Illinois Injury Lawyer Blog

Recently, our Chicago personal injury attorneys expressed concern over a recall of contraceptive pharmaceuticals that were pulled from the market because mistakes in packaging could potentially lead to unwanted pregnancies.

According to the Associated Press this week, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is busy again with yet another recall of birth control pills. According to the report, Glenmark Generics is working with the FDA to recall seven lots of birth control drugs, nationwide. Said the FDA, because of a packaging error, some of the pills were placed in the wrong order within the packs.

The packages of pills contain three types of tablets, each variety with a different level of hormones, intended to be taken at different times during a woman’s menstrual cycle. Instead, according to the FDA’s statement the pills were rotated 180 degrees within the pack, so the weekly tablet orientation is reversed, and the lot number and expiration date are visible only on the outer pouch. As a result, the order of the pills may be incorrect, leaving women without adequate contraceptive protection and at risk for unwanted pregnancy.

The Associated Press reported that the error was discovered when a consumer complained she received a pack in which the tablets were packaged in reverse order. In the affected pill packages, the pills should be arranged so that the top row contains seven white to off-white tablets, and the bottom row contains seven inactive, light green tablets.

Glenmark Generics Inc., the company responsible for manufacturing the drugs is the North American division of Glenmark Generics Ltd., and is dedicated to the manufacture, marketing and distribution of generic pharmaceutical products. Currently Glenmark Generics, Inc. is authorized to distribute approximately 55 generic forms of brand-name pharmaceuticals.

Under Illinois law, Chicago personal injury lawsuits arise when manufacturers, distributors, retailers, and others who manufacture and disseminate goods to the public are held responsible for the injuries caused by those products. "Products" in this instance covers a wide range of categories, including medical devices and pharmaceuticals.

As it pertains to this case, Illinois products liability law dictates that when corporations manufacture a product, especially in cases of pharmaceutical production, they have a responsibility to test that product to ensure its safety and effectiveness before the product is put on the market and sold to consumers. This is especially true for companies that produce medicine, and whose products must undergo extensive testing before they are distributed to consumers. When a company makes a product that is flawed and that product harms the person using the product, the company may be held legally responsible for the customer’s injuries.

In this particular case, Glenmark Generics had a duty to ensure that their drugs were packaged properly. If a consumer has an unwanted pregnancy, Glenmark Generics may made to pay a wide variety of damages, including such things as medical and hospital expenses, and potentially even damages resulting from the infliction of emotional distress.

The affected pills are labeled "norgestimate and ethinyl estradiol tablets,” and any pack for which the lot number and expiry date is not visible is subject to recall. If you or a loved one has taken these contraceptives and experienced an unwanted pregnancy, contact an attorney to understand your rights under the law.

Pfizer, the American multinational pharmaceutical conglomerate, and the maker of many popular drugs such as Lipitor and Viagra, seems to be having a tough time lately.

Following a recall last month of contraceptive medications due to improper packaging that had the potential to lead to unwanted pregnancies, Pfizer is now undergoing yet another retraction – this time for expired drugs.

According to a recent report by MSNBC, the corporation is recalling its Prevnar pneumonia vaccine because it was filled with expired material. The vaccination is intended to prevent meningitis, pneumonia, and and other diseases caused by pneumococcus bacteria, and was recently approved for use in adults 50 and older.

Pneumonia is an inflammatory infection of the lungs. Typical symptoms include cough, chest-pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. Although pneumonia was considered all but a death sentence in the 19th century, modern medicine including antibiotic therapy and vaccines have led to an enormous increase in the survival rate of people infected with pneumonia. In fact, he FDA has said about 300,000 older adults in the United States are hospitalized each year for pneumonia. But the drugs may not work if they’re past their expiration date.

Pfizer is the world’s largest drugmaker, and this vaccine is poised to become one of Pfizer's biggest brands, reported MSNBC. Although no injuries have yet been reported as a result of the mistake, if an individual is harmed by the failure of the vaccine to work properly – or by unconfirmed side-effects caused by expired medication – Pfizer may be made to answer to an Illinois products liability lawsuit.

In cases in which Illinois product liability lawsuits arise, the claims most commonly asserted are negligence, strict liability, breach of warranty, and various other consumer protection claims. This particular situation involves strict liability. Under strict liability, the manufacturer of the product is liable for injuries caused if the product harms consumers, even if the manufacturer was not directly negligent in making that product defective.

Our Chicago personal injury lawyers represent victims across Illinois in matters against companies that have sold or manufactured unsafe products to consumers. In fact, our attorneys brought a case against Orion Research Inc. and Baxter Health Care Corporation for a flawed test for the genetic disease cystic fibrosis. The failures of the test led a set of parents to have a second cystic child. While recovering a substantial settlement for the family, the firm and the family were more concerned with the discontinuation of the test. As a result of our efforts, the test was eliminated.

If you've had an incident in which a pharmaceutical product caused an injury, or are the survivor of someone who may have died from the use or exposure to a dangerous or defective product, contact an attorney to better understand your rights under the law. You may be entitled to compensation for your suffering.

All these consumers wanted to do was refinish the bathtub.

Instead, reported MSNBC, federal health officials have recently warned of serious hazards for consumers using a common paint-stripping agent for bathtub refinishing, after the chemical was linked to thirteen deaths over the last decade.

The most current report from the Centers for Disease Control and prevention states that the bathtub-refinisher deaths were tracked across 10 states from 2000-2011 and each fatality happened in a residential bathroom lacking adequate ventilation. The products that were used contained between 60 percent and 100 percent methylene chloride, a toxic chemical that is commonly used as a degreaser and paint remover. Said MSNBC, products containing the chemical are readily available on the Internet and in hardware stores, putting consumers taking on do-it-yourself projects at risk.

Methylene chloride, the dangerous chemical in these toxic products, is an organic compound commonly used as a solvent. It is metabolized into the body as carbon monoxide, which has the potential to lead to carbon monoxide poisoning. Prolonged contact with the skin has been shown to cause skin irritation and chemical burns, and methylene chloride has been linked to cancer of the lungs, liver, and pancreas in laboratory tests.

Products containing methylene chloride are typically applied by using a paintbrush or aerosol spray and help bathtub coating pucker to be more easily scraped away, stated the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Although the chemical had already been noted as potentially fatal to furniture strippers and factory workers, it had not previously been linked to bathtub refinishers, continued the report.

When a company manufactures a product to be marketed to the public, the company is responsible for ensuring the safety of those products. There are three main types of Illinois product liability claims:
1. A manufacturing defect, which generally occurs when an otherwise safe product is assembled carelessly;

2. A design defect, which occurs when, no matter how well the product is put together, its intent or layout is inherently dangerous;

3. A failure to warn, which can occur when a product markets a product that they know to be potentially hazardous, and fails to warn consumers of the latent danger.

As it currently stands, many countries worldwide require products containing methylene chloride to carry warning labels regarding its health risks. Depending on the situation at hand, this could be the basis for Illinois wrongful death lawsuits, if consumers used the products and, because they were not adequately warned of the dangers, died as a result of using the merchandise.

Our Chicago injury lawyers understand how devastating injuries from Illinois products liability cases can be. They have the understanding and diligence required to succeed, and even won a $3 million settlement against a car manufacturer that improperly designed the fuel delivery system of a vehicle, resulting in a fuel-fed fire after a head-on collision, which killed the occupants of the vehicle.

If you or a loved one has suffered as a result of a flawed or faulty product, you may be entitled to compensation for your injuries. Please contact an attorney immediately to be apprised of your rights under the law.

Every time a driver gets behind the wheel of a motor vehicle, he or she is accepting responsibility for the safety of everyone else on the road. Although accidents can and do happen, when a driver's negligent behaviors or careless actions lead to the injury or death of another person, the negligent driver may be held accountable in an Illinois personal injury lawsuit.

