesis bone. Upon encountering the shoulder dystocia, Dr. Alexandre and Nurse Marianne Grundler instructed Minerva to continue aggressively pushing. Two additional nurses, Nurses Kimberly Moten and Chang Jung, arrived in the delivery suite. Dr. Alexandre and Nurse Grundler continued to instruct Minerva to aggressively push and A. Moore was eventually delivered with bruising to her right shoulder and forehead, swelling and decreased right arm movement. A. Moore was subsequently diagnosed with a brachial plexus injury to her right arm.

Plaintiff's counsel argued that A. Moore's brachial blexus injury was caused by the negligence of Dr. Alexandre during the delivery. Specifically, Plaintiff's counsel argued that Dr. Alexandre was negligent and deviated from the acceptable standard of care in instructing Minerva to continue to aggressively push after encountering shoulder dystocia; by failing to intervene and/or prevent the application of fundal pressure by the nursing staff in the presence of shoulder dystocia; and by applying excessive lateral traction A. Moore's head during delivery. Plaintiff's counsel argued that these deviations caused and/or contributed to A. Moore's permanent brachial plexus injury.

Continue reading "$1,150,000 Settlement in Birthing Injury Lawsuit" »

Please read below for a statement from Gregory L. Shevlin, the current President of the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association. This is Mr. Shevlin's response to American Tort Reform Association's Junk Research Report.

American Tort Reform Association Scrooges' Annual Tradition of Attacking Civil Justice System Turns Holiday Season into Groundhog Day

Though it is the winter holiday season, one would be forgiven for assuming that it is "Groundhog Day" - at least as portrayed in the movie of the same name in which Bill Murray is forced to relive the same day over and over. Our version, unlike Murray's comedy, is a tragic tale about a collection of deep-pocketed special interests devoted to denying American citizens access to the court system that their tax dollars fund.

Each year at this time, the deceptively named American Tort Reform Association issues an update to its inflammatorily titled "Judicial Hellholes" report, employing junk research to stoke public fear and foster misperception about how the legal system works.
ATRA, and its Illinois affiliate, Illinois Lawsuit Abuse Watch, are among the many front groups around the country created to help corporations evade responsibility for wrongdoing by undermining the civil justice system. ATRA has received funding from a "who's who" of corporate giants interested in minimizing their financial exposure and avoiding accountability for acts and practices that cause harm and injury, including Altria (formerly Philip Morris), Dow Chemical, Exxon, Aetna, Geico, State Farm, Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson.

It's often only through our courts that citizens can get a fair shake, particularly when taking on such powerful special interests. No entity, government official or business should be permitted to use its power, however massive, to infringe upon the right of citizens to have their day in court.

The truth is that corporations don't fear frivolous lawsuits; they know our justice system screens out the very few suits that are without merit and that most tort actions involve businesses suing each other or individuals. What they fear are meritorious lawsuits: actions brought by citizens against corporations producing unsafe products, polluting air and water, swindling their employees, or otherwise acting irresponsibly.

Our legal system serves as a powerful deterrent against corporate misconduct. The real "judicial hellhole" is the one that ATRA and its allies wish to create: a court system in which regular citizens have no prospects for fair treatment and justice because their hard-won rights have been stripped away by powerful special interests. The Illinois Trial Lawyers Association fights efforts to change our laws to prevent corporations from avoiding legal responsibilities when they are grossly negligent.

There is reason for hope. The 2012 election demonstrated that Americans are tired of being lied to and preyed upon by a class of individuals and businesses that for too many years has been putting profits ahead of people. Bill Murray's character eventually made the right choices and was able to escape the torment of reliving the same day. So, too, can we by rejecting ATRA's self-interested propaganda and demanding elected officials preserve the constitutional rights that so many fought and died to secure for us.

A Judge in the Cook County Law Division has entered an order approving the settlement of a wrongful death action arising from the death of the 30 year old mother of 4.

Larry Rogers, Jr., a Partner at Power Rogers & Smith, P.C., was able to obtain a settlement for his client for $4.35 Million. It consists $3,000,000 from Defendants, Resurrection Health Care and St. Mary of Nazareth; $1,000,000 Million on behalf of Defendant, Dr Sadagopan; and $350,000 on behalf of Defendant, Dr. Hong Chan An.

