A federal wrongful death lawsuit alleging that a community health center failed to properly treat a pregnant mother’s diabetes, resulting in the stillbirth of her son, has been settled for $575,000.

The mother, Ammee Price, filed the lawsuit individually and as special administrator for her deceased son, Christopher E. Price, Jr., pursuant to the Illinois Wrongful Death Act. The mother received treatment at a federally-funded, community-based health center that is a public health service agency of the United States. The United States was the defendant in the case, which was filed in accordance with the Federal Tort Claims Act.

The complaint alleged that the health center failed to appropriately counsel the plaintiff regarding the risks of hyperglycemia and pregnancy, failed to appropriately treat her diabetes, failed to order and provide Non-Stress Testing and biophysical profiles for the well-being of the fetus, failed to appreciate and respond to the mother’s poor glycemic control, and/or failed to schedule an earlier delivery date based on the mother’s poor glucose control, and that these failures resulted in her child’s stillbirth at 38 weeks gestation on August 23, 2009.

The lawsuit sought damages for the mother’s pecuniary loss, grief, sorrow, and mental anguish; loss of her son’s love, affection and society; and funeral and burial expenses.

The lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois in East St. Louis, which approved the settlement.

Paul Greenberg is a Chicago wrongful death lawyer with Briskman Briskman & Greenberg. To learn more call 1.877.595.4878 or visit http://www.briskmanandbriskman.com/.

Posted in Personal Injury, Wrongful Death
Tags: Ammee Price, Federal Tort Claims Act, Illinois Wrongful Death Act, Non Stress Testing, United States, wrongful death | No Comments »

An Illinois mother has filed a lawsuit against the University of Chicago Medical Center (UCMC) and attending physicians after her son suffered birth injuries allegedly as the result of a Caesarean section. The lawsuit claims that the child’s injuries are the result of medical malpractice.

The mother filed the lawsuit on December 20, 2012 in the Circuit Court of Cook County, acting as her son’s guardian. The plaintiff seeks damages for her son’s injuries.

The child was born by Caesarean section on December 25, 2004. According to the complaint, the C-section surgery resulted in a 1.5 centimeter facial laceration on the child’s left temple, which required several stitches. The lawsuit alleges that the attending physicians failed to exercise the proper level of care in performance of their responsibilities and caused significant harm to the infant.

Medical errors such as those alleged in this lawsuit are preventable. Most hospitals have safety protocols to prevent injury to the infant during a C-section. Medical errors during C-sections can result in conditions that can have lasting and tragic results for the affected child, such as cerebral palsy, brain damage and hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy.. Medical costs can be significant.

Patients who have been injured during treatment, or whose children have been injured by medical malpractice, should seek the advice of an attorney.

Paul Greenberg is a Chicago medical malpractice lawyer and Chicago medical malpractice attorney with Briskman Briskman & Greenberg. To learn more call 1.877.595.4878 or visit http://www.briskmanandbriskman.com/.

Posted in Medical Malpractice, News and Press, Personal Injury
Tags: Briskman Briskman Greenberg, Chicago medical malpractice, Chicago medical malpractice attorney, Chicago medical malpractice attorneys, chicago medical malpractice lawyer, Chicago medical malpractice lawyers, Chicago personal injury attorney, Chicago personal injury lawyer, Illinois medical malpractice attorney | No Comments »

The company that owns the school bus involved in a recent fatal collision north of Chicago has been involved in a number of personal injury lawsuits. The accident has also focused attention on the dangerous intersection where the collision took place, and on the question of whether seat belts should be required for school buses.

The accident occurred April 5 in Lake County, when a school bus collided with a Jeep Cherokee and a Jeep Wrangler at an intersection near Wadsworth. The driver of the Jeep Wrangler was killed; none of the school children had serious injuries. There is a dispute as to whether the bus ran a red light. According to reports, the bus driver is 55 years of age and has been a licensed bus driver for 10 years, with a clean driving record.

According to a report by CBS 2, Durham School Services, the company that owns the bus involved in the accident, has been named as a defendant in three personal injury lawsuits in the past two years. A settlement was reached in one case and the other two are pending. Durham School Services said that safety is the company’s top priority and the company will cooperate fully with authorities investigating the accident.

Public attention has also been brought to the intersection where the accident occurred: the corner of Kilbourne Road and Route 173 near Wadsworth in suburban Lake County. According to the Illinois Department of Transportation, between 2004 and 2011, 53 accidents took place at the intersection, with a total of 24 people injured and one killed. It is described as a “high-severity crash” intersection. Traffic lights were installed just last year with the goal of improving safety.

