Illinois Injury Lawyer Blog

The Circuit Court of Kane County approved a $6.5 million settlement in an Illinois trucking accident/Illinois wrongful death lawsuit brought by the family of a 32 year-old Illinois woman. The woman died exactly two years ago when a tractor-trailer owned by Geils Farms rear-ended the pick-up truck that the Illinois wrongful death victim was riding in with her husband and three year old son. Police determined that the driver was under the influence of marijuana when the Illinois truck accident occurred. The family of the Illinois wrongful death victim was represented by Chicago injury lawyer John J. Perconti of Levin & Perconti.

Throughout the course of the Illinois truck accident lawsuit, several incidents of negligence were uncovered. First, it was revealed that the farm owners did not randomly drug screen their drivers, in violation of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s regulations. Second, they failed to perform background checks on their drivers or obtain a copy of each driver’s driving record. Third, the defendant farm was in violation of the federal regulations by operating an over-loaded semi, which they allowed the defendant driver to operate. Following the collision, it was discovered that the truck’s left rear turn signal was inoperable, five of the ten brakes were not properly adjusted, and some of the truck’s brake pads were contaminated.

The fatal Illinois truck accident happened two years ago when the victim and her family were headed to visit a pumpkin patch. The defendant driver did not recognize the vehicles in front of him and struck the vehicle from behind at a high rate of speed. The collision pushed and crushed the vehicle into a stopped IDOT truck. The Illinois wrongful death victim was pronounced dead at the scene.

To read more about the Illinois truck accident lawsuit, follow the link to the Northwest Herald.

A new report released by the American Association for Justice announced that the United States Chamber of Commerce (“Chamber”) enters two lawsuits weekly to advance its own agenda while blocking justice for everyday Americans. Earlier this month, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce President and CEO referred to litigation as “one of our most powerful tools for making sure that federal agencies follow the law and are held accountable.” However, just this week, the Chamber held its yearly “Legal Reform Summit” where it schemes attempts to undermine the civil justice system and weaken the basic protects of everyday American workers and consumers. The annual Chamber event is underwritten by its multinational corporate members.

The American Association for Justice hits the target in addressing the Chamber’s hypocrisy in blocking justice for everyday Americans while simultaneously using the civil justice system liberally for its own pro-corporate agenda. The report exposes that the Chamber is one of the most aggressive litigators in our nation’s capital city, filing pro-corporate lawsuits at a rate of over twice weekly! AAJ President described that the Chamber has one rule for corporations and another rule for everyone else, which comes at the “expense of ill-treated workers, defrauded investors, and injured consumers.” The Chamber willingly and frequently spends millions of dollars in the courtrooms to prevent citizens from holding wrongdoers accountable in those same courtrooms! The Chicago injury lawyers at Levin & Perconti could not agree more!

Some examples of the Chamber’s litigation on behalf of corporations, and at the expense of Americans’ health or security, include: defending the most conceited and worst behaved corporate CEOs and their excesses; trying to force workers rather than employers to pay for their safety equipment; filing multiple actions opposing any move to combat climate change; and spending years defending big tobacco, asbestos, and other companies accused of significant product liability. The Chamber has to face the truth that the right to justice belongs to all Americans, not just the companies with the biggest pocketbooks.

To read the entire American Association for Justice report on the Chamber of Commerce’s hypocrisy, follow the link.

After the DePuy hip implant news, people with the recalled hip product are concerned about what they should do now. Whenever any dangerous product is recalled, people are concerned about how the product recall affects them. A whole new level of dangerousness and concern is added to the situation when the actual recalled product is implanted in the patient. You may not even be certain whether you have a recalled DePuy hip replacement; be sure to call your doctor to find out whether or not you have a DePuy hip implant.

Even if your hip implant has not failed you, you may want to consult a Chicago product liability lawyer. You need to be tested for metallosis, which is caused when metal shards separate from the device and are absorbed by the surrounding tissue. Over 93,000 of these hip implants have been recalled by the company.

DePuy product liability lawsuits have been filed against DePuy, alleging that the company was defectively designs and have resulted in high failure rates. The DePuy hip implant lawsuits also allege that the product was also not adequately tested or studied, resulting in increased risk of complications, pain, and revision surgeries. The cup of the DePuy hip implant is reportedly designed to be more shallow than the traditional hip implants, which has led to an increased risk of the device failing.

