Illinois Injury Lawyer Blog

We are proud to share that, once again, our Chicago personal injury attorneys have achieved justice on behalf of a client in a medical malpractice lawsuit against a Chicago neurosurgeon who irreparably damaged our client’s spinal cord because he was medically negligent.

Attorneys Steven M. Levin & Jordan S. Powell won a settlement totalling $3 million, which will help to compensate our 78 year-old client for the pain and suffering, and the permanent paralysis she suffered when the doctor improperly inserted a pain pump that permanently damaged the woman’s spinal cord.

On march 6, 2007, the neurosurgeon performed surgery on the woman to fix a pain pump that was previously inserted in her some to deliver medication to manage her back pain. According to attorney Levin, as a result of the doctor’s negligence, “for the past five years, our client has struggled to adapt to life without the use of her lower limbs... his attempt to fix her pain pump caused far greater health problems, and robbed her of her ability to walk or move around on her own.”

The lawsuit was filed in 2008 the Circuit Court of Cook County, and the $3 million settlement was approved by University Of Illinois Board Of Trustees on December 2, 2011.

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, healthcare provider errors, medication and pharmaceutical errors, and spinal cord injuries – such as in this case – as well a number of other hazardous circumstances

Injuries suffered as a result of Illinois medical malpractice cases can be severe and life altering; in this case, prior to the surgery, the woman lived on her own in Palatine, Illinois. After the surgical error, the woman is now completely dependent on others. The Chicago personal injury settlement money will allow the woman to receive ongoing medical treatment and home health support. Said Steve Levin, “our client’s settlement will allow her to Our team, along with our client and her family, hope that her settlement will also send a strong message to healthcare providers that substandard medical care and preventable medical mistakes will not be tolerated or go unnoticed.”

If you or a loved one have been injured by a healthcare professional, you may be entitled to compensation for your injuries. Special laws are in place to protect patients. Contact an attorney to be apprised of your rights under the law.

An Illinois man alleges that he was hurt by a falling piece of concrete while working at a refinery. The man filed an Illinois personal injury lawsuit earlier this month in Madison County Circuit Court against the construction company and other defendants. He was working as a pipefitter and welder and was working in a trench when a large section of concrete built to hold the excavating machinery broke off and fell into the trench. The personal injury plaintiff alleges that he was unable to escape the falling debris and it knocked him to the ground. He states that he sustained serious injuries to his back during the injury. The Illinois plaintiff is asking to be paid more than $400,000 in damages for medical expenses and lost wages along with court costs.

Individuals have a right to a safe and healthful workplace and may receive benefits under workers’ compensation if they have suffered an injury on the job. Employers are required to carry workers’ compensation insurance coverage and should give their employees a workers’ compensation claim to complete and return. According to state law, a workers’ compensation claim is the remedy when an employee sustains an on-the-job injury, which means that an injured worker cannot file a negligence lawsuit against his or her employer or co-worker. But, if a workers’ compensation claim arises as the result of the negligence of another person, a door opens to another area of recovery. A personal injury lawsuit can be filed against the third party in addition to the workers’ compensation claim. For example, our Chicago personal injury lawyers represent clients in cases where negligence caused their serious personal injury or wrongful death. We recently represented a 27 year-old roofer in an Illinois workplace injury who was paralyzed when he fell from a roof as a result of the general contractor’s failure to provide appropriate safety devices. The workplace negligence lawsuit was resolved with the 27 year-old injured man receiving a $5.7 million settlement.

To read more about the Illinois personal injury lawsuit, visit the Madison Record.

