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We are experienced attorneys with a track record of success in nursing home abuse and negligence cases in Illinois. If you would like our help in finding the right lawyer for your case, call us for free any time at 312-346-5320 to discuss your case with an attorney.

If you’ve been followed the news lately, you’ve seen that there have been scores of deaths at Illinois nursing homes due to Coronavirus. There was a large outbreak at a Symphony Care nursing home in Joliet that reportedly lead to 26 deaths.  Allegedly all of the infections traced back to one worker.  In Chicago at the Lakeview Rehabilitation and Nursing Center in Lincoln Park, at least 12 people have died of COVID 19.

There are more than 100 Illinois nursing homes and long term care facilities in Illinois with at least one COVID-19 diagnosis. While the majority of these are in Cook County, cases are happening throughout the state.

The question we’ve had of late from potential clients is, “Do I have a lawsuit for my loved one dying of Coronavirus in a nursing home?”

The answer is that it depends, but it’s definitely worth investigating.  As part of the investigation attorneys do, we want to see if the nursing home, rehab center or long term care facility failed to take action to prevent their clients from getting infected.  Were they taking proper precaution such as mandatory use of masks and gloves?  Were sick residents quarantined and kept away from healthy ones?  Were employees and outside workers screened for possible exposure and illness?  Did those people take precautions?  Was everyone constantly checked?

All of those things matter.  A big problem we are also seeing is that some patients were misdiagnosed as having pneumonia or another condition and were not given a prompt transfer to a hospital for care and treatment.

We are also seeing a big uptick in patients getting dehydrated, malnourished or having bed sores because loved ones aren’t allowed to visit.  When a family member isn’t there these facilities need to step up. If an injury occurs they can be liable.

It’s important to understand that the Illinois Nursing Home Care Act provides residents with lots of rights and protections.  We hope that you aren’t dealing with a loss of a loved one, but if you are we’d be happy to talk to you to see if we can help you obtain some justice and prevent this from happening to another family.

We are honest, experienced, Illinois attorneys who will talk to you for free and/or help you find the right lawyer.  If you would like our help, please call us any time at 312-346-5320 or fill out our contact form and we will call you.

For couples expecting a baby, there are several overwhelming feelings a parent will feel throughout the 9 months of the pregnancy. By the 3^rd trimester of pregnancy, most new moms are emotionally ready to give birth, but their bodies are also physically ready too.

Nature is good at controlling most aspects of labor, but sometimes nature could use a nudge. Inducing labor is the stimulation of uterine contractions during pregnancy before labor begins on its own to achieve a vaginal birth.

There are many different ways that labor can be induced, including being given the drug Pitocin to strengthen contractions. A woman’s body naturally produces oxytocin, the hormone the body uses to induce contractions. Pitocin is a synthetic version of oxytocin.

Nature typically prepares the cervix for delivery in the most efficient, comfortable way. However, if a health care provider is concerned about the health of the mother or the baby, inducing labor might be the best option. There are several reasons why inducing labor might be recommended. For example:

• Labor hasn’t started naturally as one has approached two weeks beyond their due date
• Labor hasn’t begun even after a woman’s water has broken
• There is an infection in the uterus
• The baby has stopped growing at the expected pace
• There is not enough amniotic fluid surrounding the baby
• New mother is diabetic or has a high blood pressure disorder

Pitocin may be used to start, strengthen, and make contractions more frequent. In other situations, it may be used to induce contractions if a pregnant woman does not go into labor on time, her contractions are weak or there are other complications.

Unfortunately, Pitocin also has some pretty heavy risks and is most commonly associated with preventable adverse events during childbirth. Both the Institute for Safe Medication Practices and the Food and Drug Administration have high alert warnings against Pitocin due to the uncertainty of its benefits compared with its risks.

If the Pitocin is used improperly it can cause contractions to be too strong or too frequent, with little rest in between. When this happens, the baby is at risk of not getting enough oxygen, suffering from birth asphyxia which, in-turn, can cause subsequent brain damage or even fatality. In addition, the mother can suffer extreme pain, cervical or vaginal lacerations, uterine rupture and postpartum hemorrhage.

In a recent Chicago medical malpractice lawsuit, a family was awarded $14 million who negligently gave Pitocin and didn’t monitor the contractions. Their failure to act lead to a delay in the delivery and ultimately severe brain damage.

There are strict guidelines for the use of Pitocin and is mandatory medical professionals follow the strict guidelines to only administer Pitocin when absolutely necessary. If medical staff do not follow the proper guidelines and an injury occurs, it is medical malpractice. If you suspect your child’s birth injury is a result from the misuse of Pitocin, contact us today for a free consultation.