Our Illinois DePuy hip implant recall lawyers at Levin & Perconti do not want any consumers to suffer from medical care in any form. We represent Chicago hip implant recall victims and other victims who suffer from defective products. Please contact a DePuy hip implant lawyer if you have questions about your hip implant.

Follow the link to read more about the DePuy hip implant recall.

Last week, the Illinois Judges Association condemned the smear campaign that is aimed at Illinois Supreme Court Justice Thomas Kilbride. The Illinois Judges Association stated that the attacks pose a “direct threat to fairness and impartiality of all Illinois judges.” The Chicago injury lawyers at Levin & Perconti could not agree more strongly – we have seen the large amount of money spent on radio ads against Justice Kilbride, financed in significant part by groups such as the National Tort Reform Association. The attacks against Justice Kilbride are so misleading that the Illinois Judges Association, which represents 1050 active and retired judges statewide, took the unusual step of intervening and speaking out against the advertisements. The Illinois Judges Association urged in its statement that Illinois constituents “vote on the basis of facts, not propaganda or an orchestrated disinformation media barrage.” It further explained that “once we allow judges to become intimidated or mere tools of individuals or groups wanting to assert their own interests, to paraphrase Alexander Hamilton, the constitution is a dead letter.”

There are only eight days remaining until Election Day. Justice Kilbride needs our support in order to combat the escalating attacks. The Chicago lawyers at Levin & Perconti encourage you to support Justice Kilbride, who becomes Chief Justice on Tuesday. Take a stand against what the Illinois State Bar Association has called distortions of his records and rulings.

If you are registered to vote in the 3rd Judicial District, please vote YES to retain Justice Kilbride. Further, please encourage your friends and colleagues to vote for Justice Kilbride. Show Justice Kilbride your support by donating to his campaign or visiting his facebook page!

CBS Chicago News reports that Illinois lawyers forming the Illinois State Bar Association has condemned an advertising campaign that a pro-business “tort reform” group is running against Illinois Supreme Court Justice Thomas Kilbride. The group is called JUSTPAC and has began to run radio ads in markets throughout Illinois in areas such as the Quad Cities, Will County, and Kankakee. The advertisements feature actors posing as hardened criminals describing their crimes and thanking Justice Kilbride for ruling in their favor. Illinois lawyers, through the Illinois State Bar Association, has called the campaign inappropriate, stating that it distorts Justice Kilbride’s record. In some of the cases that the ads target, Justice Kilbride ruled that law enforcement authorities violated suspects’ rights, but in one case at least, the Justice actually voted to uphold the conviction.

In a connection that does not surprise the Chicago personal injury lawyers at Levin & Perconti, JUSTPAC is affiliated with the Illinois Civil Justice League, a misleading-named group that opposes a ruling by Justice Kilbride and the court against a state law limiting the amount of money juries can award victims of medical malpractice. The Illinois Supreme Court ruled that the Illinois state constitution empowers juries – and not legislators – to make the decisions of how many damages victims are entitled.

Also not surprising is how much money JUSTPAC has spent on these advertisements. Big businesses have a lot of money at stake here. JUSTPAC has spent about $600,000 on radio ads against Kilbride, financed in significant part by groups such as National “Tort Reform” Association. Justice Kilbride has been endorsed by the Illinois State Fraternal Order of Police and the Illinois and National Rifle Associations.

Follow the link to CBS Local to read more about the ad attacks against Justice Kilbride.

Oral arguments were held last week in Bruesewitz vs. Wyeth and much of the argument turned on the meaning of the word “unavoidable.” The editorial in The New York Times by the American Association for Justice addressed that the real issue was much bigger – the case of whether the family of a girl who was badly injured by a vaccine can sue the manufacturer in state court. The argument also involved if such personal injury lawsuits are barred by a 24 year-old federal law that blocks this sort of lawsuit if the personal injury or death resulted from side effects that were unavoidable.

The issue – pre-emption – is a hot and often contested issue in constitutional law The vaccine issue is only one area where pre-emption disputes have large practical effects. As pointed out by the editorial, the Bush presidential administration declared the pre-emption of many state laws and Congress reacted by doing nothing. For example, Congress tried to stop the State of California from raising the bar on auto emission and giving greater protection to consumers. On the other hand, President Obama has issued a memorandum halting the practice.