A Chicago medical malpractice lawsuit involving a former police officer against the nurses who treated them has been settled for $17.7 million by a Cook County judge. Represented through his brother by Chicago personal injury lawyers Steven M. Levin and Margaret P. Battersby, the settlement marks the end of a five year road after the Illinois police officer plaintiff suffered an injury that put him in the neurosurgical intensive care unit at the University of Illinois Medical Center in Chicago. The victim was taken to the UIC Medical Center after suffering a personal injury he received while on the job. He had hit his head on a curb after being thrown over a car while responding to a disturbance call outside of a local bar. Later, the victim suffered a stroke and was taken to the hospital. To drain excess fluid from the victim’s brain, physicians inserted an external ventricular drain. The nursing staff, however, failed to properly monitor the victim’s intracranial pressure during this period. The victim’s brain pressure rose to a dangerous level overnight and the staff failed to notify the physician on duty until the plaintiff victim had already suffered a major brain injury.

The plaintiff, a former police officer in Stone Park, Illinois, is now a quadriplegic and cannot communicate. He filed Illinois medical malpractice lawsuits against several nurses and a health-care staffing company alleging that their negligence caused the Illinois medical malpractice victim’s quadriplegia. It is a tragic fact that the former Stone Park police officer will never be the same again. While money will not make the victim whole by reversing his injuries of brain damage and quadriplegia, it will help to afford his care. Chicago medical malpractice lawyer Steve Levin reported that he was happy that the adverse parties were able to reach a medical malpractice settlement with the assistance of Cook County Circuit Court Judge. He stated, “I think it’s a very sad and tragic case that could have easily been avoided had basic nursing functions been performed properly.”

Read more about the Illinois medical malpractice settlement, visit the Chicago Law Bulletin.

A Chicago tour bus accident on the Dan Ryan Expressway on the south end of Chicago recently sent twenty people to area hospitals. Fortunately, the bus accident victims received only minor personal injuries, according to officials. According to the Illinois State Police, the northbound lanes of the Dan Ryan Expressway at 47th Avenue were shut down because of the Chicago bus tour accident. The spokesperson stated that officials were still investigating and did not have any details about the bus tour accident circumstances as of Sunday evening. A total of thirty four people were reported to refuse medical treatment on the scene.

Our Chicago injury lawyers have successfully handled almost every single type of motor vehicle negligence case and have recovered millions of dollars in verdicts and settlements for the victims and their families. Our Chicago injury lawyers’ resolutions include a record-setting $10 million Chicago car accident settlement for a young boy who was hit by a city Fire Department truck while playing in an open fire hydrant on the Independence Day holiday. The Chicago car accident resulted in the loss of his leg and half of his pelvis.

Continue reading "Chicago tour bus accident sends 20 people to area hospitals" »

In 2006, a 51 year-old woman who had trusted two of her local health care facilities passed away from something preventable! The woman, who had cerebral palsy, died from multiple infected pressure ulcers on different parts of her body. The wrongful death victim was being provided weekly medical treatment from Hutcheson and round-the-clock care from Country Crossing Assisted Living. Nonetheless, she suffered such significant pressure ulcers that they ultimately caused her death. The wrongful death lawsuit alleged that the health care facilities were only treating one of the victim’s pressure ulcers.

Our Chicago wrongful death lawyers recognize that most pressure ulcers are preventable. The health care industry has developed ways to reduce and prevent pressure ulcer development by assessing those individuals who are at-risk for developing pressure ulcers and treating them accordingly.

In the wrongful death lawsuit following the 51 year-old woman’s death due to pressure ulcers, the jury found the owner of Country Crossing Assisted Living and Hutcheson liable in the wrongful death after a week-long trial. The jury awarded $4 million dollars to the victim’s family for pain and suffering and a $5.5 million dollar award for the wrongful death lawsuit. The jury also awarded $2,683.00 in funeral expenses.

Visit the Atlanta Journal-Constitution to read more about the wrongful death verdict.