Meanwhile, although the school children on board the bus escaped with only minor injuries, the accident has spurred renewed calls for mandatory seat belts on school buses. State Rep. Lou Lang, a Skokie Democrat, has pushed for new school buses to be equipped with shoulder and lap belts for students. Lang has been working for such legislation for 10 years, with little success.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), school buses are one of the safest transportation methods for school kids. The chance of a fatal crash for children is 60 times greater if they are driving themselves to school or riding with a friend, and riding with parents is still much more dangerous than riding a school bus. The sheer size of school buses allows the force of a crash to be dispersed, and occupants are protected by closely-spaced, heavily padded seats.

Bob Briskman is a Chicago vehicle accident attorney with Briskman Briskman & Greenberg. To learn more call 1.877.595.4878 or visit http://www.briskmanandbriskman.com/.

Posted in News and Press, Personal Injury, Wrongful Death
Tags: CBS, Durham School Services, Jeep Wrangler, Lake County, Skokie Democrat, State Rep | No Comments »

A former police officer for the village of Maryville has been indicted by a grand jury in Madison County, Illinois on charges related to an alleged fraudulent workers’ compensation claim.

Richard Turner is facing charges relating to a claim he made in 2009 while employed by the Maryville Police Department. Turner is alleged to have reported suffering an injury to his back while on the job. The Village of Maryville paid employment compensation to Turner, and its insurer paid his medical expenses.

Upon discovering questionable circumstances, internal investigators with the police department determined that Turner’s injury did not take place at work. The results of the investigation were presented to the grand jury. Turner has been charged with two counts of felony theft, Class 1 and Class 2, and is also facing two counts of violating the Workers’ Compensation Act, which is a Class 4 felony. He has since resigned from the police department.

Circuit Judge Rich Tognarelli set Turner’s bond at $10,000. He faces a maximum penalty of four to 15 years in prison for the Class 1 felony, three to seven years for the Class 2 felony, and one to three years for the Class 4 felony.

Bob Briskman is a workers compensation attorney and Chicago workers compensation lawyer with Briskman Briskman & Greenberg. To learn more call 1.877.595.4878 or visit http://www.briskmanandbriskman.com/.

Posted in Personal Injury, Work Accidents
Tags: Bob Briskman, Chicago injury lawyer, Chicago personal injury attorney, Chicago personal injury lawyer, Chicago workers compensation, Chicago workers compensation attorney, Chicago workers compensation attorneys, Chicago workers compensation lawyer, Chicago workers compensation lawyers, Circuit Judge Rich Tognarelli, Maryville Police Department, Richard Turner, Workers Compensation Act, workers compensation attorney Chicago, workers compensation attorneys Chicago | No Comments »

A former Illinois restaurant owner has been awarded $2.1 million by a jury in a medical malpractice case over injuries he suffered during medical treatment after a motorcycle accident.

The Milwaukee County, Wisconsin jury found that the doctor that treated Daniel Nelson was negligent in providing medical care. The hospital and other medical personnel were not found negligent.

Nelson was awarded medical and health care expenses of $994,716 and $1 million in damages for pain and suffering. Nelson’s wife was awarded $50,000 for loss of consortium and his son was awarded $65,000 for lack of companionship and society. At the time of the accident, Nelson’s son was just over a year old.

The doctor’s attorney said that her client had exercised the proper standard of care and strongly disagreed with the verdict.

According to Nelson’s attorney, Nelson and his wife were involved in a motorcycle accident in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin in September of 2000, and both were severely injured. Nelson was at Froedtert Hospital in Milwaukee for 13 months. During rehabilitation, Nelson’s tracheotomy tube became obstructed. The lawsuit alleged that the doctor did not call for an emergency team in a timely manner. As a result, Nelson was in a persistent vegetative state for seven weeks and has problems with speech and memory.

Prior to the accident, Nelson owned an Illinois restaurant for 20 years.

Paul Greenberg is a Chicago medical malpractice lawyer and Chicago medical malpractice attorney with Briskman Briskman & Greenberg. To learn more call 1.877.595.4878 or visit http://www.briskmanandbriskman.com/.

Posted in Medical Malpractice
Tags: Briskman Briskman Greenberg, Chicago medical malpractice, Chicago medical malpractice attorney, Chicago medical malpractice attorneys, chicago medical malpractice lawyer, Chicago medical malpractice lawyers, Chicago personal injury attorney, Chicago personal injury lawyer, Daniel Nelson, Illinois medical malpractice attorney, Lake Geneva | No Comments »

A wrongful death lawsuit has been filed against a Belleville doctor for allegedly prescribing an improper pain medication that caused a patient’s death.

The lawsuit was filed on February 1 in St. Clair County Circuit Court by Nanette Stein, daughter of Lena Williams and special administrator of her estate.