Eyes will be watching the Roberts court, the most conservative court in half a century, rules on pre-emption cases. Nearly every pre-emption case turns on the particulars of the statute in question and these cases provide an important test as to whether the court’s members can reason their way through these challenges and strike the right balance of power. Under the supremacy clause of the Constitution, state laws cannot interfere with the operation of federal government. But where state efforts to protect citizens and compensate victims do not conflict with federal law, the Chicago injury lawyers agree with the editorial that pre-emption should not be used as a weapon to defeat them.

Read more about the pre-emption cases at The New York Times.

Earlier this week, Graco Children’s Products, Inc. in collaboration with the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission announced a voluntary product recall of approximately 2 million Quattro and MetroLife strollers after receiving reports of fourt infant strangulation deaths that occurred while infants were in the strollers between 2003 and 2005. Graco.com warned that an entrapment and strangulation can occur to infants younger than 12 months of age when the child is not harnessed. An infant can pass through the opening between the stroller tray and seat bottom, but his or her neck can become entrapped by the tray. CPSC staff found records for one of the deaths related to the recalled strollers and began to search for similar incidents. The CPSC stated that they found additional wrongful deaths and personal injuries in the files and took the position that the older models need to be recalled. Consumers should stop using the recalled strollers immediately and contact Graco by calling 877-828-4046 or visiting the firm’s website at www.gracobaby.com to order a free repair kit.

Product liability is an area of personal injury law that focuses on dangerous and defective products. The Chicago product liability firm of Levin & Perconti represents plaintiffs in the Chicagoland area in matters against corporations or manufacturers who have sold or manufactured unsafe products to consumers. Under the law, “products” cover a wide range of categories, including prescription drugs, firearms, food, tobacco, clothing, apparel, toys, and more. The stroller product recall falls in the product liability law.

Visit Chicago Tribune to read more about the 2 million stroller product recall.

According to www.madisonrecord.com, a medical malpractice lawsuit was recently filed by a woman in St. Louis alleging that she suffered a stroke due to her doctor’s negligence.

In 2002, following Cheryl Unterreiner’s aortic valve replacement, Dr. David Pernikoff prescribed her an anticoagulant called Warfarin. Warfarin is a type of medication that is used to prevent blood clots from forming or growing larger in your blood and blood vessels. Warfarin is customarily prescribed for people with replacement or mechanical heart valves, or individuals with certain types of irregular heartbeat. This type of medication is measured by international normalized ratio, otherwise known as INR. Doctors must keep track of INR to ensure an adequate, yet safe, dose is taken.

In Cheryl’s case, six years after starting Warfarin, her INR levels began to fall below normal. After noticing her levels were dropping, she contacted Dr. Pernikoff in April of 2008. According to her complaint, Cheryl states that Dr. Pernikoff simply increased her Warfarin dosage, without monitoring her INR levels and without seeing Cheryl in his office.

In October of 2008, Cheryl suffered a stroke at her home. After being transferred to the hospital, her condition got worse. Cheryl suffered an intracranial hemorrhage, which led to brain stem herniation.

According to her lawsuit, Cheryl has experienced a great deal of injury. She is no longer capable of speaking clearly, and the herniation in her brain has also affected parts of her body, causing emotional control issues, memory loss, and decreased motor skills.

The attorneys at Levin & Perconti recognize the severity of loss that occurs in situations such as Cheryl’s. Our attorneys are experienced and well versed in the complexities of brain injury litigation. If you know someone who has been injured because of a medical professional’s mistake, be sure to contact our Chicago injury lawyers for a consultation.

The Center for Justice & Democracy’s Pop Tort blog is questioning whether the Chicago Tribune is taking a new stance regarding Illinois medical malpractice. ThePopTort.com pointed out that historically, the Chicago Tribune’s editorials have repeatedly endorsed draconian caps on compensation for patients. For example, the editorials criticized Illinois courts for striking down Illinois medical malpractice caps as unconstitutional. Also, other editorials have given comfortable platforms to business-backed tort reform groups.

However, more recently, the Chicago Tribune published several articles about Illinois physicians who commit Illinois medical malpractice by sexually abusing their patients and the failure of regulators to do anything about it. This editorial was so striking in the Chicago Tribune because when the regulators fail, the civil justice system acts as the last line of defense. So, it was a near admission that the Chicago Tribune has affirmed a positive role for Chicago medical malpractice lawyers.

