Illinois Injury Lawyer Blog

A petition for certiorari has been filed with the Supreme Court of the United States, asking the Court to reconsider whether a cruise line may be held liable for the medical malpractice of the physicians it hires. Earlier this year, the Florida Supreme Court held that the cruise line would not be held liable because the cruise line disclaimed liability for the doctor in the fine print on its cruise tickets and because of the Fifth Circuit case of Barbetta v. S.S. Bermuda Star. In the petition, lawyers for the girl injured by the doctor’s medical malpractice argue that Barbetta should be overruled because it is based on the assumption that a sick passenger at sea somehow has a meaningful choice of physicians to choose from.

Continue reading "Petition for certiorari filed in cruise line medical malpractice case" »

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Posted In: Injuries to Minors and Children , Jones Act and Maritime law , Medical Malpractice

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Buried in the fine print of many consumer contracts for credit cards, new homes and cars are clauses that stack the deck against American consumers, forcing you to give up your rights to seek justice through the courts. These contracts force you to surrender your rights before a dispute even occurs. Binding mandatory arbitration forces victims into arbitration, instead of letting the courts and juries decide the outcome of the dispute. Many lives are ruined each year due to this injustice. However, you can make a difference and make your voice be heard!

Please Click here to email your congressman in support of the Arbitration Fairness Act of 2007.

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Posted In: Tort Reform

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Diabetes drug Avandia should not be kept on the market because of heart risks associated with taking the drug and the drug’s lack of any unique short-term benefits in keeping blood-sugar levels under control for diabetics, announced a federal scientist today.

Glaxo Smith Kline, maker of the Avandia drug disputes these recommendations.

Currently, the FDA is meeting to decide whether Avandia should be completely pulled from the market or restricted. The FDA was alerted to the risks of Avandia by a New England Journal of Medicine study that revealed a 43% higher risk of heart attack of those taking Avandia compared with people taking alternative or no diabetes medication.

Patients who have suffered from heart attacks or heart problems and who have taken Avandia may be able to file a lawsuit for these injuries.

Click here for the full article

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Posted In: Medical Malpractice , Products liability , pharmaceuticals

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The father of two Chicago teens has filed a personal injury lawsuit against the 15 year old boy who drove an SUV into a crowd of teens after a fight in Durkin Park. The automobile accident occurred shortly after a conflict between two groups of teenagers was allowed to rampage out of control when 51 calls to 911 was insufficient to summon the police for almost half an hour. The two boys in the lawsuit, aged 17 and 14, were friends with another boy who had been rendered unconscious during the brawl. They were attending to their friend when the defendant in the lawsuit drove an SUV into the boys and six other people. As a result, one of the boys suffered personal injuries including a leg fracture, a shoulder fracture, and a head injury requiring 14 head staples, while the other boy's injuries include a knee injury and a head wound.

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Posted In: Automobile Accidents

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A Florida jury has recently awarded nearly $45 million personal injury and wrongful death verdict to the family of a nine year old girl who was killed in an automobile accident involving a truck. The girl, 9, and her friend, 8, were riding in a car with the girl's mother. Both children were fatally injuredwhen a truck coming from the opposite direction turned into their car's path. The mother has also suffered serious personal injuries from the automobile accident, and most of the personal injury award derives from her permanent injuries and mental anguish. The mother, who was two months pregnant at the time of the collision, lost her baby, was permanently disfigured, and suffered brain damage.

Click here for the full article

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Posted In: Automobile Accidents , Injuries to Minors and Children

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American Airlines in Chicago, Illinois has been fined over $200,000 for safety violations at O’Hare Airport. The violations run from concerns over machine guards, electrical safety, trip and fall hazards, blocked exits, and improper storage of oxygen and acetylene cylinders. The hazards all pose serious risks of personal injury and workplace injury to employees of American Airlines, as well as other employees and patrons of the airport.

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Posted In: Electrical Safety , Fire Safety

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The Illinois Appellate Court recently ruled that a magnetic sign advertisement placed on the side of an employee’s vehicle would not be sufficient to subject the employer to personal injury liability for an automobile accident if the employee was on a purely personal mission. In the Second District case of Nulle v. Krewer, No. 2-06-0947 (July 17, 2007), the Defendants were the driver and the driver’s employer, Leifer Builders. The driver was required to have a car for work so that he could run errands for work and travel between job sites. The purpose of the magnetic signs was to both identify the driver when he arrived at work sites and also to advertise for the builder while the driver was on the road.