That’s exactly what might happen following a devastating car crash earlier this month on Interstate-80. According to the Chicago Tribune, four Chicago-area men were killed when a wrong-way driver on I-80 smashed into another car. The accident occurred in the Chicago suburb of Hazel Crest, and authorities have reason to believe that the driver of the vehicle that was traveling in the wrong direction was impaired by alcohol.

Police reports indicate that witnesses saw a 1996 Infiniti travelling at a high rate of speed get onto I-80, going eastbound in the westbound lanes, reported the Chicago Tribune. The report went on to say that the car, which contained four men, hit a 1999 Ford wagon head-on and both cars were engulfed in flames. The driver of the Ford and three of the men in the Infiniti were killed; one of the passengers in the Infiniti was injured, but taken to an area hospital where he was reported to be in stable condition.

When the driver of the Infiniti got behind the wheel of his car whilst intoxicated, he acted negligently. Because that negligence was the direct cause of the deaths of three other persons, the families of the deceased may have grounds to bring an Illinois wrongful death lawsuit against the estate of the driver to get compensation for the loss of companionship of their loved ones.

Under Illinois law, wrongful death is the legal concept that arises when a person’s death has been caused by the fault or negligence of another person. In cases of wrongful death, such as this one, family members can file claims to potentially make the wrongdoer pay damages for things such as the loss of companionship, monetary damages to cover the earnings the deceased person would have provided, and expenses associated with the death such as funeral and burial costs, as well as having to experience grief and sorrow. Though a lawsuit can never bring a loved one back to life, it is a step in the right direction, both for achieving justice, and making those at fault pay for their careless actions.

Our Chicago personal injury lawyers have successfully handled nearly every type of motor vehicle negligence case and recovered millions of dollars in accident lawsuit verdicts and settlements for victims and their families. They have both the experience and knowledge to handle even the most complex car accident lawsuits. In fact, our attorneys won a $6.5 million trucking accident settlement for the family of a 32-year-old woman who was killed when their pick-up truck was rear-ended by a semi-truck. The defendant truck driver was found to be under the influence of marijuana and operating an over-loaded, unsafe truck.

If you have lost a loved one as a result of the negligence of another driver, contact an attorney immediately to be apprised of your rights under the law. You may be entitled to compensation for your loss.

It seems that juries don’t take too fondly to doctors who fail to diagnose broken necks.

Recently a jury found in favor of a 51 year-old man after, having suffered an accident in which his truck slid off an icy road, rolling over several times and landing upside down, an emergency room physician negligently released the man without checking x-rays or properly performing a physical exam.

Under Illinois law, Chicago medical malpractice lawsuits arise when individuals are injured by careless or intentional acts on the part of a doctor, hospital, or other healthcare provider. When the healthcare professional is determined to be legally responsible for injuring the patient, they are liable for the injury, and may be made to pay damages for the harm caused. Additionally, when a doctor or nurse is held liable, the hospital may also be responsible for damages based on either negligent supervision, or failing to hire and train adequate professionals to take care of patients.

Illinois Medical malpractice claims can arise from a number of different situations, including missed diagnoses – such as this one – healthcare provider errors, medication and pharmaceutical errors, and spinal cord injuries, as well a number of other dangerous circumstances.

In this particular case, after the accident, emergency medical service workers freed the man from his truck, immobilized the man using a backboard, and put a neck brace on his neck to prevent further damage. When he arrived at the emergency department of the hospital with the neck brace, he was seen by the ER physician, who ordered X-rays and CT scans of the man’s head and face, but not of the man’s neck, despite the fact that the man complained of neck pain.

The treating physician released the man from the hospital without conducting tests on his neck, without performing a physical exam, and without a cervical collar to stabilize his neck. Four days later, the man was readmitted to the hospital with extreme pain in his left shoulder and neck, and weakness in his arm. At that point it was discovered that the man’s neck was broken, and that he required emergency neck-fusion surgery.

Further, because the initial failure of the treating physician to diagnose the broken neck, the man suffered permanent nerve damage, had to undergo a second spinal fusion, and will continue to need ongoing medical treatment, including additional future surgeries.

Based on the doctor’s negligence, the man sued the physician and the hospital; according to court records, atrial, the doctor denied that he had failed to perform a physical exam but the doctor’s own defense expert testified that if the exam had actually been performed, the patient's obvious and intense pain would have indicated that x-rays of the neck were required.

Ultimately the jury found in favor of the plaintiff, and awarded he and his wife $9 million in damages based on the fact that the doctor had egregiously and negligently breached the accepted standards of medical care by not ordering x-rays of the man's neck.

If you or a loved one have been harmed as a result of a healthcare professional’s actions, you may be entitled to compensation for your injuries. Compensation in these types of cases generally comes in two forms:

• Compensatory damages, which attempt to put a person back in the position he or she was in before the injury. This may include payment of medical and hospital bills incurred because of the injury, wages lost, or compensation for loss of a normal life, among many other forms.


• Punitive damages, which are intended to punish the wrongdoer for his or her actions. Additionally, punitive damages serve to send a message to others in similar positions to the defendant party, urging them not to act in the same harmful way.

An attorney will be able to advise you of your rights under the law.

Our Chicago personal injury lawyers were saddened to hear of the recent death of a 16 year-old Chicago teen who fell to his death through a garbage chute in a high rise on Chicago’s Gold Cost.

According to a report by MSNBC, the teen was doing chores when he plunged the 46 stories to his death through the building’s trash chute. Witnesses speculated that, because of the boy’s mental disability, he may have slipped and fell into the chute. Police reported that his body was found in the trash compactor in the basement of the building.

Though police are currently investigating the incident, at the outset it appears that the boy’s grieving family may have the grounds for an Illinois wrongful death lawsuit based on premises liability.

When an accident or injury occurs to a visitor on another person's property, the owner of the property may be legally responsible if it can be proved that their negligence led to the injury. When injuries do arise in these situations, Illinois premises liability lawsuits may occur.

In order to apply to a set of circumstances, Illinois premises liability law requires a number of factors to be satisfied: the defendant must be the owner or possessor of the land, or “premises” – in this case, the potential defendants may be the person or company who owns the high rise, or is responsible for maintaining it. The second aspect that must occur is that the person or persons on the land of another must be injured by negligence or a different wrongful act; in this particular situation, the building owners or managers have a duty to maintain a safe living environment, including ensuring that the building’s facilities do not present an inherent danger to residents.

In this set of circumstances, legal responsibility could potentially arise from he fact that the building owners failed to maintain the property, and even created a potentially dangerous environment by keeping a garbage chute into which a person could potentially fall. If the property managers are indeed held liable for having been negligent, and it can be shown that their negligence caused or contributed to cause the boy’s death, they may be made to pay damages to the 16 year-old’s surviving family members.

In Illinois wrongful death cases, relatives and other loved ones may be able to receive compensation for their loss; this often comes in the form of damages for loss of companionship, or damages for lost wages that the individual would have otherwise contributed to supporting his or her family. Though a lawsuit can never bring a loved one back to life, it is a step in the right direction, both for achieving justice, and making those at fault pay for their careless actions.

Our Chicago wrongful death attorneys have handled a number of these types of cases, including having won a $6.0 million settlement for the families of 6 children who died in a tragic apartment fire on Chicago's north side, where landlords of the building failed to have proper and working smoke detectors in violation of the Chicago Municipal Code, and the children were not able to escape the building in time. If you or a loved one have been injured on the premises of another, contact an attorney to better understand your rights under the law.

