Category: Medical Error | CHH Law

When dealing with medical challenges, understanding the difference between surgical errors and surgical complications is essential—especially when considering legal action. Surgical errors are preventable mistakes that deviate from the accepted standard of care, such as performing surgery on the wrong site or leaving instruments inside a patient. These types of errors often serve as clear […]
Medical Error + Medical Malpractice + Surgical Errors

The phrase “no news is good news” can be dangerously misleading in healthcare settings, especially when silence masks overlooked details or critical errors. In fact, nearly 40% of medical malpractice claims involve diagnostic mishaps, often tied to failures in communication. Patients must take an active role in their healthcare by insisting on clear communication regarding […]
Medical Error + Patient Safety

The Chicagoland area is home to some of the nation’s most prestigious hospitals and medical facilities, but even in a city renowned for its healthcare services, medical negligence and surgical errors are common. At CHH, a law firm specializing in medical malpractice in Chicago, we’ve seen how the unique characteristics of this urban healthcare landscape […]
Doctor Errors + Hospital Negligence + Medical Error + Surgical Errors

A study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine found evidence that July is indeed the most dangerous month to be treated at teaching hospitals, verifying the long-presumed existence of the “July Effect.” The Study Methodology & Findings Researchers analyzed data from 39 previous studies. Based on the best-quality studies, they found that patient deaths […]
Hospital Negligence + Medical Error + Medical Malpractice + Patient Safety

Do I have a medical malpractice case? Bad medical outcomes are an unfortunate reality of medical care. Sometimes they occur despite the doctor’s and patient’s best efforts to heal. While a bad medical outcome does not always mean that medical malpractice has occurred it may be worth it to ask the question: “Am I a […]
Doctor Errors + Medical Error + Medical Malpractice

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, […]
Doctor Errors + Medical Error

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 […]
Civil Justice + Hospital Negligence + Medical Error

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. […]
Medical Error + Medical Malpractice + Surgical Errors

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 […]
Doctor Errors + Medical Error + Patient Safety

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 […]
Civil Justice + Medical Error + Medical Malpractice + Patient Safety

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 […]
Medical Error

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 […]
Civil Justice + Medical Error

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 […]
Medical Error

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. […]
Medical Error

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 […]
Doctor Errors + Medical Error

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 […]
Medical Error

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 […]
Medical Error

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 […]
Medical Error

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. […]
Medical Error

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 […]
Medical Error