An Illinois wrongful death lawsuit settlement was recently reported in The Madison St. Clair Record. The Illinois wrongful death lawsuit was approved recently in Madison County Circuit Court and now the woman’s wrongful death suit filed over the deaths of her husband and infant son in a tow-truck accident is now over. The judge entered the final approval of the confidential settlement on February 15, 2011. The Illinois plaintiff filed an Illinois wrongful death lawsuit against a tow truck driver, his employer, and the owners of a pub for damages in excess of $50,000. At one time, there was also a motion to add “punitive damages” to the Illinois wrongful death lawsuit. As an aside, punitive damages are often awarded where compensatory damages – the actual damages to compensate the claimant for loss, injury, or harm suffered - are deemed inadequate as a remedy. They are intended to reform and/or deter the defendant and others from engaging in conduct similar to that which formed the basis of the injury lawsuit.

According to the Illinois wrongful death lawsuit, the defendant had been drinking at two bars before he answered a tow call placed by the wrongful death victim. Another victim, the nine-month old son of the driver, had been a passenger in the car which had run out of gas. The two truck allegedly hit the stalled car, pushing it into the man who was outside of the vehicle. His nine month old son passed away shortly after from his injuries. The Illinois wrongful death lawsuit contended that the bars sold the driver the alcohol that led to the crash. The Illinois lawsuit defendant also faces criminal charges in connection with this tragic accident.

More information about the Illinois wrongful death lawsuit is available at The Madison St. Clair Record.

A record Illinois jury verdict was announced in an Illinois railroad injury lawsuit. The plaintiff, a railroad conductor, lost both of his legs after being struck by a train. The jury awarded the Illinois personal injury victim $10 million for loss of normal life, $6.3 million for pain and suffering, $10 million for disfigurement, $4.2 million for life care, and $2.5 million for wage loss.

On Easter Sunday in 2007, the Illinois railroad injury plaintiff was working as a conductor for an interstate railroad company, switching cars in the railroad’s Rock Island, Illinois railyard, when he was struck by a train. The Illinois railroad accident victim sustained massive injuries to his upper thighs and lower abdomen, fractures to both legs and multiple areas of his pelvis, and subsequent surgical amputation of both legs. The victim had worked only one year and five days for the railroad at the time of the accident. He was in a Marine Reserves unit and scheduled to go to Iraq a few months later. The plaintiff is currently unemployed. In the Illinois railroad accident lawsuit, the plaintiff argued that the railroad was negligent in violating numerous safety rules while switching cars and violated federal communication regulations governing train operations.

Continue reading "Illinois jury awards railroad accident victim $30 million verdict" »

A jury recently awarded the family of a Midwestern woman more than $1 million dollars in a nursing home wrongful death lawsuit against a nursing home. The retirement village nursing home was found liable for the death of a 69 year-old Midwest woman who died after a fall at the nursing home. Her husband and her sons were awarded over $1 million dollars in a verdict by the jury last week. According to the wrongful death plaintiff’s attorney, the victim’s husband and two sons are devastated by the wrongful death. The couple had been married for more than 30 years. Specifically, the jury ruled that the wrongful death victim was negligent and had violated the state’s Patient Bill of Rights.

What is incredibly tragic is that the wrongful death victim’s stay at the nursing home was only meant to be temporary; she was sent to the nursing home for rehabilitation after back surgery in 2006. She was suffering from anemia in addition to a urinary infection at the time of her fall at the nursing home. Both of the conditions are reported to have contributed to the victim’s confusion, making it difficult for her to follow instructions. The wrongful death victim fell after she arose out of bed, striking her head and fracturing her wrist and hip. She died only a week later.

Continue reading "Jury awards $1 million dollar nursing home wrongful death jury verdict" »

The Chicago Daily Law Bulletin recently asked experienced Illinois nursing home abuse attorneys Steven M. Levin and Michael F. Bonamarte IV of Levin & Perconti to weigh in on a punitive damages case before the Illinois Supreme Court. The issue before the Illinois Supreme Court involves whether punitive damages are available under Illinois’s Nursing Home Care Act and follows the filing of a complaint in Winnebago County against Alden Park Strathmoore, Inc. for damages arising out of the plaintiff’s mother’s care at the Illinois nursing home prior to the elder woman’s death.

