Articles Posted in In The News

A man is suing an Orland Park surgeon for medical malpractice after he allegedly botched a procedure to remove his gallbladder.

The plaintiff, Alfred Matthews filed the lawsuit against Dr. James R. O’Donnell and Advocate Health and Hospitals Corporation on December 23rd.

In the complaint, Matthews states that he had undergone an operation in order to have his gallbladder removed on September 6 at South Suburban Hospital. During the surgery Dr. O’Donnell allegedly severed Matthews’ common bile duct accidentally. Matthews further claims that O’Donnell did not repair the mistake during the surgical procedure.

It’s interesting to note that the cumulative spending on malpractice payments against anesthesiologists has fallen dramatically in recent years, from $174.4 million in 2005 to $91.1 million in 2013. This data is part of a new study that was obtained from the National Practitioner Data Bank (NPDB). The trend today, however, seems to have shifted and has shown an increase in claims occurring filed in the outpatient setting.

Despite the recent shift toward outpatient services, Richard J. Kelly, MD, JD, MPH, FCLM, an anesthesiologist from the University of California, Irvine School of Medicine noted that little is known about the effect of practice setting on malpractice payments in anesthesiology.

Using data obtained from the NPDB, in the 2,408 payments for malpractice that were made during the nine-year period, 567 (23.5%) were for outpatient events and 1,841 (76.5%) were for inpatient cases.

When you go to a doctor’s office with a specific complaint, of course you want to have that condition accurately diagnosed and effectively treated. No one wants an incorrect diagnosis or a treatment that can potentially lead to permanent damage or even further injury. Because of an alleged misdiagnosis, however, two doctors and the Panto Eye Center in Cook County, Illinois are now facing a lawsuit from a couple for alleged malpractice. The couple claims that the misdiagnosis of the wife’s eye condition has left her with such a permanent injury.

According to court documents filed by Mary Ellen Krezel and Robert J. Krezel on December 29th in Cook County Circuit Court, the plaintiffs claim that Dr. Peter J. Panton and Dr. Robert W. Panton, individually and as agents of the third defendant, Panton Eye Center P.C., misdiagnosed Mrs. Kretzel’s condition.

In the filed complaint, the couple claims that Mary Ellen Krezel had sought treatment at the Panton Eye Center for pain after suffering from swelling of her left eye between December 30, 2013 and March 30, 2015. The plaintiffs allege that the defendants misdiagnosed Krezel’s pain, eye swelling and corneal ulcers; including failing to run the proper tests and prescribe appropriate medication. Krezel claims she suffered permanent injuries as a result of the misdiagnosis, as well as ongoing medical expenses.

Certain medications are controlled by the government due to their side effects. The government is keen to keep people from becoming addicted to dangerous yet medically useful drugs like opioids, and to keep these drugs from entering the illegal drug market. When someone is caught exploiting their access to these drugs the punishments are harsh.

A physician’s assistant has been sentenced to 11 years in prison for a conspiracy that distributed 125,000 medically unnecessary oxycodone pills. Oxycodone is an opioid frequently given for pain relief. According to the prosecuting attorney, this scheme persisted for nearly three years. The pills were given to patients who did not require it. In fact, most of the patients were just charged a flat fee of $250 in cash for the pills in visits that didn’t last longer than 1-2 minutes. For the $250, the patients received packages of 150 30-mg tablets. The culprit also charged additional fees for other medically unnecessary prescriptions.

When doctors abuse their privileges, it hurts us all in the form of health care costs and drug addictions. If you believe your doctor is running a pill farm, report them to the authorities.

A huge Medicare fraud case may finally be coming to an end in New Orleans. In a scheme involving $50 million in fraudulent claims, two doctors and a registered nurse were sentenced to jail for their role in the plot. The sentencing of four other people is expected to begin this week, and at least six others were indicted during the investigation.

Between 2007 and 2014, the owner and operator of Medical Specialists of New Orleans submitted claims to Medicare for home health services. The indictment cliams that 88% of the over 9,000 claims made were fraudulent. These services were either medically unnecessary or were simply not delivered at all. The sentences handed down so far include years in prison and millions of dollars in restitution.

When health professionals conspire to defraud insurance companies and federal health programs, the costs are passed down to the average consumer. This is one of the reasons why medical costs are so high in this country. It could be considered a form of malpractice as well. For instance, if one of the undelivered medical services in this case was indeed necessary and caused harm, it could open the provider up to further liability.

Most malpractice cases involve a patient or their family suing a doctor or medical institution. But can a separate third party file a malpractice suit against a hospital for something their patient did? The New York Court of Appeals just ruled on such a case, and they’re allowing the malpractice suit to go forward.

Here’s the situation. A patient at South Nassau Communities Hospital was given opioid narcotics and anti-anxiety drugs intravenously. Two hours later, the patient was driving home, crossed a double-yellow line, and hit a bus. The bus driver sued the hospital saying that they should have warned the patient that the drugs could impair her ability to drive.

The hospital says they have a duty of care to warn the patient that a drug can cause impairment, but that duty doesn’t extend to third parties. In a 4-2 decision, the Court of Appeals do say that doctors have a duty of care to explain the dangers of drugged driving that extends to third parties. Now the malpractice case can continue.