The complaint alleges that Williams received treatment in March of 2012 at the Southern Illinois Brain and Spine Center and was prescribed Fentanyl transdermal, a pain medication in patch form that is designed to deliver 50 micrograms of the drug per hour. According to the lawsuit, Williams suffered a heart attack and died two days after beginning the medication. Stein alleges that an excessive dose of Fentanyl caused the heart attack.

The complaint alleges negligence and wrongful death and seeks damages in excess of $300,000 for medical expenses and other costs.

According to a report by the Institute of Medicine, errors regarding medication are among the most common mistakes made by medical personnel, resulting in injuries to at least 1.5 million people annually. Medical errors on the whole are estimated to cause between 44,000 and 98,000 preventable fatalities per year in the United States, with 7,000 of these deaths resulting from medication errors.

Paul Greenberg is a Chicago wrongful death attorney and Chicago wrongful death lawyer with Briskman Briskman & Greenberg. To learn more call 1.877.595.4878 or visit http://www.briskmanandbriskman.com/.

Posted in Wrongful Death
Tags: Briskman Briskman Greenberg, chicago wrongful death attorney, chicago wrongful death lawyer, Lena Williams, personal injury attorney, personal injury lawyer, United States, wrongful death | No Comments »

A federal lawsuit has been filed by a man who claims he suffered from birth defects as a result of his mother taking the medication Depakote while she was pregnant with him.

Depakote, or valproate, is a medication used to treat epileptic seizures, manic depressive disorder and migraine headaches. However, its use by pregnant women has been associated with side effects that include birth injuries such as spina bifida, cleft palate, genitourinary malformations and cognitive defects.

The plaintiff, Jasper James, claims that his mother took valproate during the early months of her pregnancy and he was subsequently born with spina bifida. The case was filed in the U.S. District Court, Southern District of Illinois, naming Abbott Laboratories, the manufacturer of Depakote, as the defendant. The plaintiff seeks a jury trial and damages in excess of $75,000, exclusive of interest and costs.

The lawsuit accuses Abbott Laboratories of inadequate testing, defective design, failure to properly warn, and distribution of a medication that presented dangers to the health of the unborn. The complaint claims that the defendant sought to downplay the risks of the drug.

According to allegations in the lawsuit, medical research has determined that other anti-epileptic drugs are less risky than Depakote for women who are pregnant or may become pregnant. One study found the rate of birth defects to be ten times greater with Depakote than with other similar drugs. The complaint claims that the defendant was aware of birth defects associated with Depakote on or before the date it began selling the drug in the United States.

Bob Briskman is a Chicago birth injury lawyer and Chicago birth injury attorney with Briskman Briskman & Greenberg. To learn more call 1.877.595.4878 or visit http://www.briskmanandbriskman.com/.

Posted in Medical Malpractice
Tags: Abbott Laboratories, birth injury, birth injury lawyer, Briskman Briskman Greenberg, chicago birth injury attorney, Chicago medical malpractice, Chicago medical malpractice attorney, Chicago medical malpractice attorneys, chicago medical malpractice lawyer, Chicago medical malpractice lawyers, Chicago personal injury attorney, Chicago personal injury lawyer, District Court, Illinois medical malpractice attorney, Jasper James, United States | No Comments »

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) has released final data from 2011 on nonfatal on-the-job illnesses and injuries that required days away from work.

The rate of such injuries was 117 cases for every 10,000 full-time workers, which was statistically the same rate as 2010. The total number of cases with days spent away from work was 1,181,290, also statistically unchanged from 2010. This included all work injuries in state and local government and private industry.

The median number of days away from work was 8, a figure that is used to measure the severity of the work injury or illness.

Twenty percent of work injuries or illnesses requiring days away from work occurred in just five occupations: nursing aides and orderlies, laborers, janitors, police officers and truck drivers. The incidence rate for police officers was five times higher than the average for all occupations, and the rate for laborers was three times higher than the average.

Thirty-three percent of all cases were musculoskeletal disorders (MSD). Truck drivers who suffered MSD injuries were out of work for a median 21 days, compared to the average of 11 days out of work for all workers suffering from an MSD injury.

The preliminary count of fatal work injuries for 2011, according to the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries, was 4,609, a slight decrease from the count of 4,690 in 2010. Since 2006, fatal work injuries have decreased 21 percent.

Bob Briskman is a Chicago workers’ compensation attorney and Chicago workers compensation lawyer with Briskman Briskman & Greenberg. To learn more call 1.877.595.4878 or visit http://www.briskmanandbriskman.com/.

