Illinois Deserves the Truth

Edwardsville Ed Board Comes Out Swinging

The Edwardsville Intelligencer wrote a commendable editorial on the med mal cap issue yesterday.  They’re right when they say egregious malpractice cases are more complicated than they appear.  Caps, of course, ignore this fact, and apply the same standard to all cases, which only hurts victims of the most serious cases.  My favorite part of the editorial is when they tamp down on the false cries that docs were leaving the state before the law passed:

Did more than 170 doctors in the Metro East area really leave? Again, all we have are words.

In fact, repeated requests in the past from this newspaper for proof have never — and we repeat, never — been met with any kind of verifiable evidence.

In one instance we even found several area doctors named as leaving who, when contacted, adamantly denied ever considering such a move. Another doctor notified patients that he was leaving only to show up a short while later with another office in a different part of Madison County.

Sounds fishy to me.  And yet this was supposed to be "tort reformers'" main argument for caps?

Illinois News Roundup

IL Attorney General Lisa Madigan is suing seven companies responsible for mortgage scams targeted at struggling homeowners.

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After a derailment killed two and injured 80 others, Metra agreed to pay the families of the deceased $11 million.

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A Cicero woman overdosed and died from a leaky “pain relieving” skin patch in 2004.  Her family just won their suit against the manufacturers.

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A Chicago woman who contracted HIV from her kidney donor sued the hospital, which never told her the donor was high-risk.

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Apparently, there is a coal company downstate that has no qualms about the civil justice system.  It filed a lawsuit against federal pollution regulators.

Med Mal Caps, in Court and in the News

The state state Supreme Court just listened to oral arguments over IL's 2005 medical malpractice caps law.  To coincide, the Illinois Times ran a story this morning outlining the issue.  It features quotations from CJ&D executive director Joanne Doroshow, and - what do you know? - actually presents the perspective of victims.  This perspective has been lost underneath a lot of biased reporting this year (here, here, here for a few examples), so it's nice to see a news organization honestly explain to the public what, and who, this issue is ultimately all about.

“In a very, very serious case, a cap like this is very cruel to the patient,” Doroshow says. “Especially if we’re talking about a child that is catastrophically injured and will need compensation for the rest of their life. There really is a tremendous hardship on families.”

Check out the story here.

Med Mal Caps Law in IL Supreme Court Tomorrow

It’s been a long time coming.  Almost a year ago exactly, a Cook County Circuit Court Judge declared Illinois' cruel 2005 caps law unconstitutional.  The case went to the state Supreme Court, with oral arguments slated for tomorrow morning.  We don't need to repeat why this law must be struck down (see here, here, and all over our blog).  It is unlawful, cruel and harmful to the most vulnerable patients, and does not alleviate malpractice insurance costs.  Hopefully, the High Court follows the lead of previous decisions and puts patients' rights over Big Insurance.

Illinois News Roundup

Illinois will pocket $3 million from a 33-state settlement over deceptive marketing practices by drug manufacturer Pfizer.

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The FDA announced a new website for consumers looking into current FDA safety efforts.  Visit it at http://www.fda.gov/cder/drugSafety.htm.

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Doctors misdiagnosed a 33 year old Chicago man's heart condition five times, leading to an infection and eventually a permanently disabling stroke.  Last week, the man settled his lawsuit with those responsible.

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Another faulty children’s product recall: this time it’s 1.6 million Delta cribs responsible for several infant deaths.

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The Department of Justice and AGs from 13 states – including neighbors Iowa and Missouri - filed a lawsuit to stop a merger of two of the nation’s top beef packers. 

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The FDA denied Illinois-based Abbott Labs’ request for approval of their extended-release Vicodin.

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Read this sobering article about how seniors have had to watch their legal rights slowly stripped away in recent years.

Ethics Lesson for Inventor/Surgeon

Ran across this AP story this morning.  A Chicago-area woman has filed suit against a surgeon who implanted a new heart device inside her without her consent.  The device eventually had to be removed, and now the woman may face a heart transplant.  What makes the story unusual is that the surgeon, also the inventor of the device, collects royalties for using it.  He says he gives away the royalty money, but ethically, it seems he still finds himself in a little hot water.

Medical ethics experts say surgeons should inform their patients if they will receive royalties on a device they may use in surgery. Patients involved in medical research also must be told and agree to take part by signing an "informed consent" form.

"It's not hard to tell a patient, 'You may be receiving a device for which the physician receives royalties,'" said Maisel, who also is former chair of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Circulatory System Devices Panel. "Then the patient may say, 'I'm not comfortable with that. Pick one of the other devices.'"

Illinois News Roundup

The New York Times reports that 94% of nursing homes violated federal health and safety standards last year.  The rates were high for all types of facilities, but it's no surprise that for-profit homes were the worst offenders.