When nursing homes undertake to provide services to individuals, part of the responsibility that the facility takes on is the duty to supervise and protect each and every resident in its facility. Sometimes patients can be a danger to themselves or others, but that’s why we entrust the care of our loved ones to healthcare professionals who hold themselves out to be experts in the field of nursing care.

Our Chicago personal injury attorneys Steven M. Levin, John J. Perconti, and Michael F. Bonamarte of Levin & Perconti have been entrusted to represent the family of an 80 year-old Oak Park Healthcare patient who died this past Valentine’s Day after suffering a fatal brain injury during an altercation with a younger resident at Oak Park Healthcare Center, a nursing home in Oak Park.

Many state and federal regulations, such as the Illinois Nursing Home Care Act, have been established to protect the elderly in nursing care facilities, such as the Oak Park Healthcare Center. Nevertheless, devastatingly gross violations occur every single day, tragically compromising the health, well being, and dignity of some of our society's most vulnerable members.

“The nursing home had a duty to supervise and protect each and every resident in its facility,” said John Perconti. “There clearly was a breach of that duty, which resulted in Mr. Calderon’s unnecessary death. Right now, we are in the early stages of our investigation. Once we obtain Mr. Calderon’s nursing home records and the police investigative documents, we will be in a better position to determine how this preventable tragedy occurred.”

At this point it appears that the facility and caregivers at the Oak Park Healthcare Center failed to treat the 80 year-old resident with the care required by law to keep the residents safe. When these sorts of breaches of care occur, an Illinois nursing home negligence lawsuit is often needed to ensure that compensation and accountability are provided.

When patients are injured by the negligent acts of those delegated to care for them, and the healthcare professionals are determined to be legally responsible for the harmed caused, the provider may be made to pay what are known as damages, which attempt to put an injured person back in the position he or she was in before being injured. In some cases, courts may also award punitive damages that are implemented to punish wrongdoers and prevent other health care professionals in the same position from engaging in the same harmful acts.

In this case, damages may also be awarded for the man’s wrongful death. Under Illinois law, wrongful death is the legal concept that arises when a person’s death has been caused by the fault or negligence of another person trusted for the care of patients. In cases of wrongful death, such as this one, family members and loved ones of the decedent can file a claim to potentially make the wrongdoer pay damages for things such as the loss of companionship, monetary damages to cover the earnings the deceased person would have provided, and expenses associated with the death such as funeral and burial costs, as well as having to experience grief and sorrow.

Levin & Perconti is one of the nation's most recognized and respected leaders in the area of nursing home negligence litigation. Both in and out of the courtroom, our Chicago personal injury lawyers obtained over $100 million in nursing home verdicts and settlements for neglected residents and their families, including a record-setting $3 million bed sore settlement. Attorneys for Levin & Perconti have represented a number of individuals and families in cases involving resident-on-resident abuse. “We find that most cases of resident-on-resident abuse are a result of the facility’s failure to properly supervise and monitor residents who have a propensity for violence,” added Perconti.

Our Chicago personal injury lawyers are committed to protecting and vindicating the rights of people who are injured by the negligence of others. If you or a loved one have been harmed as a result of nursing home negligence, contact an attorney to understand your rights under the law.

No matter what the occupation, all professionals are required by law to ensure that their work meets certain standards that are established by laws or by customs in the practice.

Under Illinois law, Chicago professional malpractice cases may arise when the professional (who is under a duty to act), or a subordinate acting at the direction of the professional, fails to follow the standards to which he or she must comply, and the breach of that duty causes injury to another person. Essentially, if the professional is careless or negligent in the work they do, and that negligence has a damaging impact on someone else’s life, the victim is entitled to seek financial redress.

That’s exactly what might happen in a number of recent situations involving a Chicago funeral home; though the most-direct victims are already dead, the families of the deceased may have cause to bring Illinois professional malpractice claims based on the emotional distress they endured as a result of the funeral home mishandling the bodies of their loved ones.

Professional liability can take almost as many forms as there are professions; an undertrained stockbroker whose decisions led to financial disaster for his client may be guilty of professional malpractice. So might an architect whose flawed plans resulted in a faulty structure. Insurance broker malpractice represents yet another type of professional liability when individuals learn they do not have the coverage they purchased. In this case, the owner of Carter Funeral Chapels on Chicago’s South Shore may be held legally responsible based on the lack of care to the nine bodies that were inside being prepared, at the time authorities searched the funeral home Monday night.

According to the Chicago Tribune, officials cited the owner for "failure to provide adequate shelter, protection, care and disposition of deceased human remains," stemming from a number of problems including the fact that the building had no electricity or heat.

Police officers realized these issues when they went to the funeral home after receiving a call about a suspicious person in a car outside the building, reported the Chicago Tribune.

At this point, all of the bodies have been removed and taken to other funeral homes. Nevertheless, the owner and operator of the funeral home may be liable for professional malpractice in the way that he treated the deceased. In fact, this is not the first time he has been in trouble for the way he conducted business. According to the Chicago Tribune, he is a party to a lawsuit filed by the Federal Trade Commission last July, in which federal authorities allege Carter Funeral Chapels violated regulations by not providing clients with an itemized list of services. Additionally, State records say that his license was suspended indefinitely in October 2008 “due to violation of regulations, untrustworthiness, embalming without prior consent and unprofessional conduct,” and that he was disciplined by the state in 1999 for practicing with a non-renewed license and failing to take continuing education classes to keep his license current.

The families of the decedents that were entrusted to the funeral home may be able to make claims for damages based on the tort of negligent infliction of emotional distress. Under Illinois law, people have a legal duty to use reasonable care to avoid causing emotional distress to other people. If an individual or business fails in this duty and unreasonably causes emotional distress to another person, that actor may be made to pay damages to the injured individual. In this situation, if the families can show that they have endured emotional harm based on the funeral home owner’s professional malpractice, they may have the basis for an Illinois personal injury lawsuit.

If you've suffered an injury of this type that you believe may be a result the negligence of another person, you may be able to file a lawsuit to recover the costs involved to pay for any emotional distress you have suffered. A personal injury attorney will be able to advise you of your rights under the law.

When we picture baby food, arsenic isn’t exactly the first thing that comes to mind. But that’s exactly what consumers of organic baby food might be getting with their purchase, reported a new study from Dartmouth University.

The findings show that because organic brown rice syrup is often used as a replacement for high-fructose corn syrup in organic foods, levels of inorganic arsenic can be elevated to dangerous levels. Rice absorbs arsenic from the soil – though different varieties of rice have different levels of porousness, brown rice often has particularly high levels of arsenic inclusion.

The study, detailed in an article by MSNBC, focuses largely on the levels of the dangerous chemical in organic baby foods, though high levels of arsenic were also found to be present in organic adult foods. Though experts are divided over whether or not there are risks from organic arsenic, research has linked inorganic arsenic to various types of cancer.

The study compared the arsenic levels in foods to acceptable standards for arsenic in drinking water; although the risk factors from arsenic-laced drinking water are based on a lifetime of exposure, the study’s lead author, Brian Jackson, said that infant formulas with high arsenic levels are more of a concern because “it’s probably not a good thing for an infant to be exposed to those levels of arsenic.”

According to MSNBC, the study tested a number of different kinds of organic foods, including 17 infant formulas; of those, two formulas contained arsenic levels 20 times higher than the other formulas made without organic brown rice syrup, and one of the infant formulas tested contained twice the inorganic arsenic allowed in drinking water, according to Environmental Protection Agency standards.

The report didn’t list the specific brands of products found to be high in arsenic, but our Chicago personal injury lawyers want consumers to be safe. Ingestion of arsenic has been linked to a number of types of cancer and developmental defects. Researchers are especially concerned about the infant formulas in light of the fact that the EPA standards for drinking water are set not for infants, but for full grown adults, so the impact of these levels of arsenic might be far greater, reported MSNBC. These effects may be exacerbated for some babies who are getting formula as their sole source of nutrition.