The first two counts of the Illinois nursing home abuse complaint sought compensatory damages under Illinois’s Nursing Home Care and Wrongful Death acts, but the third count is the one that has incited debate. The third count was a survival action under the Illinois Nursing Home Care Act and included a request to reserve the right to seek punitive damages for the defendant’s alleged willful and wanton conduct. The legal argument countered by the nursing home defendant was that the plaintiff’s reservation of the right to seek punitive damages did not survive the elder woman’s death.

The question, that faces is the Supreme Court of Illinois, is whether common law punitive damages are available in an action brought by the personal representative of the estate of a deceased nursing home resident based on the Survival Act for willful and wanton violations of the Nursing Home Care Act which caused injuries that ultimately claimed her life. Chicago nursing home neglect attorneys Steven M. Levin and Michael F. Bonamarte IV, on behalf of the Ilinois Trial Lawyers Association, filed an amicus brief in support of the nursing home abuse lawsuit plaintiff. Steve Levin, who has advocated for nursing home abuse victims for more than 25 years, stated that this is a crucial safety rule and it is “an important principle that our most vulnerable citizens need.”

Read more about the impending Illinois nursing home damages ruling at The Chicago Daily Law Bulletin.

RedOrbit.com recently announced a record-breaking Illinois county medical malpractice lawsuit settlement. The largest medical malpractice settlement ever reached in Iroquois County, Illinois was reached when the Illinois plaintiff was awarded $1 million. An Illinois medical malpractice law firm assisted in obtaining the largest medical malpractice settlement in the Illinois county. The Illinois plaintiff is a 61 year-old female who visited her primary care physician in April 2008 when she had pneumonia-like symptoms. But, her Illinois physician neglected to disclose to the plaintiff that she had a presence of a mass demonstrated on her chest X-ray. Plus, her physician did not call the Illinois plaintiff for any follow-up testing.

Due to the Illinois physician’s act of delayed diagnosis, the plaintiff’s lung cancer was not identified until approximately 22 months after her initial visit. At the time of her first visit, the plaintiff had a mass on her chest X-ray. By the time the plaintiff’s lung cancer was identified, her cancer had progressed to Stage IV lung cancer.

Delayed diagnoses, like the one in this plaintiff’s case, are among the most common Illinois medical malpractice claims. When a healthcare provider delays diagnosis, they put patients at risk for serious complications or death. Unfortunately, in this situation, the 61 year-old plaintiff was unaware of the severity of her cancer until 22 months after her initial doctor’s visit. Treatable problems, when diagnoses are delayed, can escalate and become much more serious if not addressed early.

Visit RedOrbit.com to read more about the Illinois medical malpractice settlement.

Recently, an arbitration panel found that a football team doctor was negligent when he performed hip surgery on the plaintiff in May 2007 and awarded the former patient a $2.2 million dollar medical malpractice lawsuit settlement. The plaintiff alleged that the physician lacerated the plaintiff’s femoral artery, vein and nerve, resulting in chronic pain and a limp. The medical malpractice lawsuit was filed in November 2008 and became the latest in a series of legal problems for the team physician.

This was not the first medical malpractice incident that the team physician was involved in. For example, in 2009, the physician reached an undisclosed settlement with a patient who sued him and other healthcare providers after a botched knee replacement surgery. Court documents state that defendants’ carelessness required amputation of his right leg. The physician has been sued twenty times since 1998 by patients alleging medical malpractice, personal injury, negligence, or fraud. Sign On San Diego reported that at least eight of those lawsuits have been settled with payouts to the plaintiffs – many of which were undisclosed.

Additionally, documents show that this team doctor has also had encounters with federal authorities. Last year, federal drug enforcement authorities searched the team doctor’s office and alleged that he had written 108 prescriptions with himself listed as the patient. Such a practice is not legal. The physician responded that he was not at fault, but rather, the allegations stemmed from clerical errors. A Drug Enforcement Administration spokesperson responded that the investigation remains ongoing.