There was a very sad case recently that lead to an Illinois wrongful death lawsuit where an 11 year old boy passed away after having an asthma attack and seizure at school.  The lawsuit alleged that the boy was unsupervised and his medical condition was known.  Regrettably, even though that had an outstanding law firm in their corner, the case was dismissed.

There are a few of reasons the family didn’t get their day in court. First, it’s generally held that schools can not supervise every student at all times.  That’s not to say they can be left on their own for hours.  Schools just aren’t expected to supervise them at all hours.  Second, you can’t sue public schools in Illinois for general negligence.  You have to show they had “wilful and wanton” disregard which is a much higher standard. Third, public schools in Illinois are protected by the Local Governmental and Governmental Employees Tort Immunity Act. This law immunizes public employees from liability for a failure to examine someone, or failure to examine someone adequately, for a disease or mental health problem.

In plain English, suing a public school for a injury in Illinois is very hard to do.  Or to be more clear, it’s hard to win.

If your child falls from the monkey bars and breaks their arm, there might be negligence by the school, but not a wilful and wanton failure unless they knew the monkey bars were broken.  If your child gets beaten up by a bully, it’s probably a tough case to win unless the school knows it’s going to happen or teachers stand by and encourage it to happen.

It’s much different if your child is hurt at a private day care or private school. There the general laws of negligence apply.

I don’t write this to discourage anyone from finding out if they have a case. On the contrary, you can call us for free to discuss any case that you want.  We just want people to be educated about what the laws are in IL.  A lot of people think that attorneys are scared to take on the State or a school.  It’s simply not true.  What lawyers want to do is get involved in winning cases.  The reality is that the laws for suing schools are stacked heavily in favor of the public schools.  That doesn’t mean there can never be a victory.  We’ve been involved in winning cases against public schools.  What it does mean is that it’s harder and there are no slam dunks.

I hope this isn’t confusing to anyone. If you have any questions, please call us any time at 312-346-5320.

It’s that time of year where even with the occasional nice day of weather, there has been a lot of snow, ice and slush.

Depending on where you live in Illinois, there are different laws about whether or not you have to shovel.  There are also different outcomes when it comes to falling on ice and getting hurt on someone else’s property.

Generally speaking, if you fall as the result of the “natural accumulation” of snow and ice, the property owner will not be held responsible.  In other words, if it snows overnight and the Jewel parking lot is icy, they likely won’t be at fault if you fall.  Property owners aren’t always required to clear snow or ice and certainly aren’t required to do it as it’s happening.

In Chicago residential homeowners can face a fine for not shoveling, whereas business owners can be sued by you if you fall and get injured.  The City of Chicago requires that if snow stops coming down before 4 p.m. you have three hours to clear it. If the snow stops falling after 4 p.m., you have to clear before 10 a.m. on the next day. No shoveling is required on Sundays. You are required to clear a 5-foot wide path along the sidewalk, where conditions allow.

In most cities outside of Chicago you aren’t required to shovel, but can’t create a hazardous condition or ignore defects the snow and ice cause.

So what is an un-natural accumulation?  The most common example would be ice that forms because it came down off of an awning or a gutter.  Those things are man made and added to properties.  If they create a hazard, you’d likely be successful in suing the property owner for an injury from a fall. On the other hand, if you fall from water that is dragged in to stores off of shoes, you’d have a harder time prevailing.  Store owners are not required to continuously mop.

If you are hurt as the result of a fall on snow or ice, this is what attorneys we work with want you to think about:

1. Get medical treatment right away if you need it.

2. Have someone take a photo or video of the area where you fell right away. You have to prove that you fell due to some negligent or hazardous condition. It’s hard to do this when you are on the ground with a broken ankle, we get it. To the extent you can though, have someone document the area  where you fell right away.

3. Talk to an attorney who understands the Chicago ordinance and/or the Illinois Snow and Ice Removal Act.  An experienced lawyer can certainly be the difference between winning and losing a case or even the difference of tens of thousands of dollars when a case settles.

If you have any questions or want a referral to a lawyer with a track record of success in these cases, please call us any time, for free at 312-346-5320.  We help everywhere in Illinois.

One of the common tactics big employers use in the state of Illinois when a worker gets injured on the job is to send them to a “company clinic.”

These are legit medical facilities, but in my experience, they tend to favor the employer.  It’s not that they will ignore injuries, although that has happened.  It’s more so that their treatment plan seems to often be VERY conservative.

You may have heard of Concentra as that is a big company clinic with over 500 locations across the US. There are others too.  A recent caller to my office was injured in the Illinois and got sent to Concentra.  Every detail of how he describes his injury sounds like he has a herniated disc in his neck.  He has burning pain that shoots down his arm and also has numbness and tingling in his fingers.  Despite these complaints, he’s not been sent for a MRI or referred to an orthopedic doctor even though he’s been off work for over a month.