Continue reading "Vehicle advertising insufficient to subject employer to auto accident liability" »

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Posted In: Automobile Accidents

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The pedestrian who was hit by the car of a New Jersey politician has settled her personal injury case for $1,175,000. The woman was crossing the street in a crosswalk when she was struck by state senator Robert W. Singer’s suv. As a result of the car accident, the woman suffered a fractured arm, a fractured leg, fractured ankles, and a concussion. This is not the first automobile accident that the New Jersey state senator has been involved in. In 2001, a man died when the senator was unable to avoid another motorist who suddenly pulled out in front of him. Nor is this the first time the senator has hit a pedestrian. In 1997, the senator struck two pedestrians who stepped out between two parked cars and into the street. The two pedestrians admitted that they had been drinking heavily that evening.

Click here for the full article.

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Posted In: Pedestrian

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Certain cans of hot dog chili sauce have been linked to four cases of botulism. The last cases of botulism in the U.S. date back to the 1970s. Botulism is caused by a toxin made by a bacterium and is a muscle-paralyzing disease. The paralysis can lead to the inability to breathe unless supported by a ventilator or eventually death. Symptoms of botulism include double or blurred vision, drooping eyelids, slurred speech, difficulty swallowing, dry mouth and muscle weakness that moves down the body. It is important to discard all of the recalled cans and not open them. Even if the toxin just contacts your skin, you could become ill.

Click here for a full list of recalled products and more information

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Posted In: Food Poisoning , Toxic Torts

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While she was walking her own dog down the street, a Midwest woman suffered personal injuries from a pit bull dog bite on the hand. The pit bull was found by two teenage boys who had the pit bull on a leash while trying to find its owner. The pit bull saw the woman and her dog from across the street, managed to break free from the boys’ control, and began attacking the woman’s dog. When the woman tried to pry the dogs apart, the pit bull bit the woman’s hand, causing injuries that have since prevented the woman from working at her factory job. The injuries to the woman’s dog were also severe, including deep fang groove marks and bites to her hind leg, tail, and between her shoulders.

Click here for the full article.

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Posted In: Animal and Dog Bites

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The Centers of Disease Control and Prevention and The Federal Drug Administration have issued an alert regarding an anesthetic called Propofol and marketed as Diprivan. After receiving the drug, a number of patients have complained of chills, fever and body aches. If you or someone you know has been given Propofol general anesthesia or sedation and experienced fever, chills, and body aches or other symptoms afterward, please report the incident to the MedWatch program. Anyone exhibiting those symptoms after use of the drug should be tested for bacterial sepsis. No product liability lawsuits have been filed as of yet.

Click here to view the FDA alert

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Posted In: Current Issues , Products liability , Toxic Torts , pharmaceuticals

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Parents of the girl whose feet were severed while on an amusement park ride have filed a personal injury lawsuit against the amusement park for failing to maintain the ride and for failure to ensure riders' safety. Doctors have been able to treat the child's injuries by reattaching the girl's right foot. However, they were unable to save the girl's left foot. Lawyers for the girl are requesting a judge to order the amusement park not to destroy the steel cables that snapped and severed the girl's feet.

Click here for the full article
Click here for a previous post on the accident

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Posted In: Amusement Park Accidents , Land Owner liability

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Earlier this month, a wrongful death lawsuit was filed when a New Jersey man was killed by a New Jersey transit train. As he departed the train, the doors closed on the man. Then, as the train began to pull away from the station, the man shouted and ran along with the train, trying to get the attention of the train's crew. His efforts were unsuccessful and the man was ultimately run over by the train. Subsequently, the crew members of the train were terminated.

At a New Jersey Transit board meeting, the union that represents those crew members said that the agency should not have fired the crew members so summarily. The union argues that an important safety feature of the doors was not working properly. A safety advisory issued by the Federal Railroad Administration warned against possible product defects with the switches that are supposed to prevent trains from moving when doors are open.