To read more about the malpractice claims against the team doctor, visit Sign On San Diego.

A foreign pharmaceutical company has recently agreed to pay $203.5 million to resolve criminal and civil product liability complaints that it improperly marketed the antiseizure medicine Zonegran for weight loss and mood stabilization, according to the Ne w York Times. The Justice Department announced additionally that another drug maker agreed to pay $11 million to resolve a civil case for off-label marketing of Zonegran after it bought rights to the drug from the other company in 2004. The cases rose from a 2004 whistle-blower filing by a Massachusetts psychiatrist who said he had been courted by the pharmaceutical company, sent to a conference, and asked to prescribe the drug for weight loss. The company promoted the drug for uses including mood stabilization, bipolar disorder, migraine headaches, weight loss, and seizures in children. According to the Justice Department, the off-label marketing efforts targeted non-epilepsy prescribers and the company paid illegal kickbacks to physicians in an effort to persuade them to prescribe the drug for off-label uses. This settlement is part of the government’s emphasis on combating health care fraud. One of the most powerful tools at the government’s disposal is the False Claims Act, which the Justice Department has used to recover more than $5 billion since January 2009 in cases involving fraud against federal health care programs.

Experts have also reported that the False Claims Act can root out nursing home abuse, fraud, and neglect. By law, nursing homes cannot receive funding from public health care programs like Medicare or Medicaid unless the facility cares for its residents in a manner respecting the quality of life of each resident. A key provision in the False Claims Act allows persons with knowledge of fraudulent claims being submitted to federal programs to bring a lawsuit against the facility on behalf of the government. Another provision allows whistleblowers to earn between 15 and 30 percent of money recovered by defendants.

More information about the large product liability settlement is available at The New York Times.

To read more about the False Claims Act used against nursing home abuse, read our former blog post.

An Illinois hospital and physician have agreed to a $6.5 million present cash value settlement for a young girl who suffered a brain injury during birth. The brain injury resulted in debilitating cerebral palsy with mild to moderate mental retardation and occurred when the Illinois hospital physicians failed to timely perform a Cesarean section. The Illinois birth injury settlement was reached during mediation and was approved in the Circuit Court of Cook County. Cook County injury attorneys John J. Perconti and Patricia L. Gifford represented the injured child and her family.

More than ten years ago on September 26, 2000, Denice Cisneros of Chicago went to an Illinois hospital in labor after having a normal and uncomplicated pregnancy with her first child. During her pregnancy, Denice heeded her doctor’s advice and expected a normal delivery. During a prolonged second stage of labor, the family practitioner and labor and delivery nurse failed to determine the presentation of the baby’s head and failed to diagnose cephalic pelvic disproportion, a condition occurring when the baby’s head is too large to fit through the mother’s pelvis. The Illinois medical malpractice also involved the physician and nurse misreading fetal monitoring strips and giving Denice a medication used to induce labor though her contractions were adequate. Yet, despite a four hour second stage of labor, the baby did not descend. When an obstetrician consulted, he witnessed late and variable decelerations on the fetal monitoring strips, but did not order an emergency C-section.

Continue reading "Chicago injury attorneys obtain $6.5 million birth injury settlement " »

Two of our Chicago injury attorneys, Steven Levin and Margaret Battersby, recently reached a $17.7 million settlement agreement with the UIC Medical Center and a nursing agency on behalf of a victim of medical malpractice.

In February of 2005 the victim was brought to the Neurosurgical Intensive Care unit at the University of Illinois Chicago Medical Center after suffering a stroke. The patient was a police officer whose stroke was believed to be caused by an injury inflicted while attempting to make an arrest. When the officer arrived at the hospital doctors inserted an EVD device into his body to drain excess fluid from his brain.