Posted in Work Accidents
Tags: Briskman Briskman Greenberg, Chicago construction accident attorney, Chicago construction accident lawyer, Chicago injury lawyer, Chicago personal injury attorney, Chicago personal injury lawyer, Chicago workers compensation, Chicago workers compensation attorney, Chicago workers compensation attorneys, Chicago workers compensation lawyer, Chicago workers compensation lawyers, MSD, workers compensation attorney Chicago, workers compensation attorneys Chicago | No Comments »

The executor of the estate of a woman who passed away is continuing her personal injury lawsuit against Zimmer, Inc. for injuries she allegedly suffered as the result of a hip replacement.

Mary Jo Ott filed the lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. Ott died at the age of 66 of causes unrelated to the hip replacement. The executor of her estate, Jori A. Greybill, continued with the lawsuit pursuant to the Survival Act.

The lawsuit alleges that as a result of the hip replacement, Ott experienced pain and suffering, disfigurement, disability and loss of a normal life, as well as medical expenses and lost income.

According to the complaint, on June 1, 2004, Ott underwent a surgical placement of the Zimmer Trilogy Constrained Liner right hip prosthesis, which was designed, manufactured and sold by the defendant.

The lawsuit alleges that as Ott was walking into a store in 2008, the polyethylene prongs and reinforcing rings both fractured, causing her right hip to dislocate and her to fall to the ground. As a result, Ott experienced pain and suffering and required further medical procedures, including a revision of her hip prosthesis.

The complaint claims that parts of the hip prosthesis fail under normal use, or that it is otherwise dangerous and defective.

The lawsuit seeks compensatory and punitive damages in excess of $75,000.

The defendant, Zimmer, Inc., recently filed a motion for summary judgment, claiming that the plaintiff had not provided expert testimony to support the allegations in the lawsuit. Judge William Hart denied the motion, as the plaintiff had provided the expert testimony of the orthopedic surgeon who performed the original hip replacement surgery and the surgeon who performed the revision procedure in 2008.

This is not the only lawsuit filed against Zimmer for the Trilogy prosthetic hip system. In January of 2012, a Texas man filed a lawsuit claiming that he experienced complications just 15 months after having a Trilogy prosthetic hip implanted, and that he too had to have revision surgery.

The Food and Drug Administration sent a letter to Zimmer in September, 2012, warning the company that its factory in Puerto Rico, where the Trilogy device is manufactured, lacked the proper mechanisms to perform tests on the device. Without a testing mechanism, the company would be unable to determine whether the hip replacement systems matched design specifications. Zimmer said that it has addressed the problem.

Robert Briskman is a Chicago personal injury lawyer and Chicago personal injury attorney with Briskman Briskman & Greenberg. To learn more call 1.877.595.4878 or visit http://www.briskmanandbriskman.com/.

Posted in Medical Malpractice
Tags: Chicago medical malpractice, Chicago medical malpractice attorney, Chicago medical malpractice attorneys, chicago medical malpractice lawyer, Chicago medical malpractice lawyers, Chicago personal injury attorney, Chicago personal injury lawyer, Illinois medical malpractice attorney, Judge William Hart, Mary Jo Ott, Puerto Rico, Survival Act, Zimmer Trilogy Constrained Liner | No Comments »

The parents of a student at Northern Illinois University (NIU) who died during a fraternity initiation party have filed a wrongful death lawsuit blaming the fraternity and its members for his death. The lawsuit alleges that fraternity members made the new pledge drink dangerous amounts of alcohol and then took no action when he lost consciousness.

The morning after a November 1, 2012 initiation party, David Bogenberger’s body was found in the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity house. Bogenberger, a 19-year-old graduate of Palatine High School near Chicago, had a blood alcohol level nearly five times the legal limit.

The lawsuit also names 22 fraternity members as defendants, all of whom also face criminal charges. Five fraternity leaders have been charged with felony hazing.

Gary Bogenberger, David’s father, filed the lawsuit, alleging that leaders of the fraternity’s local chapter required new pledges to drink dangerous amounts of alcohol as a condition of membership.

The lawsuit claims that the Pi Kappa Alpha national organization failed to ensure that its chapters were properly warned about the dangers of excessive drinking and failed to make sure that the Eta Nu chapter was adhering to the fraternity’s policies on hazing.

The lawsuit was filed in Cook County Circuit Court and requests unspecified damages.

According to experts, there have been over 100 total recorded deaths due to hazing, and 82 percent of hazing deaths involve alcohol.

Paul Greenberg is a Chicago wrongful death attorney and Chicago wrongful death lawyer with Briskman Briskman & Greenberg. To learn more call 1.877.595.4878 or visit http://www.briskmanandbriskman.com/.

Posted in Wrongful Death
Tags: chicago wrongful death attorney, chicago wrongful death lawyer, Cook County Circuit Court, David Bogenberger, Eta Nu, Gary Bogenberger, Palatine High School, personal injury attorney, personal injury lawyer, Pi Kappa Alpha, wrongful death | No Comments »