Illinois product liability law requires that when corporations put a product on the market, they are responsible for ensuring that the product is safe for consumer use. This is especially true for food manufacturers whose merchandise has to be thoroughly inspected before it is distributed to the public, and for baby food manufacturers whose products may have a significant impact on children’s development. When dangerous or poisonous foods harm consumers, the corporations may be liable for the injuries caused and may be legally responsible for damages caused by those injuries. This may give rise to an Illinois personal injury lawsuit.

Just as importantly, Illinois products liability lawsuits also serve to ensure that defective products were removed from the market and prevented from causing any further pain, suffering, and damage to consumers. If you or a loved one have had an incident with a product that caused an injury, or if you are the survivor of someone who may have died from the use or exposure to a dangerous or defective product, contact an attorney to better understand your rights under the law.

Already, Johnson & Johnson, the American pharmaceutical and medical device conglomerate, is not having a good year.

This time, the corporation is recalling its entire U.S. supply of infant Tylenol after parents complained about problems with a new dosing system, reported MSNBC.

Johnson & Johnson is an American pharmaceutical and cosmetic manufacturer that disseminates packaged goods sold in more than 175 countries. The corporation is the largest healthcare company in the world, and has approximately 250 subsidiary companies, which include numerous household-known brand names of medications, first-aid supplies, toiletries, and beauty products.

This latest recall, initiated this past Friday, involves more than 574,000 bottles of grape-flavored liquid Tylenol, intended for children under two years of age. The product will be off the market for an indefinite time.

Issues arose due to a new bottle design, which was intended to prevent accidental ingestion and ensure accurate dosing; instead, said MSNBC, when parents inserted a syringe into the bottle, some accidentally pushed a protective cover inside.

Illinois products liability law is an area of law that protects the public from hazardous products. When corporations manufacture merchandise and distribute it to the public, they have the responsibility of ensuring that their product is safe for consumer use or consumption. When a customer is harmed, infected, or killed as a result of a flawed product, the company may be held liable for those injuries, and may be legally responsible for the damages stemming from the harm caused by the product.

When a company manufactures a product to be marketed to the public, the company is responsible for ensuring the safety of those products. There are three main types of Illinois product liability claims:

1. A manufacturing defect, which generally occurs when an otherwise safe product is assembled carelessly;

2. A design defect, which occurs when, no matter how well the product is put together, its intent or layout is inherently dangerous;

3. A failure to warn, which can occur when a product markets a product that they know to be potentially hazardous, and fails to warn consumers of the latent danger.

This particular recall results from a design defect. "We are looking for various alternatives for the redesign," said a spokeswoman on behalf of Johnson & Johnson.

This latest recall comes on the heels of a recall of Johnson & Johnson’s Animas brand of insulin pumps that were defective, yet made their way into the hands of consumers who were injured as a result. Moreover, in 2010, DePuy Orthopedics, a division of Johnson & Johnson, issued a voluntary recall of two of their hip replacement systems, after studies found that many patients who received these DePuy hip implants suffered from symptoms including pain, swelling, and difficulty walking, and had to undergo a revision surgery to correct painful issues with the implants.

Our Chicago personal injury lawyers have extensive experience handling Illinois products liability cases including DePuy Orthopedics cases, and have the knowledge and diligence to handle even the most complicated cases. If you or a loved one have been injured as a result of a defective product, contact an attorney immediately to obtain a better understanding of your rights under the law. Special laws are in place to protect consumers, and you may be entitled to compensation for your injuries.

All customers wanted were clean teeth. Instead, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s latest consumer safety update, a popular brand of electric toothbrushes has been found to cause disastrous injuries to users’ faces.

Reported MSNBC, accounts of grievances from using the battery-powered Spinbrush toothbrush – sold by both Arm & Hammer and Crest – included chipped or broken teeth, cuts to the mouth and gums, injuries to the face and eyes, and choking hazards, as a result of pieces breaking off. When the parts break, they are "released into the mouth with great speed, causing broken teeth and presenting a choking hazard," said a spokesperson for the FDA.

When consumers buy products off the shelves of retail stores, those customers have the right to expect that the product will be free from hazardous defects. Special Illinois personal injury laws are in place to protect consumers from these dangerous products, and to help customers recover after they have been injured.

An important concept in Illinois personal injury law is the idea that companies are responsible for ensuring the safety of products that they put on the market. Corporations are expected to test their merchandise to ensure that the products conform to applicable safety regulations, and when dangerous or defective products are disseminated to the public, the companies may be held legally responsible for injuries that arise from the use of those hazardous products. In this case, when customers are harmed by the brushes’ broken parts, the manufacturer may be made to pay for hospital and medical bills incurred, as well as any other types of damages that arise from using the product.

The toothbrush in question, the Spinbrush, is manufactured by Church & Dwight Co., Inc., and comes in both children’s and adult models; according to the FDA, all available models have the potential to harm consumers. In the adult models that feature replaceable brush-heads, these spare parts carry a risk of injury as well. The children’s models (including Spiderman and Thomas & Friends themed brushes) have caused serious problems, including cut lips, burns from the batteries, and bristles lodged in a child's tonsils, said MSNBC.

“We are particularly concerned about the problems with these toothbrushes as they appear to be geared towards children,” said Dr. Susan Runner, branch chief for Dental Devices in the FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health.

Our Chicago personal injury lawyers want people to be especially cautious. If you have one of these types of toothbrushes, inspect it immediately before using it or, better yet, replace it with a less-dangerous type or brand of brush. If the toothbrush appears to be damaged in any way, do not use it at all. Further, the FDA advises consumers to never bite down on the brush head while brushing and to follow all instructions and recommended replacement guidelines for the product.

We are particularly proud of the changes that our Chicago personal injury lawyers’ efforts have brought in the area of products liability cases. In many instances, our attorneys have not only recovered substantial verdicts and settlements for our clients, but also helped to ensure that defective products were removed from the market and prevented from causing any further pain, suffering, and damage to consumers.

If you or a loved one have had an incident with a product that caused an injury, or if you are the survivor of someone who may have died from the use or exposure to a dangerous or defective product, it's important that you know your rights under the law.

At the age of seven, going to the doctor is scary enough. However, things were made much, much worse for a young boy when his pediatrician’s negligence lead to permanent blindness.

In October of 2009, the boy’s mother took him to see his pediatrician. He had been playing soccer in a league with other children, but as the month continued, she noticed he didn’t have his usual energy. However, instead of recognizing that the child had life-threatening bacterial meningitis, the physician diagnosed him with an ear infection and then ignored his worsening systems.

Illinois medical malpractice lawsuits arise when individuals are injured by careless or intentional acts on the part of a doctor, hospital, or other healthcare provider. When the healthcare professional is determined to be legally responsible for injuring the patient, they are liable for the injury, and may be made to pay damages for the harm caused. Additionally, when a doctor or nurse is held liable, the hospital may also be responsible for damages based on either negligent supervision, or failing to hire and train adequate professionals to take care of patients.

Medical malpractice claims throughout the State of Illinois can arise from a number of different situations, including missed diagnoses – such as this one – healthcare provider errors, medication and pharmaceutical errors, and spinal cord injuries, as well a number of other hazardous circumstances.

After the initial consultation with the pediatrician, the boy’s mother took him back to the doctor several times. The doctor should have recognized the symptoms, continued observation when symptoms worsened, and treated the young boy accordingly.

Bacterial meningitis is a very serious inflammation of the lining of the brain and spinal cord; as a result of its proximity to the brain, meningitis may be potentially fatal, and is classified as a medical emergency. When left untreated, meningitis can lead to serious, long-term consequences such as blindness, deafness, epilepsy, and other permanent cognitive defects.