The malpractice occurred a little over a week later when nursing staff members were testing the drain to determine if it should be removed—a task known as an EVD challenge. During the testing process the staff failed to properly monitor the victim’s intracranial pressure. This is a well-known and vital monitoring process, because if the pressure levels get too high the patient could suffer permanent brain problems. In this case, the pressure reached dangerous levels, but the nursing staff failed to notify anyone of the problem. Over that night the problem caused the patient to suffer worsening neurological conditions, but the staff again failed to take any notice.

As a result of the failure to monitor the pressure and the change in condition the victim suffered a catastrophic brain injury. Specifically, the medical negligence led to a brain stem herniation. He now suffers from quadriplegia, cannot eat or speak, and communicates only through eye movements and head shaking.

The victim sued the hospital and nursing staff for their malpractice. This week on the eve of that trial the UIC Board finally approved settlement in the case—agreeing to pay $16.2 million. The nursing agency involved will pay an additional $1.5 million for its role in the tragic event. Now the family must wait for the Court to officially approve the settlement order in the coming weeks.

Continue reading "$16.2 Million Malpractice Settlement Approved By UIC Board" »

Product liability lawyers representing thousands of homeowners in a federal corrosive drywall case have dropped their opposition to a proposed settlement that Lowe’s Home Centers reached. The apparently turning point happened after a change in the settlement terms that increased the maximum payment from $4500 to $100,000. The lawyers criticized the original deal as paying too little to consumers and too much to the product liability lawsuits who negotiated it. And, when the change in the settlement terms increased, they quietly dropped their demand that it be blocked from th federal case. Instead, they got a judge to suspend all federal dry-wall related claims against the retailer while the settlement is in effect.

Thousands of homeowners in Florida and elsewhere have lodged complaints with states and federal agencies, primarily against drywall imported from China between 2001 and 2007. Thousands of product liability lawsuits have been filed over the product and have been consolidated into a single federal proceeding. The Chinese drywall has caused people significant personal injuries.

More information on the drywall settlement is available here.

See our related blog posts:
Drywall complaints reach 6300
Guidelines issued on problem drywall

A recent article highlighted the damages that Notre Dame may face in negligence lawsuits flowing the tragic death of student Declan Sullivan. The 20 year-old Notre Dame victim passed away while he was videotaping the football practice during 50-mph winds when the lift he was standing on collapsed to the ground. Chillingly, the victim’s “tweets” prior to his untimely death conveyed his awareness and concern about the horrific weather and dangerous situation he was about to enter. It remains to be seen whether the 20 year-old victim’s death was an unfortunate accident or a wrongful death for which Notre Dame is liable.

A wrongful death is one that is caused by the negligence or misconduct of an individual or company. The Chicago injury lawyers at Levin & Perconti have pursued wrongful death lawsuits on behalf of the families of victims of car accidents, medical malpractice, and nursing home abuse. Most recently, Chicago injury attorney at Levin & Perconti achieved a 6.5 million Illinois trucking accident lawsuit settlement on behalf of a victim’s loved ones.

In order to determine if the University of Notre Dame is liable for the wrongful death of the young victim, one has to figure out if Notre Dame officials acted negligently in allowing the young man to continue his videography of the football practice during 50-mph winds. If the legal system ultimately concludes that the school’s negligence was largely at fault for the young man’s untimely death, the next step would be to determine compensatory or punitive damages.

To read more legal analysis on the potential wrongful death liability that Notre Dame may face, please follow the link.

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.

It only took jurors about 10 minutes to return the misdemeanor guilty verdict for reckless driving because the defendant was texting. The Chicago car accident lawyers at Levin & Perconti think that is a very fast verdict – usually jurors take a bit longer to review the law and deliberate.