The Chicago medical malpractice lawyers at Levin & Perconti know that Illinois medical malpractice lawsuits play a vital role in justice and accountability. Medical malpractice lawsuits arise when individuals are injured by negligent or malicious doctors, nurses, psychiatrists, dentists, chiropractors, podiatrists, hospitals, or other health care providers. When a health care provider’s action causes injury to another person, they are said to be a “tort” or civil wrong, which may provide the basis for a lawsuit. When someone is found to be legally determined for injuring someone else, they are liable for the injury and may be able to pay the injured person compensatory damages, which attempt to put an injured person back in the position he or she was in before being injured.

Follow the link to read thepoptort.com piece on the change of heart in the Chicago Tribune regarding Illinois medical malpractice.

Over the weekend, a Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) bus crash caused almost forty people personal injuries. The Chicago bus accident occurred after the bus ran off of Lake Shore Drive just south of Interstate Highway 55. CTA officials announced on Sunday that they continue to investigate a Chicago bus crash that caused nearly forty individuals Chicago personal injuries. However, officials provided no new details regarding what caused a Chicago bus to jump a curb and slam into a tree along Lake Shore Drive in Chicago.

More than 20 ambulances were sent to the scene of the Chicago bus crash; the express bus was described as being “full” at the time of the crash. One witness said that they oversaw the bus driver struggling to try and turn the wheel. The bus came to a halt when it slammed against the tree and jerked everyone forward. According to the Chicago Tribune, CTA buses have been involved in more collisions annually since 2008 than buses operated by the nine other largest public bus systems in the U.S. The bus accident rate since 2002 demonstrates a bus incident occurring almost daily (on average). In December 2008, the Chicago injury attorneys at Levin & Perconti blogged about another CTA accident that involved multiple personal injuries. That Chicago CTA accident involved a car and a CTA bus on the south side of Chicago and resulted in at least nine personal injuries.

More information about the Chicago bus crash injuries is available at the Chicago Tribune.

An Illinois woman received personal injuries in an ATV accident in McHenry County, Illinois over the weekend. Rescuers took the Chicago woman by helicopter to a hospital after she was injured in an all-terrain vehicle (ATV) collision near Wonder Lake in McHenry County.

ATVs are vehicles that travel on low pressure tires with a seat that is straddled by the operator, along with handlebars for steering control. After first introduced in the early 1970s, they almost immediately caused an alarming spike in personal injury rates for adolescents and children. Statistics released by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) show that there were an estimated 136,700 personal injuries in 2005 associated with ATVs treated in the United States hospital emergency rooms.

Recent articles have highlighted that ATVs are more deadly than motorcycles. People are far more likely to die after ATV accidents than after motorcycle accidents, trauma surgeons, and public health researchers announced earlier this month at the annual meeting of the American College of Surgeons. The conclusion was reached from information from a national trauma bank on almost 60,000 product liability accidents that occurred between 2002 and 2006 (13,749 from off-road motorcycle riding and 44,509 from ATV mishaps). The researchers stated that even when the severity of personal injuries was the same, the patients who had been injured riding ATVs were 50 percent more likely to die than those who had been injured riding motorcycles. They were also 50 percent more likely to need treatment in an intensive care unit and mechanical ventilation, compared to the motorcycle riders.

Follow the link to Chicago Breaking News.com to read more about the recent Illinois ATV accident.

With the recent blogs about the DuPuy hip implant recalls, the Chicago product liability lawyers at Levin & Perconti found some pertinent articles on other hip implant concerns. Earlier this year, in March 2010, The New York Times addressed metal on metal hip implants. Some orthopedic surgeons have cut or completed stopped using the popular artificial hips after concerns raised that the devices cause severe tissue and bone damage in some patients. When the tissue and bone damage occurs, the hip replacement requires revision surgery within a year or two. Metal on metal hip implants have become widely used with the belief that they would be more durable than prior types of plants. One orthopedic surgeon reported that they have seen soft-tissue destruction and destruction of bone from the faulty metal on metal hip implants. These artificial hips, intended to last 15 years or more, need early replacement far more frequently for reasons like dislocation than because of problems caused by metallic debris. Surgeons say that when medical particles are the culprit, procedures to replace the devices can be far more complex and can leave some patients with significant complications. Doctors have been injured to use the metal on metal devices only with great caution, if at all.