As a direct result of the physician’s failure to diagnose the disease, the boy fell into a coma for several months: when he awoke, he was blind, and had to re-learn to walk and feed himself. Injuries suffered as a result of medical malpractice can be severe and life altering; in this case, prior to the doctor’s negligence, the boy was healthy and active. After the doctor’s error in diagnosis, the boy is now completely dependent on others and will be for the rest of his life.

Our Chicago personal injury lawyers have extensive experience with the unique challenges and complexities of medical malpractice law, which has enabled them to achieve many multimillion dollar verdicts and settlements for our clients, including a $17.7 million medical malpractice settlement for a former police officer who suffered a life-altering brain injury due to nursing staff negligence at a Chicago hospital, and a $2.25 million medical malpractice settlement for failure to diagnose infection for a 5-year-old boy, who had survived a bone marrow transplant from his brother to treat his acute myleucytic leukemia and resulting graft versus host disease, developed septic shock, acute respiratory distress syndrome, and intercerebral hemorrhage causing his death.

If you or a loved one have suffered as a result of a medical provider’s negligence, contact an attorney to understand your rights under the law. You may be entitled to compensation for your injuries.

Our Chicago personal injury lawyers were saddened to learn of the recent death of a six year-old boy, in a tragic apartment complex fire. According to the Madison St. Clair Record, the boy and his family were living in the apartment building when a fire broke out; the apartment complex failed to have working smoke detectors and fire extinguishers. As a result, the family of the boy has since filed a wrongful death lawsuit on behalf of the child, claiming that, because of the complex-owners' negligence, the boy suffered a tragic death.

Illinois premises liability law is a significant branch of Illinois personal injury law that allows victims to recover after they have been injured on another person’s property, and the negligence of the property owner was the cause of that harm. In order to apply to a set of circumstances, premises liability law requires a number of factors to be satisfied: the defendant must be the owner or possessor of the land, or “premises” – in this case, the defendants are the company responsible for maintaining the apartment complex. Additionally, the person or persons on the land of another must be injured by negligence or a different wrongful act; in this particular situation, the apartment managers had a duty to maintain the buildings and ensure that they were properly equipped with fire safety supplies.

Illinois premises liability law may be triggered if it can be shown that the property owners or managers either failed to maintain the property, created unsafe conditions that caused the injury, or knew about the unsafe hazard but didn't alert visitors or tenants to this fact. Here, by failing to have fire extinguishers and working smoke detectors, the property managers created an unsafe condition that led to the boy’s death.

Under Illinois law, wrongful death is the legal concept that arises when a person’s death has been caused by the fault or negligence of another person or business. In cases of wrongful death, such as this one, family members and loved ones of the decedent can file a claim to potentially make the wrongdoer pay damages for things such as the loss of companionship, monetary damages to cover the earnings the deceased person would have provided, and expenses associated with the death such as funeral and burial costs. Because the boy was only six, damages will not likely be incurred for future lost wages, but his family may be entitled to compensation for having lost time with him, as well as having to experience grief and sorrow.

Our Illinois personal injury lawyers have handled numerous cases and recovered millions of dollars in verdicts and settlements for the families of victims wrongfully killed because of someone else's negligence. In fact, they obtained a $6.0 million settlement for the families of 6 children who died in a tragic apartment fire on Chicago's north side because the landlords of the building failed to have proper and working smoke detectors in violation of the Chicago Municipal Code and the children were not able to escape the building in time. Additionally, they earned a $2.3 million Chicago fire injury settlement for two boys who were severely burned in a Chicago Housing Authority apartment fire.

Our Chicago personal injury lawyers represent people in claims that arise when patients are harmed by the negligent or intentional bad acts of a doctor, nurse, hospital, or other healthcare provider.

When those situations cause injury to individuals, and the healthcare professional is determined to be legally responsible for the harmed caused, the provider may be made to pay what are known as damages, which attempt to put an injured person back in the position he or she was in before being injured. In some cases, courts may also award punitive damages that are implemented to punish wrongdoers and prevent others in the same position from engaging in the same harmful acts.

According to a recent report by MSNBC, a physician with offices in southwester Illinois has just pleaded guilty to a federal misdemeanor linked to his alleged giving of misbranded unapproved chemotherapy drugs from overseas, to his patients. Although at this point the doctor is only facing charges in the criminal justice system, if his patients were harmed by his reckless actions he could be made to face Illinois medical malpractice lawsuits.

Reports from the U.S. Attorney’s office state that the 61 year-old healthcare provider admits that he did not tell his parents the source of the drugs, then sought Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement for the more than $350,000 worth of drugs.

Medical malpractice claims throughout the State of Illinois can arise from a number of different situations, including missed diagnoses, healthcare provider errors, intentional medication and pharmaceutical errors such as the ones in this case, as well a number of other hazardous circumstances. Doctors and other professionals who undertake to provide a service to clients owe a duty to their patients; when they breach that duty, and patients are harmed, they are responsible for the harm caused. Using unapproved drugs without telling patients what they are ingesting may constitute such a breach.

Our Chicago personal injury lawyers have extensive experience with the unique challenges and complexities of medical malpractice law, which has enabled them to achieve many multimillion dollar verdicts and settlements for our clients, including a record-high $14 million verdict against a doctor and hospital for not following and ignoring abnormal chest X-ray results, which caused a substantial delay in the diagnosis of lung cancer, and a $7.62 million verdict against an HMO doctor who disregarded the mother's complaints of postpartum bleeding, which resulted in her bleeding to death.

If you or a loved one have suffered as a result of a medical provider’s negligence, contact an attorney to understand your rights under the law. You may be entitled to compensation for your injuries.

Talk about a kiss of death.

According to a recent report by the Los Angeles Times, the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics is raising concern over findings from the FDA showing that popular brands of lipstick contain trace amounts of lead. However, despite the fact that the levels of lead have doubled since the last time that the FDA looked into this branch of the cosmetics industry, government officials are insisting that the findings are not a cause for concern. Nevertheless, a physician on behalf of the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics stated that “lead builds up in the body over time and lead-containing lipstick applied several times a day, every day, can add up to significant exposure levels."

The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics is a coalition of public health, educational, religious, labor, women’s, environmental, and consumer groups whose goal is to protect the health of consumers and workers by requiring the health and beauty industry to phase out additives that have been linked to cancer and other serious adverse health consequences. One of the Campaign’s major platforms is advocating that the government set limits for lead levels in lipstick.

Although cosmetics are generally regulated within the cosmetic industry, when necessary, cosmetic products are regulated by the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, a branch of the FDA that is also responsible for regulating food. Labeling of cosmetics is regulated by the FDA, and if merchandise has not been tested prior to being placed on the market, companies are required to place a warning on the products alerting consumers to this fact.

Before products are placed on the market they are required to undergo testing to ensure that they comply with industry safety standards. When dangerous or defective products cause harm or illness to consumers, manufacturers may be held legally responsible for the injuries caused by the products, and the monetary damages caused by those injuries. When this happens, it may give rise to an Illinois personal injury lawsuit.

In this latest investigation, more than one third of lipsticks tested exceeded the FDA’s limit for lead in candy, reported the Los Angeles Times. However, the FDA replied to this allegation in online comments by saying that “it is not scientifically valid to equate the risk to consumers presented by lead levels in candy, a product intended for ingestion, with that associated with lead levels in lipstick, a product intended for topical use and ingested in much smaller quantities than candy.” The Personal Care Products Council, a trade group that represents the cosmetics industry, agreed with the FDA.