This matter concerns an occurrence in which Mr. Rogers' client died as a result of medical malpractice associated with a brain bleed that went undiagnosed and untreated at Resurrection Health Care.

Mr. Rogers' client, Ms. J, was admitted to the hospital under the care and treatment of her family practice physician who was scheduled to deliver her full term fetus. During her labor, it was determined that she would need to deliver by C-section, therefore, a doctor specializing in Obstetrics and Gynecology was consulted. Because the delivery was going to be accomplished by C-section, Ms. J received an epidural. Anesthesiologist, Dr. An testified that in an attempt to administer epidural anesthesia, he made several attempts to introduce the 17 gauge needle into the epidural space but was unable to do so.

Ms. J was hospitalized for the next few days under the care of various doctors and nurses at Saint Mary of Nazareth Hospital. On her day of discharge she had she suffered headaches. She was eventually discharged without a work-up of her headaches.

Two days later Ms. J spoke with her doctor regarding her severe headache and was told to re-present to the hospital if the medications were not resolving her headaches. At about 5:30 p.m. that same day she re-presented to Saint Mary of Nazareth Hospital reporting that she had been suffering a headache for days. The hospital triage note describes the headache as "Unbearable 9-10" out of 10. The differential diagnosis reads "DDX: SubArachnoid Hemorrhage..." as the first likely condition. Despite this differential diagnosis, the Emergency Room physician and anesthesiology consultant failed to diagnose or rule out a subarachnoid hemorrhage or intracranial bleed by ordering a CT scan of the brain. As the evening progressed, Ms. J's pain became even worse. Ms. J was unable to stay in one position, and nursing notes describe her as screaming loudly due to the severe headache.

Despite Ms. J's complaints of a headache for hours in the hospital, no CT scan was performed until after 1 a.m., when she was comatose. Eventually a CT scan was completed at approximately 3:15 a.m. showing an intracranial brain bleed. The CT scan demonstrated an intracranial brain bleed which, at autopsy, was determined to likely be from an aneurysm rupture. Ms. J died the following day.

Plaintiff's case alleged that Saint Mary of Nazareth Hospital, by and through its physicians and nurses, failed to examine, work up, and treat Ms. J's complaints of headache. As a result, they failed to diagnose the sentinel bleed when the headaches originated, allowing it to become a severe intracranial hemorrhage. Had the complaints of the headaches been reported to the physicians and worked up early on, Ms. J would not have been discharged, and she would have been diagnosed and treated for the sentinel bleed before she suffered a massive aneurysm rupture.

Continue reading "Cook County Court Approves $4.35 Million Settlement In Medical Malpractice Action" »

On October 17th, 2012, Todd Smith, founding partner of Power Rogers & Smith, P.C., received the award for the Highest Reported Illinois Award for Psychiatric Malpractice. Mr. Smith was recognized at the 2012 Jury Verdict Reporter Trial Lawyer Excellence Awards which took place at the InterContinental Chicago Hotel.

Mr. Smith was honored for having obtained a $10.6 million settlement in a psychiatric malpractice case involving a Chicago area woman and her family.

The case involved a 29-year-old mother who checked into the psychiatric unit at Rush-Presbyte-rian-St. Luke's Medical Center, one of Chicago's most prestigious hospitals. For six years, she was under the care of Dr. Bennett G. Braun, a nationally recognized authority on multiple personality disorder (MPD), a mental illness in which the sufferer veers between two or more distinct personalities. Braun believed that MPD was the result of repeated childhood trauma, often sexual abuse.

Before her treatment was over, Mr. Smith's client would develop 300 personalities, attempt suicide twice, cut ties with her family in Iowa, and go to court to regain custody of her children. Mr. Smith's client spent more than two years in the hospital. Her children spent nearly three years in a hospital. After all of her hospitalization with Braun, her insurance company paid nearly $3 million for her treatment regimen.

Mr. Smith was quoted in the Chicago Magazine saying, "Psychiatric malpractice cases are extremely difficult because you can't see the injury--a jury won't be able to watch the plaintiff come into the courtroom in a wheelchair. I felt a professional responsibility to take this case. What happened to these folks seemed so egregious."

Mr. Smith worked up the case using six experts and reviewing nearly 10,000 pages of medical records and deposition transcripts. Eventually, Mr. Smith was ready to present the case that Braun had misdiagnosed his client's illness and that his experimental treatment regimen had not only violated the standard of care but also caused her severe emotional harm. "Everything about it was fringe therapy--the excessive hypnosis, the excessive levels of medication that weren't FDA approved, and the lengthy hospitalization," Mr. Smith said of the experimental treatment which his client received.