Recently, in August 2010, DePuy Orthopaedics, a division of Johnson & Johnson, issued a voluntary product recall for their hip replacement systems, the ASR XL Acetabular System and DePuy ASR Hip Resurfacing System. DePuy issued the DePuy hip implant product recall after studies found that patients who had received the hip implants suffered from collateral symptoms such as swelling and difficulty walking and often had to undergo revision surgery.

Follow the link to the New York Times to read more about the metal on metal hip implants.

Another DuPuy hip implant product liability lawsuit has been filed in federal court. According to the NBALaw Blog, a DePuy hip implant lawyer filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court on behalf of an elderly woman who was implanted with a recalled DePuy hip replacement system. DePuy Orthopaedics, a division of Johnson & Johnson, announced a worldwide product recall of its ASR XL Acetabular System and ASR Hip Resurfacing System after reports surfaced indicating that systems were failing at a higher than expected rate. A study revealed that 1 out of every 8 patients who had been implanted with a recalled Dupuy hip device had to have revision surgery within five years. That is 12-13% of the individuals who received the DePuy hip implants.

The product recall involved the ASR hip systems that may loosen or dislocate after implantation, which causes pain, fracture, swelling, and less mobility in the patient who received the DePuy hip implant. The ASR system utilizes a ball and socket component that moves against one another. The metal on metal contact, over time, may cause metal debris and could result in damage to the bone, soft tissue, and nerves.

Product liability lawsuits may be brought against medical device manufacturers such as DePuy Orthopaedics for their apparent negligence in designing this defective product that has caused one out of every eight patients to require revision surgery. If you or a loved one has received a DePuy ASR System hip implant and required further surgery or have suffered other personal injuries or medical complications arose, you may be able to seek compensation for pain, suffering, lost wages, and medical expenses. The Chicago DePuy hip implant recall lawyers at Levin & Perconti can help.

More information about the recently filed DePuy hip implant lawsuit is available by following the link.

The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced last week that Illinois-based pharmaceutical company Abbott Laboratories has agreed to remove its obesity drug Meridia off of the market. The Illinois company voluntarily withdrew the drug because trial studies showed an increased risk of heart attacks and strokes in individuals who used the drug. Nearly 8 million people worldwide have been taking the weight loss drug, including 100,000 Americans who use the recalled product. The drug had projected sales of $30 million in the U.S. this year.

The director of the Office of New Drugs in the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research announced that the drug’s continued availability is not justified when one compares the very modest weight loss gained with the product liability risks of heart attack or stroke. The original data on the drug showed that individuals who took the drug lost at least 5 percent more of their body weight than those who were on a placebo and relied on diet and exercise alone.

The FDA requested that the Illinois company withdraw the dangerous drug adfter reviewing data from a follow-up study. It showed a 16 percent increase in the risk of many serious product liability side effects, including non-fatal heart attacks, non-fatal strokes, and death. The FDA could not find one person whose benefit from the drug outweighed its risk.

Read more about the drug pulled from the market at CNN.

A new study of an Indiana high school football team shows that athletes are suffering brain injuries that go undiagnosed and allow the players to continue getting battered. Of the 21 high school players monitored for the season, 4 individuals who had never been diagnosed with concussions were found to have suffered brain impairment that was at least as bad as that of other players who had been determined to have concussions and then removed from play.

The reason for the discrepancy is that the undiagnosed injured players do not exhibit any outward signs and continue to play. The cognitive brain injury is actually worse than the one observed with the concussed players, according to the associate professor at the school of Biomedical Engineering at Purdue. According to a report published in the latest edition of the Journal of Neurotrauma, some players received more than 1800 hits to the head during practices and games. Some of the hits causing brain injury come with a force 20 times greater than what a person would feel while riding a roller coaster. The Purdue study also shines a light on personal injuries that are more insidious than full-blown concussions, ones that do not always result in outward symptoms but could add up to cause serious long-term cognitive problems.

Studies are now shining light on what is more damaging: the intensity of an individual hit or the cumulative impact of repeated collisions. One researcher warned that there could be brain changes that may not affect the player now, but may affect them 10 or 20 years later.