Said the Los Angeles Times, lead is not intentionally put in lipstick or any other cosmetic but that many color additives approved by the FDA are mineral-based and therefore contain trace levels of lead that is naturally found in soil, water and air. Nevertheless, if chemicals in products harm consumers, the corporation manufacturing the cosmetics may be made to pay damages in an Illinois personal injury lawsuit.

The lipsticks in question that contain high lead levels were manufactured by Maybelline, L’Oreal, NARS, Cover Girl, and Stargazer. If you or a loved one have purchased these cosmetics and been harmed as a result, contact a personal injury attorney to be apprised of your rights under the law.

Illinois personal injury law allows people to make claims based on the loss of companionship of a loved one. Monetary damages attempt to put people back in the position they were in prior to an injury or accident; sometimes this happens by compensating people for pain and suffering or the loss of a family member.

More specifically, Chicago product liability lawsuits allow people the potential to achieve justice when loved ones are harmed by dangerous, flawed, or infected products. But what happens when our loved ones aren’t persons?

According to recent reports by MSNBC, American government health officials are increasing port-inspections for dangerous toxins for shipments of chicken jerky pet treats from China.

To date, more than 500 dogs have been sickened in the past six months – some fatally so – because the jerky treats contain traces of melamine and melamine analogs and diethylene glycol, chemicals used in plastics and resins. These chemicals can be extremely dangerous for pets; in fact, in 2007, melamine-tainted imported pet food sickened and killed thousands of dogs and cats in the United States. This is the agency’s third alert in the past four years about the treats.

As a result of ingesting these chemicals, the U.S. FDA reports that common effects in dogs are serious problems such as kidney failure and Fanconi syndrome, a condition marked by low blood sugar.

When corporations manufacture products that are marketed to consumers, those companies are responsibility for ensuring that the merchandise meets all safety requirements; companies are expected to test their products before distributing them to the public, and when those products are unsafe and cause harm to customers, the corporation may be held legally responsible for the injuries caused. In this case, it was the responsibility of the companies who produced the chicken treats to ensure they were safe for pets to consume.

Although the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has not released the names of any specific brands linked to the defective dog treats, the illness appear to be tied to imported Chinese chicken jerky products, also sold as chicken tenders, chicken strips or chicken treats, reported MSNBC.

Another important concern in Illinois personal injury law is the concept that a person or business has a legal duty to use reasonable care to avoid causing emotional distress to another person. If a company’s negligent actions – such as failing to ensure that the dog treats were safe for pets – cause emotional distress to a person, the business may be made to pay damages to the injured person. For many Illinoisans, dogs are considered an important part of the family, and their deaths, as a result of a corporation’s negligent may constitute a tort.

If you've lost a loved one – either person or pet – in a situation which you believe may be a result of the negligence of corporation, you may be able to file a lawsuit to recover the costs involved to pay for medical and funeral expenses, and suffering or mental anguish suffered by the survivors of the decedent. Contact an attorney to understand your rights under the law.

As it turns out, it’s not just a problem French women have.

According to a recent report by MSNBC, since 2000, U.S. health authorities have been concerned about French breast implants that were surgically embedded in hundreds of thousands of women worldwide. Now that the manufacturer of the devices has come under scrutiny from European regulators, our Chicago personal injury lawyers have increasing concern for American women who could potentially be harmed by these implants.

After a visit to manufacturer Poly Implant Prothese’s (PIP’s) plant by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the FDA sent a letter to the corporation warning the company that the implants were potentially hazardous, and cited 11 ways in which the business’ production process deviated from acceptable manufacturing standards.

As it turns out, both types of implants manufactured by the corporation have come under serious scrutiny: initially the problems had to do with PIP’s saline implants, but ultimately PIP’s silicone implants were removed from the market as well, reported MSNBC. The silicone implants were defective because they used industrial-grad silicone, as opposed to medical-grade silicone. As a result, the implants appear to have an unusually high rupture rate, which can lead to very serious medical complications.

In fact, according to MSNBC, currently there is an ongoing investigation into involuntary homicide, following the death from cancer of a woman who had received PIP implants that ruptured. There have also been numerous lawsuits filed in the United States based on injuries suffered when the implants deflated years after they were inserted. More than 300,000 women received the company’s implants, so more lawsuits may arise as the defective implants continue to fail.

This situation is a prime example of Illinois product liability law; product liability is an area of Chicago personal injury law that focuses on dangerous and defective products. It is the area of law in which manufacturers, distributors, retailers, and others who manufacture and disseminate goods to the public are held responsible for the injuries caused by those products.

When consumers are harmed because products are unsafe, an Illinois personal injury lawsuit may arise, and the corporations responsible for production may be made to pay compensatory damages to put the consumer back in the position they were in before the injury occurred. This includes covering medical and hospital expenses, and in more serious cases, compensating the victim for a loss of normal life or lost wages. In this case, because the implants have failed and caused injury to patients, PIP could be held legally responsible for damages caused by those injuries.

In some cases when the companies’ errors are egregious, they may also be made to pay punitive damages which serve to punish the company and to send a message to others in the same position to be more careful in the future. Because PIP knowingly used unsatisfactory material in making the implants, they could be liable for punitive damages as well.

Our Chicago personal injury lawyers understand the dangers associated with defective medical and surgical products. In fact, our attorneys brought a case against Orion Research Inc. and Baxter Health Care Corporation for a flawed test for the genetic disease cystic fibrosis. The failures of the test led a set of parents to have second child born with cystic-fibrosis. In addition to winning a substantial settlement for the family, our attorneys and the family were more concerned with the discontinuation of the test. As a result of our efforts, the test was eliminated.

If you or a loved on have been harmed as a result of these dangerous, defective implants, and have suffered injury as a result of the negative side effects, talk to your doctor immediately, and contact an attorney to learn whether you are entitled to compensation under the law.

Pfizer, Inc., an American multinational pharmaceutical conglomerate, and the maker of many popular drugs such as Lipitor and Viagra, had better hope that the latter of those inventions doesn’t exacerbate the already enormous concern caused by their latest product recall.

According to a recent report by MSNBC, Pfizer is recalling more than 1 million packets of birth control pills because of a packaging error; apparently a number of the 28-count blister packs contain an incorrect amount of inactive or active ingredient tablets and the tablets might be in the wrong order. Because the contraceptive pills can’t be taken as intended – despite no fault on the part of the consumer – the risk of unwanted pregnancies is increased. As a result, Pfizer could be made to answer to Illinois personal injury lawsuits resulting from the error.

The pills affected, Lo/Ovral-28 is intended to be taken each day; they contain Levonorgestrel, a second-generation synthetic progestogen that is a common active ingredient in hormonal birth controls and emergency contraceptive pills. The active-ingredient pills, taken for the first three weeks, are white-ish in color, while the inactive pills, taken for the last week to help women keep track of when they should begin their next pack of pills, are pinkish.

Nevertheless, Pfizer found that some packages of the drugs had too many active pills, while other packages had too few. A spokeswoman for Pfizer stated in conjunction with the recall-notice that the mistake was caused by failures with both mechanical and visual inspection. It appears that the issues have since been resolved.

The risk of pregnancy increases based on the number of active-ingredient pills missed: if a patient takes the inactive pills instead of the active pills, the potential for unwanted pregnancy can likewise be amplified.

Illinois product liability law is an area of personal injury law that focuses on dangerous and defective products; it is the area of law in which manufacturers, distributors, retailers, and others who manufacture and disseminate goods to the public are held responsible for the injuries caused by those products. "Products" in this instance covers a wide range of categories, including medical devices and pharmaceuticals.