Eventually, Mr. Smith obtained a U.S. record $10.6 million settlement.

Following up from the blog post from last week, the AP is reporting that the first lawsuit has been filed relating to the Meningitis Outbreak. On Friday, October 12, the AP reported:

A Minnesota woman who may have received tainted steroid injections blamed for the nationwide outbreak of fungal meningitis sued the drug seller on Thursday, though she hasn't been diagnosed with the rare illness.

The federal lawsuit appears to be the first stemming from the outbreak, though many lawsuits are expected.

The suit alleges that Barbe Puro suffered headaches and nausea after receiving injections in her neck to ease chronic back pain in September, but she believed the symptoms weren't abnormal. She said she was later contacted by the Minnesota Department of Health, informing her that she may have received contaminated shots sold by the New England Compounding Center.

An update has been released by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on the number of confirmed meningitis cases and deaths related to the outbreak garnered widespread media coverage.

According to an Oct. 8 New York Times article, 97 people in 23 states have fallen ill from the growing outbreak of fungal meningitis, which has already claimed eight lives. More cases of meningitis are expected, with the Center for Disease Control and Prevention estimating that 13,000 people may have been exposed to the steroid which has been linked to the current outbreak, the Times reports. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention provided this figure based on reports from clinics and state health departments that used the steroid, which is injected near the spine to relieve back pain.

U.S. health officials reported Thursday that 14 people have now died and 170 have been sickened in the national meningitis outbreak apparently linked to contaminated steroid injections.

According to the New York Times, the New England Compounding Center, where all of the potentially tainted steroids were manufactured, has currently stopped operations and recalled all of its products. However, as of Monday, it is estimated that 17,676 doses of the steroid were shipped across the country, with Tennessee receiving a disproportionate share. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention reported that 75 health care facilities in the following states have received the steroid: Illinois; California; Connecticut; Florida; Georgia; Idaho; Indiana; Maryland; Michigan; Minnesota; North Carolina; New Hampshire; New Jersey; Nevada; New York; Ohio; Pennsylvania; Rhode Island; South Carolina; Virginia; Tennessee; Texas; and West Virginia.

The Times reports that shipments of the potentially tainted steroids were sent out starting on May 21 and that patients who received lumbar epidural steroid injections for back pain after this May 21, should see a doctor if they develop symptoms of meningitis. These symptoms include sensitivity to light, fever, headache or a stiff neck.

According to the Times article, further testing revealed a fungus in the patient's spinal fluid, a rare finding which led the doctor to inquire as to whether the patient recently received any unusual treatments.

Continue reading "Patients Exposed to Meningitis-Linked Steroid Injection" »

Last week Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc. and parent company Johnson & Johnson on Thursday announced a $181 million settlement with 36 states and the District of Columbia over charges of marketing anti-psychotic drugs for non-approved uses.

Janssen Pharmaceuticals, a unit of Johnson & Johnson, will pay $181 million to settle charges that it marketed antipsychotic medications for medically unapproved purposes. The payouts will go to 36 states, plus the District of Columbia, which brought consumer fraud charges against Janssen for allegedly deceptively marketing the drug Risperdal to providers treating patients with Alzheimer's and dementia. It has been reported that while the drug is meant to treat schizophrenia, it is not approved for these other conditions. Although it is legal for physicians to prescribe drugs such as Risperdal for unapproved indications, manufacturers are forbidden from promoting the drug to providers for such uses.

The AP reported that New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has argued that Janssen "engaged in deceptive practices from 1998 to at least 2004 in the marketing of the drugs Risperdal, Risperdal Consta, Risperdal M-Tab and Invega." For example, Janssen is accused of "promoting Risperdal, which is used to treat schizophrenia and other mental illnesses, for non-approved uses including dementia, anger management and anxiety."

Additionally, Schneiderman is quoted as saying "This landmark settlement holds the companies accountable for practices that put patients in danger, and serves as a warning to other pharmaceutical giants that they must play by one set of rules. It goes further by ensuring that the corporations stop rewarding doctors for prescribing certain drugs or presenting scientifically-suspect studies as sound."