Click on the link to the Chicago Tribune to read more about the brain injury study.

The Wisconsin Law Journal reports today that the number of class-action and individual civil lawsuits over DePuy Orthopaedics hip implants are on the rise. One DePuy hip recall lawyer estimates that there will be over 4,000 lawsuits filed against the negligent manufacturer whose faulty medical devices have failed at a very high rate.

In August, DePuy Orthopaedics recalled its ASR XL Acetabular System and ASR Hip Resurfacing Systems after a British study revealed that one in eight patients who had the ASR hip implants had to undergo a second revision surgery to correct painful issues with the DePuy implant. Many patients suffer severe pain and difficulty walking because the metal components of the device are prone to rubbing together and causing tiny particles of metal to be released into the tissue surrounding the hip as the metal wears. In addition to the pain caused by the defective hip implant, recipients are also forced to endure the significant risks and long recovery associated with a second surgery.

Many of lawsuits already filed allege that DePuy Orthopaedics, a division of Johnson & Johnson corporation, were aware of the device's high rate of failure early on but did not recall the product or notify physicians in a timely manner. As a result, over 93,000 hip implants were used on patients.

Our Chicago injury lawyers will continue to keep readers posted on developments surrounding the DePuy hip implant lawsuits. We believe that is important to make patients and families aware of the ongoing issues with DePuy hip replacements systems and also hope that the corporation is held accountable for the negligent design of the device.

If you or a loved one suffered complications or were forced to undergo a revision surgery as the result of a faulty DePuy hip implant, you may be entitled to recover damages for medical bills, lost income and your pain and suffering. Since 1992, Levin & Perconti has represented victims injured or killed by faulty medical devices and consumer products and can help you seek justice. Contact us to speak with an experienced injury attorney in a free and confidential consultation.

We all remember the Transformers 3 filming that took over the Chicagoland this summer. In early September, when the film was shooting in northwest Indiana, a young movie extra suffered a severe head injury during a stunt when an object went through the windshield of her 2006 car on Cline Avenue in Hammond, Indiana, just northeast of Chicago. The car hit a concrete median barrier and continued for nearly a mile before stopping. The Chicago personal injury victim was an extra and not a member of the trained specialized stunt personnel.

Chicago Breaking News Center reported that the Chicago injury victim did not sound nervous at all when she spoke to her brother shortly before the filming. The victim’s Chicago personal injury lawyer stated that there was no indication of any risk associated with the scene in any of the paperwork that the victim signed. The Cook County work injury lawsuit filed claims that improper welding and failure to use appropriate materials contributed to the defendant’s negligence that resulted in the victim suffering permanent brain damage. The facts revealed that the victim was among 80 extras and was driving her own car during the stunt. At the same time, stunt vehicles were being towed by flatbead trucks in the opposite lanes traveling at about 50 miles per hour. The welding on a bracket attached to a flatbead truck failed during the stunt. Reports indicate that the same stunt was attempted a day earlier, but again failed. The Chicago injury victim was recently moved to the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago and is paralyzed on her left side, but can mouth and write some words. Paramount Pictures responded stating that it was “terribly sorry that this accident occurred” and also indicated that their thoughts and prayers are with the Cook County injury victim.

More information about the Cook County personal injury lawsuit is available at Chicago Breaking News Center.

It has not even been a week since the Cook County accident attorneys blogged about the dangers of Chicago-area train crossings. Unfortunately, such accidents were in the news again recently after a Chicago teenage boy received serious personal injuries after being hit by a Metra commuter train on Chicago’s Northwest Side on Tuesday afternoon.

The Chicago Breaking News Center reported that the Chicago train injury accident occurred at roughly 3:00 in the afternoon on Tuesday afternoon as a group of teenagers ran across the tracks near the intersection of Northwest Highway and Nagle Avenue. While the other Chicago teenagers made it across the tracks safely, the 17 year-old teenage boy received serious injuries and was rushed to Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, Illinois. The Cook County train injury accident occurred close (less than one-half of a mile) from Taft High School.

Disheartening reports reveal that Taft High School students “commonly” race across the railroad tracks at Northwest Highway at Nagle Avenue after the red light have already started flashing. The lights flash when the trains appear to be roughly a mile from the intersection. This particular railroad crossing recently topped a list of dangerous railroad crossings in the six-county Chicago region, according to data released from the Illinois Commerce Commission. This railroad crossing had five vehicle-train accidents between 2005 and 2009.