In fact, and as it pertains to this case, Illinois products liability law dictates that when corporations manufacture a product, especially in cases of pharmaceutical production, they have a responsibility to test that product to ensure its safety and effectiveness before the product is put on the market and sold to consumers. This is especially true for companies that produce medicine, and whose products must undergo extensive testing before they are distributed to consumers. When a company makes a product that is flawed and that product harms the person using the product, the company may be held legally responsible for the customer’s injuries.

In this particular case, Pfizer had a duty to ensure that their drugs were packaged properly. If a consumer has an unwanted pregnancy, Pfizer may made to pay a wide variety of damages, including such things as medical and hospital expenses, and potentially even damages resulting from the infliction of emotional distress.

According to MSNBC, U.S. pharmacists filled 38.9 million birth control prescriptions in the first six months of last year.;A total of 78.6 million prescriptions were filled in 2010. Fortunately the particular pill type in question is one of the less popular form of birth control so fewer patients are affected. Nevertheless, the injuries resulting from this mistake have the potential to be devastating or life altering. If you or a loved one has been affected by the recall of Lo/Ovral-28, contact an attorney to better understand your rights under the law.

Last week, our Chicago personal injury lawyers contemplated the practices of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention after reports showed that the agency kept the public in the dark about food producers and restaurants that been linked to outbreaks of illnesses.

During the entirety of a three-month investigation into a salmonella outbreak that sickened 68 people in 10 states, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) refused to identify the manufacturer of tainted food, instead calling the food distributer “Restaurant Chain A.” Ultimately the outbreak was linked to Taco Bell fast-food chain restaurants.

Though the question arose as to whether or not the CDC acted appropriately in refusing to warn consumers when the government agency knew the source of the infection, the other issue at hand is Taco Bell’s liability after having disseminated diseased food products.

Illinois product liability law requires that when corporations put a product on the market, they are responsible for ensuring that the product is safe for consumer use. This is especially true for food manufacturers whose merchandise has to be thoroughly inspected before it is allowed to be distributed to the public. When dangerous or contaminated foods harm consumers, the corporations may be liable for the injuries caused and may be legally responsible for damages caused by those injuries. This may give rise to an Illinois personal injury lawsuit.

According to reports by MSNBC, officials have confirmed more than fifty cases of serious injury to customers as a result of this instance of foodborne illness.

Salmonella is a form of bacteria generally found in cold- and warm-blooded animals. Infections usually arise following consumption of foods contaminated with the bacteria. Although all persons are at risk for developing salmonella poisoning, infants, the elderly, and adults with compromised or weakened immune systems are more susceptible to infection.

Salmonella contamination can arise from a number of sources, but commonly comes from such sources as infected food, poor kitchen hygiene, bodily fluids from sick individuals, and polluted water. Typical symptoms of Salmonella poisoning generally present in the form of diarrhea, abdominal cramps and fever within six to 72 hours of eating contaminated food. In more serious cases, victims may develop symptoms such as headaches, nausea and vomiting that can last up to a week.

More literally than proverbially, in adding insult to injury, Taco Bell also failed to alert consumers to the potential of serious illness. Though the CDC defends the practice stating, "if there's not an important public health reason to use the name publicly, CDC doesn't use the name publicly," if consumers had been aware of the potential for harm, they may have avoided consuming the infected foods and consequently evaded injury.

Our Chicago personal injury lawyers have extensive experience handling cases involving foodborne illnesses. In fact, our attorneys won a $4 million settlement awarded to three attendees at a national convention who contracted salmonella poisoning, leading to crippling arthritic injuries.

If you or a loved one have suffered injury as a result of a foodborne illness, see a doctor immediately. Once a doctor has diagnosed your illness and provided appropriate treatment, you may consider the fact that if the food poisoning was one caused by either food from a restaurant or sold at a grocery store, you may be entitled to compensation for your injuries under the law.

Despite a lengthy history of Illinois medical malpractice lawsuits and payouts to injured patients for substandard care, sheriffs across Illinois are still using the same negligent doctor to treat prison inmates.

According to the Illinois Times, since 2010 alone, more than $1 million has been paid to settle lawsuits filed against a Peoria physician who has been sued dozens of times for substandard care in jails throughout the Midwest. Nevertheless, despite the instances of failures in care and an extensive history of Illinois personal injury lawsuits, the doctor and his company, Health Professionals Limited (HPL), is still used by sheriffs across Illinois.

A Chicago personal injury attorney can attest that medical malpractice lawsuits arise when patients are injured by careless or intentional acts of a doctor, nurse, hospital, or other healthcare provider. Medical providers owe a duty of care to their patients. When that duty is breached and the patient is harmed, the professional may be required to answer to for the harm caused.

Compounding the situation are reports that a number of those Illinois sheriffs have accepted campaign contributions from the doctor’s professional association: public reports show that at least four sheriffs in Illinois have accepted campaign funding from the doctor’s company while contracting with the company to provide medical care for inmates.

Since 2007, the state has paid more than $96.5 million to the physician’s business for health care provided to Illinois’ Department of Juvenile Justice and Department of Corrections, reported the Illinois Times. An unattributed quote on the website of the parent firm of the doctor’s company brags that it is a money-saver for jail administrators: “We look at HPL as preventative. What we pay is a fraction of what you’d pay with a lawsuit.”

In general, the hospitals or care facilities employing the responsible doctor or nurse may also be legally liable for the doctor’s behavior; in general, healthcare institutions have the responsibility to supervise their staff to ensure that mistakes aren’t made, and to hire professionals who have enough knowledge to competently treat patients. As it pertains to this case, the Illinois sheriffs may instead be liable for using a doctor whose practices are known to be negligent, and who has a history of causing harm to Illinois inmates.

Medical malpractice injuries are devastating and potentially life altering. If you or a loved one has been harmed by the negligent acts of a healthcare professional, contact an attorney to better understand your rights under the law. You may be entitled to compensation for your injuries.

Once again, Johnson & Johnson, the American pharmaceutical and medical device conglomerate, is the subject of yet more instances of defective products.

According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the latest scare came to light when investigations found that Johnson & Johnson continued to sell their Animas brand of insulin pumps after learning of malfunctions with the devices that later prompted them to make design changes. Despite known failures, defective products made their way into the hands of consumers who were injured as a result.

Customers have an inherent right to expect that products and medical devices they use are safe. When dangerous or defective products are sold to consumers and those products cause injury, illness, death, or any other kind of harm to the customer, the producer of the good may be held legally responsible for the injury and may be required to pay for damages caused by the injury. Moreover, in some cases, Illinois personal injury law affords the opportunity for the trier of fact to award punitive damages, or damages that send a message to companies to be more careful when manufacturing their products.

Johnson & Johnson is an American pharmaceutical and cosmetic manufacturer that disseminates packaged goods sold in more than 175 countries. The corporation is the largest healthcare company in the world, and has approximately 250 subsidiary companies, which include numerous household-known brand names of medications, first-aid supplies, toiletries, and beauty products.

In 2010, DePuy Orthopaedics, a division of Johnson & Johnson, issued a voluntary recall of two of their hip replacement systems, after studies found that many patients who received these DePuy hip implants suffered from symptoms including pain, swelling, and difficulty walking, and had to undergo a revision surgery to correct painful issues with the implants. Moreover, according to the DePuy Orthopaedics website, one in eight patients who received the defective hip replacement product, needed a second surgery.

When interviewed last year about the Johnson & Johnson hip replacement systems, our Chicago personal injury attorney Steve Levin said, "clients who have problems may have to undergo revision surgeries. The redo can present problems as well. It doesn’t always work and it has a greater chance of failure. A person who could have a lifetime of pain," says Levin.

When products are recalled from the market, the intention is to protect customers from potential harm caused by defective or dangerous products. Essentially, the idea is to prevent more pain and suffering on the part of the consumers. Nevertheless, the company may be held responsible, and the situation may give rise to an Illinois personal injury lawsuit.