According to recent car accident statistics, talking on a cell phone causes nearly 25% of car accidents and one-fifth of experienced adult drivers in the United States send text messages while driving. Text messaging is a huge distraction; and in 2008, almost 6000 people were killed and a half million received personal injuries in car accidents related to distracted drivers. Recent studies concluded that texting while driving is 6 times more likely to result in a car accident than driving while intoxicated. A 2007 survey revealed that 19% of motorists say that they text message while driving. A 2002 calculation by the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis calculated that 2600 people die each year as a result of using cellphones while driving and another 330,000 receive personal injuries. Different studies have found that texting while driving causes a 400% increase in time spent with the eyes off of the road.

Illinois law regulates text messaging while driving, banning it entirely, in order to lessen distracted drivers more prone to Illinois car accidents. The Illinois law states that a person may not operate a motor vehicle on a roadway while using an electronic communication device to compose, send, or read an electronic message. As for the defendant who was found guilty in 10 minutes, there will likely be similar prosecutions for text messaging while driving in the future. But, obviously, the prosecution is awfully compelling when the offender is a bus driver, entrusted with the safety of the occupants of the vehicle.

To read more about the text messaging verdict, follow the hyperlink.

Two families have agreed to settle their wrongful death lawsuits stemming from the crash of the February 2009 Continental Airlines crash that killed all 49 individuals on board the plane and one on the ground. According to a statement released by the family of the wrongful death victim’s plaintiff’s attorney, “Some families, when they receive a significant offer, would choose to take it and move on. Most of the families will hang in and go the distance until a trial to get the sort of numbers we think are appropriate.” The wrongful death lawsuit settlement terms are confidential.

The other wrongful death lawsuits are set for trial in March 2012 in federal court. According to recent documents, the crew’s failure to monitor airspeed, which slowed enough to trigger the stall warning, contributed to the airplane accident. Other contributing factors were found to be unnecessary conversation between the pilots and the Captain’s failure to manage the flight.

Wrongful death is a legal term that means that the victim’s death has been caused by the fault of another individual. In addition to situations like the airplane accident described above, deaths caused by drunk driving, a defective or dangerous product, failing to diagnose a fatal disease, or the construction of an unsound structure of a building may be considered as “wrongful deaths.” Personal injury lawyers generally file wrongful death lawsuits on behalf of family members or beneficiaries of the decedent. In some situations, these wrongful death claims are filed in order to obtain monetary damages to cover the earnings the deceased person would have provided.

For more information on the wrongful death settlements, read the article at Business Week.

Pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca Plc is set to pay roughly $198 million dollars to settle about 17,500 product liability lawsuits. The product liability lawsuits alleged that AstraZeneca’s antipsychotic drug Seroquel causes some users to develop diabetes. AstraZeneca had previously agreed to pay at least $55 million dollars to resolve more than 5,500 lawsuits alleging that the company knew that Seroquel could cause diabetes and failed to adequately warn patients. The earlier agreements to settle are part of the 17,500 product liability settlements. The Financial Times reported that the product liability settlement stems from court ordered mediation. And, the Wall Street Journal reported that analysts have described the settlement figure as relatively small.

Seroquel is an antipsychotic drug used in the treatment of schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, insomnia, and anxiety disorders. Annual sales of Seroquel are approximately $4.7 billion worldwide and $2.9 billion in the U.S. The most common side effect of the drug is sedation and other side effects include tachycardia, abnormal liver tests, dizziness, upset stomach, substantial weight gain, a stuffy nose, akathisia, and increased paranoia. The rare, but life-threatening, neuroleptic malignant syndrome may also result from use of the drug.

In October 2009, AstraZeneca reported reaching a $520 million agreement to settle two federal investigations and two whistle-blower lawsuits over the sale and marketing of Seroquel. One of the investigations related to certain physicians who participated in clinical trials and the other involved off-label promotion of the drug. Aggressive marketing resulted in Seroquel being increasingly used for children and elderly people for uses not approved by the Food and Drug Administration. Physicians are permitted to prescribe any approved drug for off-label uses.

Read more about the product liability settlement by visiting the Wall Street Journal.