Click here for the full article
Click here for a previous post on the accident

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Posted In: Products liability , Train Accidents

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A wrongful death lawsuit has been filed against a Chicago area Park District for failing to warn of a hazard that the Park District knew about. While on a fishing trip last summer the woman's 4 year old son fell into the Kankakee River. The woman jumped into the water after her son. The boy's uncle and another nearby former Marine sergeant also went after the boy. All three of them died. They were in an area by the South Island Dam, which is one of several low-head dams in Illinois. Once the woman, uncle, and former Marine were trapped in the roiling waters by the dam, they were unable to escape.

Prior to these three drownings last year, the Park District knew of 15 other drowning deaths in the past 25 years. The wrongful death lawsuit alleges that the Park District was willful and wanton in its disregard for people's safety by not posting signs about the hazards of the water and by not ensuring that people did not get drawn in to the dangerous currents.

Click here for the full article.

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Posted In: Accidental Drownings

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Two people who came down with salmonella food poisoning after eating hummus from Pars Cove restaurant at the Taste of Chicago have recently filed a personal injury lawsuit. The lawsuit alleges that the Lakeview restaurant failed to properly inspect, store, package, or otherwise prepare the food in a manner that caused them to get sick. One of the two named plaintiffs claims that she became sick the day after she went to the Taste. She began to believe that her symptoms were not merely flu related when vomiting, diarrhea, and fever grew worse over the course of another three days. When her family doctor sent her to the hospital, her illness was confirmed as salmonella food poisoning. The woman is currently taking antibiotics to fight the salmonella, but she has not yet been able to work over the last two weeks.

Click here for the full article.

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Posted In: Food Poisoning

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Gerber Products recently announced a product recall on its organic oatmeals and organic cereals. The products, sold in 8-ounce boxes, have caused instances of choking because some of the products contain lumps that would not dissolve in milk or water. Thus far, no injuries to children have been reported due to the products. Customers are instructed to call Gerber's parent resource center to return the product for a refund.

Click here for the full article.

Posted by Levin & Perconti | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Injuries to Minors and Children , Products liability

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A Chicago family recently became the first to file suit in Cook County Circuit Court against Con-Agra Foods for product liability over salmonella contracted from tainted peanut butter. All four members of the family became ill after eating peanut butter sandwiches. The mother and her children ages 9, 10, and 13 all began to show symptoms of salmonella poisoning, vomiting and severe cramps, after eating the sandwiches. The mother later noticed that the jar of peanut butter in her house was one of the recalled jars of Con-Agra peanut butter: Peter Pan and Great Value-brand peanut butter bearing the code 2111 on the lid. The mother required rehydration at an area hospital, and her children missed over a week of school; all family members suffer residual effects.

Click here for the full article

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Posted In: Current Issues , Injuries to Minors and Children , Products liability

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Reports of food poisoning resulting from food eaten at a booth during the Taste of Chicago continue. The source of the food poisoning and salmonellosis has been tracked down to the hummus served by Pars Cove restaurant in Chicago, Illinois. City officials have disclosed that 32 cases of salmonella poisoning have been confirmed while there have been reports of almost four hundred people who have complained of salmonella-like symptoms. Symptoms of salmonella include nausea, abdominal cramping, and diarrhea within 6 to 72 hours of exposure. The Lakeview area restaurant has been ordered to stop serving its hummus in its restaurant until a full investigation is completed.

Click here for the full article.

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Posted In: Food Poisoning

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1. The number of tort cases in U.S. district courts decreased by79% between 1985 and 2003.
2. The number of civil trials in state courts fell 47% between 1992 and 2001
3. The number of tort cases in state courts dropped 32% between 1992 and 2001
4. The median inflation-adjusted award in all tort cases dropped 56.3% between 1992 and 2001

Proponents of "tort reform" have pointed to the notorious frivolous lawsuits in the news. They have cited a study by a insurance consulting firm claiming that consumers bay a $200+ billion cost for the legal system. The Congressional Budget Office, Business Week and the Economic Policy Institute have all produced data disproving the insurance company promoted study. The studies reveal that the numbers put forth are not supported, the cost estimates include the millions of dollars in insurance industry profits and over exaggerate the impact of the tort system while ignoring its benefits and promoting the limitation of Americans' legal and Constitutional rights.

Click here for the full article

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Posted In: Current Issues , Tort Reform

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