The Cook County injury attorneys at Levin & Perconti want to remind our readers to practice heightened safety at train crossings. The warning flashing lights exist for a reason – to signify that a train is approaching! Individuals cannot fight massive, moving steel machines. Please be patient at railroad crossings.

For more information on the Chicago injured teen, visit Chicago Breaking News Center.

Yesterday, the Chicago medical malpractice lawyers discussed one state’s medical error reporting program and its flaws. These flaws have real, human, personal effects that the Chicago personal injury attorneys wanted to address. Numerous real people with real families are harmed on a yearly basis by faulty medical care. One example addressed in the SeattlePI.com article was a 47 year-old construction worker who died after a simple outpatient arthroscopic shoulder surgery. His situation demonstrated one such case showing the ease in which hospitals are able to dodge the intent of the law. This young father was otherwise healthy when he went in for his surgery and he died due to medical errors. However, hospital officials concluded that the circumstances surrounding the death of the 47 year-old man did not fit any of the state’s reporting laws definitions of “serious reportable events.” More unbelievable is that the state Department of Health Officials agreed with the hospital’s determination that they were not required to report the case of medical malpractice. His manner of death due to medical error did not quite fit any of the 28 available categories. If the medical malpractice victim had died within 24 hours of his surgery, then his death would have qualified as reportable as a postoperative death in a normal, healthy patient. But, the victim was revived and lived for another two days, with extensive brain injuries; so, his death was not considered to be an immediately postoperative death. Nonetheless, the Department of Health did take corrective action against the hospital.

Experts opined that the incident described above “unquestionably” should have been reported. Indeed, a senior advisor for patient safety at the organization which wrote the “serious reportable events” definitions acknowledged the problems in the wording of current definitions. The wording, as addressed above, allow hospitals to find loopholes and avoid reporting medical malpractice events. There are drafts in the works to reword the definitions in part to close the loopholes and address ambiguities.

Accurate information on a medical facility’s errors is important because prospective patients use record information to view medical malpractice reports and can decide to take their business elsewhere. Such a demand loss can influence hospitals to take extra precautions to avoid situations like the 47 year-old man’s wrongful death.

To read more about medical error reporting, visit SeattlePI.com.

Although many of these statistics are from a state many miles away, the Illinois medical malpractice lawyers at Levin & Perconti find it important to highlight SeattlePI.com’s look at Washington’s medical error reporting program, which still allows medical errors to fall through the cracks.

Health care workers, facilities, and regulators have been attempting to reduce the astronomical number of medical errors that occur annually in the United States. Despite their efforts, our country has only begun to crawl toward any meaningful reduction in medical errors that cause personal injuries and wrongful deaths. Some states have medical reporting programs; however, flaws occur and these programs have not fully helped to account medical errors. Many facilities are not reporting their mistakes, despite state laws requiring that they do so. Experts opine that error reporting and analysis lead to improved care over time and ultimately save lives. Even in states where medical error reporting is required, only a fraction of the errors that happen are reported. Some of the reasons for the underreporting include lack of funding and lack of enforcement powers.

One nationwide investigation exposed serious problems with medical error reporting programs. Efforts to correct the problems have also fallen short. Common problems included no enforcement, ability to dodge the intent of the law, hands-off oversight, underfunding, and underreporting. According to a federal study released in March, underreporting is the norm. The Health and Human Services Inspector General reported that 93% of serious adverse events in hospitals went undetected by the hospitals’ own internal reporting systems! Additionally, only four states impose fines for underreporting. The Chicago medical malpractice lawyers wonder how many people need to be unnecessarily harmed in order for legislators to add more teeth to these laws.

Stay tuned for the real dangers of medical errors going unreported in tomorrow’s post.

A car clipped the back of a CTA Brown Line train on Saturday afternoon after unsafely reportedly going around a grade-crossing gate outside of a North Side train station, according to police and CTA officials. Luckily, no people were injured.