Illinois products liability law holds manufacturers of products liability for the goods they produce and distribute to the public. Companies are responsible for testing their merchandise prior to putting it the market for public consumption, and ensuring that the goods are safe for consumer use.

When customers put their trust in the hands of companies who manufacture medical devices and supplies, they have the right to expect a safe, effective product that won’t leave them worse off from its use.

Our Chicago personal injury lawyers were pleased to read that justice was attained on behalf of a man who was rendered tetraplegic – with no use of his lower extremities and partial use of his upper extremities – following a tragic accident on a Chicago expressway.

Every time a driver gets behind the wheel of a car, he or she is accepting responsibility for the safety of everyone else on the road. Although accidents can and do happen, when a driver's negligent behaviors or careless actions lead to the injury or death of another person, the negligent driver must be held accountable.

In this particular case, the defendants admitted liability for the crash ton the Eden’s Expressway, so the Cook County jury was left only to determine damages. In Chicago personal injury cases, when defendants are found to be liable for the harm caused, they may be made to pay compensatory damages to put the victim back in the position he or she was in before the injury occurred. This includes covering medical and hospital expenses, and in more serious cases, compensating the victim for a loss of normal life or lost wages. In some cases when the driver’s errors are egregious, he or she may also be made to pay punitive damages, which serve to punish him or her and to send a message to other drivers in the same position to be more careful in the future.

Prior to the jury verdict being returned, attorneys from either side reached a high-low agreement of $25 million to $50 million. A high-low agreement is a contract between parties in a personal injury case, which ensures that, no matter what the amount of damages the jury returns, the lowest amount that can be received by the victim, and the highest amount the defendant may be made to be paid are predetermined. As a result, when the Cook County jury awarded $23 million in damages, the final award was $25 million.

Injuries suffered as a result of these types of accidents can be severe and life altering. Our Chicago personal injury lawyers have successfully handled nearly every type of motor vehicle negligence case and recovered millions of dollars in accident lawsuit verdicts and settlements for victims and their families. Our attorneys have both the experience and knowledge to handle even the most complex car accident lawsuits.

In fact, our attorneys obtained $6.5 million settlement in a trucking accident case for the family of a 32-year-old woman who was killed when their pick-up truck was rear-ended by a semi-truck. Our client and his son both suffered significant personal injuries in the collision. The defendant truck driver was found to be under the influence of marijuana and operating an over-loaded, unsafe truck. In violation of federal regulations, the defendant truck owners failed to drug-screen or perform background checks on their drivers.

If you or a loved one have been injured in a motor vehicle accident that is the result of another driver’s negligent behavior, contact an attorney to better understand your rights under the law.

Camping is a popular leisure activity for many Illinoisans; but when campgrounds are not well-maintained, things can get dangerous. Tragically, that’s exactly what happened to a family whose two youngest children were killed when a tree fell on their tent while camping at an Illinois campground.

The family was camping out at a popular resort campground; when they became aware of an impending thunderstorm, the father asked the property managers whether the family would be able to stay overnight in one of the log cabins on the property. Nevertheless, the owners of the campground refused, saying the cabin needed cleaning. As the storm worsened, the National Weather Service issued a severe thunderstorm warning and alerted people to potentially destructive winds. Still the family was not permitted to use the log cabin for shelter.

At some point during the overnight hours, a tree that was suffering from trunk rot was knocked down by the storm. Trunk rot is a fungal disease that causes wood at the center of trees to decay, causing the wood to soften and become structurally weaker. As a result, the tree was too feeble to withstand the storm, and fell on the family’s tent; the two youngest children were killed by the impact.

Illinois premises liability law is a significant branch of Illinois personal injury law that allows victims to recover after they have been injured on another person’s property, and the negligence of the property owner was the cause of that harm. In order to apply to a set of circumstances, Illinois premises liability law requires a number of factors to be satisfied: the defendant must be the owner or possessor of the land, or “premises” – in this case, the defendants were the campground owners. Additionally, the person or persons on the land of another must be injured by negligence or a different wrongful act; in this particular situation, the campground owners had a duty to maintain the grounds and ensure that they were safe for campers.

In cases such as this, Illinois premises liability law may be triggered if it can be shown that the property owners or managers either failed to maintain the property, created unsafe conditions that caused the injury, or knew about the unsafe hazard but didn't alert visitors or tenants to this fact.

Following the tragic series of events, the family filed suit against the owners of the recreational campground: The lawsuit accused the campground of being negligent in two ways: not removing the tree suffering from trunk rot and not evacuating campers.

Just this week, a settlement was reached in the case. The owners of the premises were made to pay the family $1.25 million dollars for the wrongful deaths of the two children.

In Illinois wrongful death cases, relatives and loved ones may be able to receive compensation for their loss; this often comes in the form of damages for loss of companionship, or damages for lost wages that the individual would have otherwise contributed to supporting his or her family. In this case, the parents would have recovered for the loss of the companionship and love from their two children.

Though a lawsuit can never bring a loved one back to life, it is a step in the right direction, both for achieving justice, and making those at fault pay for their careless actions. If you or a loved one have been injured on the premises of another, contact an attorney to better understand your rights under the law.

If we’re not told the source of contamination, how are we supposed to avoid becoming infected?

That’s exactly what our Chicago personal injury lawyers are wondering, having read a recent report by MSNBC that stated that, whenever possible, government officials use tactics to keep the public in the dark about which food producers and restaurants have been linked to illnesses.

This report came on the heels of a three-month investigation into a salmonella outbreak that sickened 68 people in 10 states. Instead of warning consumers when they knew the source of the infection, officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention refused to identify the manufacturer of the tainted food, instead calling it “Restaurant Chain A.”

In fact, reported MSNBC, that’s the second time in a little over a year that the government agency has masked the source of a foodborne illness; in the fall of 2010, a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stated that 155 people in 21 states were sickened by two rare strains of salmonella traced to an anonymous Mexican-style fast-food chain eventually identified as Taco Bell.

Under Illinois law, companies that manufacture and market food have a responsibility to ensure that foods they produce are safe for human consumption. When a food manufacturer, distributer, or restaurant disseminates an infected food product to the public and a consumer is sickened or injured as a result, that company may be held legally responsible and may be made to pay for damages that result from the injury.

According to 2010 estimates by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately 48 million people are sickened each year by a foodborne illness; of those, more than 125,000 people require hospitalization and 3,000 die after consuming contaminated fruits, vegetables, meats, nuts and processed foods in their homes or in restaurants. Nevertheless, these are the same government officials keeping secret the names of the responsible companies, which prevent consumers from being able to make choices to protect themselves.

Reported MSNBC, Dr. Robert Tauxe, a top CDC official, defended the agency’s practice of withholding company identities, which he said aims to protect not only public health, but also the bottom line of businesses that could be hurt by bad publicity. Still, our Chicago personal injury lawyers know that preventing illness before it has a chance to harm consumers is the best possible solution.

People who suffer serious personal injury, hospitalization, or death due to illness from contaminated foods may be able to seek compensation for economic and non-economic damages from those responsible for providing or distributing the food. Damages include such things as lost wages, compensation for pain and suffering, and loss of the companionship of a loved one who has died from the illness. Our Illinois food poisoning attorneys have extensive experience handling these types of cases, and understand what it takes to be successful in even the most complicated Illinois food poisoning cases. In fact, our attorneys obtained a $4 million settlement against a hotel chain, on behalf of three convention attendees who contracted salmonella poisoning that caused them to suffer crippling arthritic injuries.

If you or a loved one has suffered illness due to a foodborne illness – either from a restaurant or purchased from a grocery store – contact an attorney to better understand your rights under the law.