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Chicago-based Walgreen must pay $10 million for submitting false claims to Medicaid programs in four states.

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The editorial writers at the Southern urge the Department of Justice to investigate the Marion VA hospital deaths for criminal actions.

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The Urbana school district and negligent employees agreed to settle a lawsuit with a girl sexually abused by her former teacher, Jon White.

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A jury recently sided against the Belleville Diocese in a sex abuse trial.  With the diocese trying to wiggle its way out of taking responsibility for its actions, victim advocates want an audit conducted to prove it has the ability to pay.

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Memo to meat-eaters: beginning today, the new 'Country of Origin Label' rule will tell you the nationality of your every entree.

More Comes Out About Woodstock 'Angel Of Death'

You might remember the horrific story of elderly abuse that broke in Woodstock, where two nursing home employees were arrested in connection with as many as six patient deaths.  The Illinois Department of Public Health finally released its report, which suggests the deaths may have been intentionally caused, and far from the "mercy killings" that some made them out to be. 

A 130-page report from the Illinois Department of Public Health claims the nurse told co-workers she gave restless patients drug cocktails to keep them calm and flatly stated that "she made sure" one patient would not make it through the day.

The same nurse, when speaking about a 56-year-old patient with Down syndrome, told a co-worker "Those people aren't meant to live that long. They are meant to die in their teens and I'm going to help him along," the report states.

Reacting to the report, the IDPH fined the facility $360,000.  My first reaction was, how about compensation for the families of these poor victims?  Two have so far filed lawsuits.  My other thought brought me back to earlier this year, when our General Assembly missed a chance to strengthen the rights nursing home abuse victims to seek redress.  Remember the Nursing Home Liability Insurance bill?  It's scary to think that tragedies like this happen in Illinois, yet our nursing homes still are not required to carry liability insurance.

Special Supreme Court Sneak Peak

Cross Post from The Pop Tort by Andy Hoffman

Attention civil justice fans!  The U.S. Supreme Court is about to start a new term, so we thought we’d give you the heads up on some interesting cases coming your way…

Wyeth v. Levine:  We’ve already mentioned that this case was front-page news in the New York Times last week.  Expect to hear a lot more about it in the days ahead.  At stake are tens of thousands of product-liability suits by consumers against drug companies for causing injuries or death, and whether the pharmaceutical industry should have complete immunity when they put unsafe, sometimes lethal drugs on the market.  (Not to mention, Levine’s compensation for her amputated arm!)

Van de Kamp v. Goldstein:  Thomas Goldstein, imprisoned for 24 years on a wrongful murder conviction, says that prosecutors failed to share crucial information about a jailhouse informant’s testimony during his trial, leading to his wrongful conviction.  The justices must decide whether someone in Goldstein’s position may sue prosecutors for damages, or whether the prosecutors are entitled to absolute immunity. 

Fitzgerald v. Barnstable School Committee: This case involves a kindergarten student in Hyannis, Mass., who was sexually harassed on the school bus by an 8-year-old boy. The parents sued the school district over their daughter’s treatment.  The suit was based on several different laws, one of which was federal Title IX, which prohibits sex discrimination in federally funded schools. Title IX doesn’t allow individual lawsuits, so the issue is whether a suit can still be brought under other laws, including the U.S. Constitution.

Ashcroft v. Iqbal: the court will consider whether Attorney General Ashcroft and FBI Director Robert Mueller can be “sued damages by the Muslim men who were rounded up and imprisoned under harsh conditions in the immediate aftermath of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.”  The government settled with one victim, but another, “a 33-year-old cable television installer on Long Island at the time of his arrest” who was tortured in a Brooklyn prison, is pursuing his case.

The Real Cost of Medical Malpractice

Last week, a mother in suburban Chicago agreed to a $5.5 million settlement with the doctors and hospital responsible for leaving her son permanently disabled at birth.  Their mistake means a lifetime of harm for Angel Liberato.  Now six, he is unable to walk, talk or feed himself.

What makes stories like this especially scary is the chance that the state Supreme Court will uphold our brutal caps law this fall, which could end up affecting many cases like this.  Angel is exactly the type of victim caps hurt the most—children who suffer life-altering tragedies (look at how similar this story is to the case currently challenging caps in the Supreme Court).  Fortunately, Angel's accident happened in 2002, three years before caps passed.  But just imagine what would've happened if it had been law in 2002.  He and his mother probably wouldn't have been awarded what they were.

Judges, juries and others involved in a suit—who actually listen to the details and are aware of the special care that victims like Angel will require for the rest of their lives—clearly have a better idea of what is appropriate compensation than politicians in Springfield.  Yet, it's the politicians who passed a law that puts a one-size-fits-all label on victims' tragedies, essentially saying Angel's case is no different than any others.