The biggest problem I have with these company clinics is that often the employer makes their workers feel like this is the only place they are allowed to receive medical care.  That’s simply not true.  Employers want their workers at these clinics because it saves them money and often the care is very conservative.  That’s well and good, but has nothing to do with looking out for your health or best interests.

The best advice we can give you is that if you have been injured on the job in Illinois and are in pain after seeing a company clinic, go see a doctor of your own choosing.  If that pain continues, ask that doctor for a referral to a specialist.  Get to that specialist and let them tell you what is wrong with you and what treatment you need.  A company clinic doctor may be great, but they are not the best person to take care of a serious injury.  They are more like an urgent care for a first diagnosis.

And if you get any push back from your employer or just have questions or concerns, you should get with an attorney. If you’d like to speak with a lawyer for free about Illinois workers’ compensation law, contact us at any time.

With the caveat that all of the information I get is from disgruntled patients or their family members along with from malpractice attorneys in Chicago, and just my opinion, I have to wonder how is St. Bernard Hospital in Chicago still in business.

In the last month I’ve had six different people call me looking to sue them for medical malpractice.  Not every one of them had a case, but they all had nightmare stories of how they were treated and allegations of terrible medical care.

It would be one thing if this was atypical, but the truth is I get more calls from people looking to sue them than any other hospital.  This is true month after month.

St. Bernard is an important hospital because it serves a lower income area.  Not every doctor or nurse is willing to work there.  It’s a grind and they are allegedly over worked and under staffed.

All that said, I once had a prominent Chicago medical malpractice attorney tell me that he wouldn’t take his dog there.  This is not a guy that blurts that type of stuff out willy nilly.

When we think about social justice or social equality, it is clear that health care has a long way to go in terms of catching up.  The reality is that the behavior that is acceptable by staff at Saint Bernard would not fly just a little down the road at University of Chicago hospital or at a place like Highland Park Hospital.

This is a little bit of a rant.  Medical malpractice will happen.  It’s inevitable.  At any hospital.  The problems that I hear about St. Bernard are that it’s a rather outdated facility.  It’s dirty. The security guards, per online reviews and people that have called, and some of the staff, are rude and will look at you like you are a criminal.    I’ve been told many times about terrible bedside manner, that exams are rushed.  Twice in the last month I’ve had a call from someone who was told by a different hospital that if they hadn’t sought a second opinion after being discharged by St. Bernard, they would have died.

I’ve heard complaints about almost every hospital in the Chicago area. The number at this one is staggering though. In my opinion, if you have the ability to go somewhere else, you should.  And if you go there and don’t think you got the best treatment, get a second opinion right away.  If your experience is like that of some of my callers, it could literally save your life.

I kind of hate writing posts like this because they seem insensitive.  That is not my intention at all, and I almost never do it if it happens in Illinois as I don’t want to be seen as trying to fish for a case.

That said, I do find that events like the tragic helicopter accident that killed Kobe Bryant, his daughter and seven others, can be very educational to people who are curious about wrongful death law.  It can also be instructive if you have a family member or friend in this situation. You don’t want their grief to prevent them from having a chance at justice.

While I don’t know anyone involved with this case, I would bet anything that within hours of this terrible crash happening, there were experienced personal injury lawyers and their investigators on the scene.

There are not a ton of major helicopter, airplane or trucking deaths per year in the United States.  When those accidents do happen, they are usually investigated by the Federal Government.  While I expect that in a high profile case like this they will do a thorough and clean investigation, it isn’t always the case. Like many government agencies, they can be under-staffed and over worked.

The families of the victims, if they bring a lawsuit, will need to prove negligence. While it appears that this is a case of a pilot making an error to fly in fog – other helicopters in the area were reportedly grounded due to weather – the pilot was very experienced. It’s possible that there was mechanical failure or some other reason the chopper went down.

Attorneys and their investigators can’t interfere with the official investigation, but they can also make sure that no potential defendant is interfering either.  If they see something like that, they can go to court to make it stop.  In one case we were involved in, the lawyers on the scene actually video taped the potential defendant removing debris from the scene of the accident.  That quick thinking likely saved the case.

Lawyers would also want to go around to anyone who may have heard or seen what happened. Documenting this type of information, especially when it’s fresh in someone’s mind, is very important.  Investigators can also share information with and learn information from the government workers.

I wouldn’t expect that any of the husbands/wives/parents of the deceased are thinking about any of this right now, but I’d bet at least one had a family member or friend step up and make sure that this happened.  It may not seem like it, but it’s really the best way you can support someone when they lose someone so suddenly and tragically. At first they will be just grieving but at some point they will want answers and justice to prevent it from happening to anyone else.  Getting an early investigation is the best chance to make that happen.

See also: Chicago Law Firm Goes The Extra Mile To Investigate Ethiopia Air Crash