In response, Janssen did not admit wrongdoing as part of the settlement, under which it agreed it would not promote the drugs for off-label uses or make misleading claims. Janssen President, Michael Yang, stated, "We have chosen this path to achieve a prompt and full resolution of these state claims and to ensure we continue to focus on our mission of providing medicines to meet the significant unmet needs of many people who suffer from mental illness."

For a more in-depth look and at this article, please look at the recent article in Businessweek.

Continue reading "Pharmaceutical Company Pays $181M Over Drug Marketing" »

Earlier this week the Missouri Supreme Court struck down a $350,000 limit on jury awards for pain and suffering in medical malpractice cases. The case before the court stemmed from a lawsuit filed by Deborah Watts of Springfield, Missouri, whose son, Naython, was born with catastrophic brain injuries at Cox South Hospital in 2006 after a delay in receiving an emergency C-section. A Greene County jury last year awarded Watts nearly $5 million, which was then reduced under the cap law. However, the Supreme Court held limits on awards to be unconstitutional, and found that the Missouri constitution established "the right to a trial by jury" and that "include[s] a jury's deciding how much the damages would be."

For more information on this story, click on the news links below.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports, "The Missouri Supreme Court struck down on Tuesday a $350,000 limit on jury awards for 'pain and suffering' in medical malpractice cases, saying the law violates a patient's right to a jury trial." The Supreme Court held in a 4-3 decision that the cap "infringes on the jury's constitutionally protected purpose of determining the amount of damages sustained by an injured party."

The Springfield (MO) News-Leader reports that Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon (D) "said his office is continuing to review Tuesday's Missouri Supreme Court ruling striking down damage caps for medical malpractice suits." The governor did not indicate whether he was in favor of restoring the caps. Nixon is quoted as saying, "The bottom line is we want a system where doctors can focus on providing quality care for their patients and the rights of patients are protected."

The AP adds that "the ruling was praised by plaintiffs' attorneys, who had opposed the 2005 law while warning that it could leave injured, ill and disabled residents without enough money to compensate them for their dramatically altered lifestyles." Kansas City attorney Tim Dollar, president of the Missouri Association of Trial Attorneys, is quoted as saying, "Everyone who believes in the constitution should be thrilled with this decision."

Power Rogers & Smith, P.C. thanks the American Association of Justice (AAJ) Daily News Brief for alerting them to these news articles.

A string of lawsuits have been filed after a medical technician was arrested at a Massachusetts hospital and charged with fraudulently obtaining controlled substances and tampering with a consumer product. The medical technician who, had previously been diagnosed with hepatitis C, would inject himself and contaminate syringes that were later used on patients.

See below for links to news articles on this story.

The AP (7/24, Ramer) reports, "One of the 30 people believed to have contracted hepatitis C from a traveling medical technician in New Hampshire is suing a Nebraska-based health staffing agency. Robert Fowler of Seabrook was diagnosed with the blood-borne viral disease in June, 14 months after he underwent a cardiac catheterization at Exeter Hospital." Now, "in a lawsuit filed Sunday in federal court in Nebraska, Boston lawyer Domenic Paolini alleges that Triage Staffing Inc. was negligent in hiring, employing and supervising" David Kwiatkowski "as a traveling technician and in sending him to Exeter." Kwiatkowski stands accused of injecting himself with stolen drugs from the catheterization lab, then using the contaminated syringes on patients.

Kansas Department of Health warning of possible hep C exposure at Hays Medical Center. The Boston Globe (7/23, Conaboy) "White Coat Notes" blog reported, "The Globe reported Saturday that the former Exeter Hospital medical technician accused of infecting more than 30 patients with hepatitis C worked in recent years at hospitals in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Maryland, and New York." Now, according to the AP, "officials in Kansas also are working to notify about 460 patients treated at Hays Medical Center who may have been exposed."

The Wichita (KS) Business Journal (7/23, Subscription Publication) reported in its "WBJ Morning Call" blog that "Hays Medical Center and the Kansas Department of Health and Environment are warning about 460 former Hays Med patients about possible exposure to hepatitis C." According to the Hays Daily News, those "patients being notified were those who were treated in the cardiac catheterization lab between May 24 and Sept. 22 of 2010. At that time, David Kwiatkowski, who has been accused of causing a hepatitis C outbreak in New Hampshire, worked at the Hays lab."

As published in the American Association of Justice (AAJ) Daily News Brief