Like the car-train accident this weekend, Chicago train safety has been an issue that has repeatedly gathered media attention in the recent months. Metra engineers have reported seeing pedestrians running around downed gates and vehicles stopped on the tracks on a daily occurrence. The number of wrongful deaths at Illinois rail crossings in the first few months of 2010 already got close to the number of deaths reported in all of 2009. Close calls are a near daily occurrence.

Still, many people refuse to wait for oncoming trains. For example, in Chicago, a train’s camera captured a family racing across a track. A woman carrying her one-year-old goddaughter did not make it. These types of preventable accidents are train engineers’ fears. The danger is especially high during rush hours and when road construction creates traffic and impatient drivers.

Please view the video below to learn more about Chicago train safety in order to prevent needless train accident wrongful deaths.

The Chicago personal injury attorneys at Levin & Perconti are sad to report on recent deaths related to motorcycle accidents and motor vehicle accidents. In situations where victims are killed due to the negligence of another party, a Chicago wrongful death lawsuit may be filed.

First, a 48 year old River Grove man has passed away following a motorcycle crash last week. The man was involved in a motorcycle accident in Franklin Park and was taken in serious condition to Gottlieb Memorial Hospital. He was pronounced dead on Saturday evening. Franklin Park police were called to the motorcycle traffic accident on Thursday evening. Witnesses stated that the motorcycle that the man was driving and a 1990 gray or silver Cadillac four-door were traveling east when the motorcycle accident victim lost control and crashed. Police stated that both the motorcycle and the car in the Chicago motor vehicle accident were moving at a high rate of speed.

In another suburban motor vehicle accident, a 28 year old Chicago man died after a crash in Mattoon involving several other vehicles. The motor vehicle accident victim was headed north just south of Mattoon when a driver in the southbound lanes swerved to avoid an animal in the road and lost control of the car. The other car crossed the median and slammed into the victim’s sedan. Then, the driver collided with a semitrailer ejecting the victim from the car. He was then hit by another northbound semitrailer. The passengers of the victim’s car were not seriously hurt. All individuals were wearing seatbelts.

Visit Chicago Breaking News to read more about the deadly motorcycle accident or motor vehicle accident.

As we have reported, a number of patients who received DePuy Orthopaedics ASR Hip implants are now coming forward to seek justice for the pain, suffering and expenses they experienced due to faulty artificial hips. According to a report by Bloomberg News, by the end of 2008, DePuy and its parent company Johnson & Johnson had received 300 complaints of implant failure, however the company did not recall the ASR XL Acetabular or ASR Hip Resurfacing systems until August 26, 2010. Over 93,000 patients received ASR hip implants, and a British study found that one in eight patients required corrective surgery to relieve pain and difficulties walking.

This massive medical device recall will certainly leave many patients wondering what they should do. It is important for victims to realize that corporations can be held accountable for negligent design, manufacturing or marketing of a product or device. Victims who suffered pain and the risks and rehabilitation associated with a second revision surgery can take measures to be compensated for their pain, their suffering, their loss of income and their medical bills. Contact a DePuy hip implant attorney if you or a loved one experienced injury because of a faulty hip replacement system.

Fighting forced consumer arbitration has been a long fight, but consumer groups are saying that they have never been closer to victory. Whether you know it or not, forced arbitration is a topic that affects all of us. Whenever you buy a car, get a new cell phone plan, or open a new credit card, there is a good chance that you are signing away your right to seek immediate justice in court when you are signing those lengthy contracts.

Public Citizen, a consumer action group, calls forced arbitration one of the most critical threats to consumer rights today. A Public Citizen 2009 study found arbitration clauses in 75% of consumer contracts. Proponents of forced arbitration have reported that arbitration keeps court costs down and act as a block to unreasonable claims. However, we have seen how forced arbitration has resulted in abuse. For example, victims of identity theft have been ordered to pay debt-collection fees and employees have been forced to bring discrimination claims before panels of employment defense attorneys.

There are some strategies that consumer advocates are implementing against forced arbitration. One goal is to secure the passage of the Arbitration Fairness Act, which would ban forced arbitration in all consumer and employment contracts. Another pending legislation piece that hits close to home for the Chicago nursing home neglect attorneys at Levin & Perconti is the Fairness in Nursing Home Arbitration Act (H.R. 1237, S. 512). The Nursing Home Arbitration Act would eliminate forced arbitration clauses in nursing home contracts.

To learn more about forced consumer arbitration, visit the Public Citizen website.