Surgical Errors | Cirignani Heller & Harman, LLP

Every year thousands of surgical errors occur. Surgical errors are different from bad outcomes, which are the known risks of undergoing a surgical procedure. The document you sign before surgery called a “consent” form, is where the doctor lists these known risks. The consent you give, however, must be “informed;” that is, the doctor must […]

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 Expertise Helps Identify Doctor Errors During Surgery. There are many reasons for surgical errors. One is the failure of the surgeon to recognize that a postoperative complication is related to the surgery itself. Some complications occur because a surgeon fails to recognize the unusual anatomy of an individual patient and ends up either cutting something […]

One thing you can always count on during a trip to the doctor’s office is signing some paperwork.  There will probably be an intake document that provides or confirms your information. It should also disclose the reason for your visit. You will also likely have a form explaining your HIPPA rights. Also among the forms you receive, […]

The commercial aviation and the airline industry are subject to very strict government regulation. In the event of a crash, it is not the airline, nor the manufacturer that investigates what went wrong. No, a separate governmental agency, whose job is only to examine transportation disasters, handles the investigation. The accident or crash reports can […]

Surgeons and patients are not thinking about fires when they enter a hospital operating room.  There are so many things that take priority at that moment. For the patient, this is an opportunity to improve their quality of life.  For a surgeon, this is what they are trained to do. Too often, unfortunately, they are […]

Surgical infections are a threat to patient safety for all who undergoes any surgery. The skin is marvelously effective at protecting us from infection, but once that seal is broken, things can go terribly wrong. With any surgery, the incision is necessary and the implement that may be used can itself carry an additional risk of […]

Patient safety should be the top priority of every hospital and medical professional. Unfortunately, it seems that when a procedure is not performed regularly by a surgeon the risk to their patient jumps significantly. For example, the national death rate from a knee replacement surgery is about 1 in 1000. Patients that have that surgery […]

Victims of a medical mistake are often dealing with difficult emotions and are understandably mad, sad, frustrated, confused, and in pain. They are looking for justice. Victims find themselves in a difficult position at a time when they are emotionally and financially drained.  The complexity of a medical negligence lawsuit can seem very overwhelming. Just recently the […]

The very nature of surgery is risky without taking into account the possibility of surgical errors and/or medical negligence. The consequences of which can be very difficult for victims to cope with. Whether the consequences are physical, financial, emotional, or a combination, they can permanently affect a person’s well-being. Sadly, many of these errors are […]

The relationship between a patient and the doctors and nurses treating that patient is a delicate one. Patients have to trust and rely on medical professionals to use their extensive training and experience, but that doesn’t mean patients are okay being left in the dark when it comes to certain medical decisions. This is why […]

Every patient in the hospital should know that there is at least some risk associated with any medical procedure. There is really no guarantee that an operation or course of treatment will be completely safe or effective. However, people should be able to have reasonable expectations that medical staff will do whatever they can to […]

After a tragic plane or automobile crash, we often read that investigators will know more about the incident after they check the “black box.” These devices record data that proves to be crucial in determining what went wrong and under what conditions the accident occurred. The information gathered from the black box can be crucial […]

When people go to the hospital for a surgical procedure, there is the expectation that doctors and nurses will treat every patient with a standard level of care. Of course, there is the possibility of a complication arising before, during or after any procedure, but we put faith in the skills and judgment of the […]

Illinois readers may be shocked by the years of suffering a man from another state had to endure as a result of the incompetence of a physician. A jury recently awarded $9.1 million to the victim who lost his leg as a result of surgical complications. Compounding the trauma of losing his leg, the patient […]

A woman who underwent vocal cord surgery is today unable to speak. Her story, however, speaks loudly and recently resulted a medical malpractice settlement totaling $30 million dollars. As the 55-year-old woman lay on the operating table, the surgery that was supposed to provide relief instead took her voice and left her with painful and […]

Technological and medical advances have streamlined the work Cook County doctors and hospitals do. Surgical robots have been employed for more than a decade, particularly in less-than-traditionally-invasive laparoscopic surgeries. U.S. Food and Drug Administration safety regulators monitor products, including medical devices, used to treat patients. Health care professionals and product manufacturers are responsible for informing […]

When choosing who to hire to remodel a basement or fix a car, consumers are able to read reviews and testimonials. Based on this information, an individual is likely to choose the service provider whose reviews are more favorable. While these types of consumer rating systems are readily available for many industries, the medical field […]

Carelessness is not exclusive to accident-prone people. When you trip over a child’s toy, who’s to blame – the daughter who was told to put away her things or you for not watching your step? Consequences of careless actions vary. An at-home mishap could result in a bruise, cut or, in your daughter’s case, a […]

Testimony in a medical malpractice lawsuit against an orthopedic surgeon suggests that the defendant not only botched the operation, but that he should never have tried to perform it in the first place. One expert witness said that the procedure the defendant attempted, inserting a metal plate onto the patient’s clavicle, was like trying to […]