Medical Error | Cirignani Heller & Harman, LLP

When people visit doctors, they place trust in their physicians’ education, expertise and professionalism. They enter the doctors’ offices or hospitals believing that their illness or injury will be correctly diagnosed and treated. What many people are surprised to learn, however, is how incredibly often medical errors occur. Medical errors include inaccurate diagnoses, incomplete treatments, […]

The third leading cause of death in the United States is preventable medical errors (440,000 deaths/year). These deaths are not caused by illnesses or the medical conditions that caused these victims to seek medical care in the first place. They are caused by mistakes made in the hospital that could have been prevented. These mistakes can […]

A spinal cord injury is a terrible event.  It will change victims’ lives dramatically, leaving them to deal with problems like difficulty breathing, paralysis, and often bouts of severe pain.  Every year around 17,000 spinal cord injuries (SCI) occur in the United States. Unfortunately, 5% of those injuries occur as a result of medical/surgical procedures. […]

Avoiding doctor errors is something everyone wants to do.  After all, a visit to the doctor or a hospital is about feeling better, not worse.  Most of the time patient safety is a high priority for healthcare professionals. Unfortunately, there are times that mistakes are made and patients find themselves worse off than when they […]

A bad medical outcome is an unfortunate result of receiving medical care.  Every patient that receives medical care does so with the intention to get better and heal. When that doesn’t happen patients can rightfully be very frustrated. While a bad medical outcome does not always mean that medical malpractice has occurred it may be […]

There’s a lot of bad information about medical malpractice lawsuits. Some think it’s a “get rich” quick scheme and sadly too many lawyer advertisements make it seem that way, but it is not. Others think medical malpractice cases are a scourge that must be stopped. This thinking has caused legislators to pass tort reform laws that make […]

Change is hard. At some point in time, everyone has had to try to change a habit in order to improve at something. That kind of change is hard because people get comfortable in their routines. It is difficult because people have to act deliberately to avoid slipping into their old habits. That kind of change […]

No one likes admitting they made a mistake.  It is no fun owning up to where you fell short.  In the world of medicine, this is amplified.  A recent study published in The Journal of Patient Safety found that it is the exception, not the rule that Patients who are victims of a medical mistake or […]

Why does transparency matter? We are a society that makes purchasing data based on research and comparison. We want to read others’ reviews of services and service providers before we buy. We are genuinely curious about how well they performed the service. We think it is valuable to know how well their customer service was […]

We live in a day and age when the advances in technology are having a profound effect on how well doctors and hospitals can treat us and keep us healthy. Tablet computers and smartphones give doctors incredible access to information and tools to help them be better doctors. At Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Dr. […]

A fire in the operating room is probably the last thing on any patient’s mind on the day they go in for surgery. It is also probably the last thing on their surgeon’s mind as well and understandably so. Atul Gawande an author and Professor of Surgery at Harvard Medical School says “Our great struggle […]

People in Chicago often shudder to think about the long hours doctors may be working. Hospital doctors tend to work very long shifts, and many patients and their families might wonder if such schedules could lead to fatigue and related medical errors. In 2011, an oversight board did decide to curb the length of shifts […]

Several weeks ago on our Chicago medical malpractice law blog, we mentioned that medical malpractice lawsuits may take several years to resolve. Even though doctors’ errors may leave patients with permanent or disabling injuries, patients may not get the compensation they need to truly move on with their lives until they spend several years fighting […]

When a Chicago doctor makes a mistake while caring for you, the outcome of his or her negligence may have drastic effects on your life. While no one wants to go through a medical malpractice lawsuit, you may need to in order to recover expenses for medical bills and receive compensation for other damages. The […]

The digital age has created a host of distractions. Yes, it has also made an astonishing amount of information available at the mere click of a computer mouse. But when it comes to the delivery of medical care, the distractions of overly-wired doctors can be a problem – and raise the risk of medical malpractice. […]

Walk into any medical facility in the Chicago area and throughout the entire United States and you will find a sterile, pristine and bright building filled with doctors and nurses who have obtained advanced degrees and have attended extensive training seminars to learn how to care and treat patients who suffer from a variety of […]

It’s estimated that more than 100,000 Americans have been exposed to dangerous infections such as HIV and hepatitis in the past decade. This is not through any action of their own; it is due to contaminated medical devices. Among those contaminated devices used were reused needles or vials of medicine that were dipped into more […]

While a hospital may seem like a safe place to stay, that’s not always the case. Hospital workers have a lot to pay attention to with patient care, and as one new doctor learned, sometimes simple safety issues are overlooked. A Harvard Medical School graduate learned some of her most valuable lessons — particularly about […]

Whether a surgery is considered to be a simple or complicated procedure, Chicago surgeons and medical workers who are responsible for prepping patients, performing the operations and caring for patients afterwards must be focused on providing quality care at all times. Any surgery comes with risks, but doctors and nurses can lower these risks significantly […]

Doctors must follow the acceptable standard of care for their profession. When they neglect to follow the standard of care or act in a way that deviates from the standard and their actions/inactions cause harm to a patient, they can be held accountable through a medical malpractice lawsuit. While med mal laws vary from state […]