Medical Malpractice

Keith A. Hebeisen and Sarah F. King, attorneys at Clifford Law Offices, obtained an $8.5 million settlement on behalf of a mother who died after childbirth at Stroger Hospital following the medical team’s failure to recognize and treat signs and symptoms of ongoing bleeding from a placental abruption. Leticia Lara, 38, died Nov. 28, 2013, following the delivery of her child. On the day of...

A study by the Leapfrog Group – a nonprofit watchdog organization that assesses patient safety at acute care hospitals throughout the US – released their biannual report for Spring 2019. Illinois dropped to No. 14, one spot below last year’s report. Of the 42 Illinois hospitals assessed for patient safety, a few of them dropped to a B, thus pulling the ranking of the state...

When a patient has a procedure done at a hospital, does that person really know if the doctor is employed by the hospital or is really an independently contracted medical provider who is offering health care services? Jack J. Casciato, partner at Clifford Law Offices, wrote an article for the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin ("Indiana in step with doctor agency cases," March 20, 2019) that...

This post was written by Keith A. Hebeisen & Shannon M. McNulty, Partners at Clifford Law Offices. Northwestern Medicine, one of the largest hospital networks in the Chicago area, announced that patients who wish to communicate with their doctors online or utilize its digital services for appointments, test results, medication refills, and other health-care related activities will be limited to arbitration as a remedy. That...

Pfizer Inc. settled last week a case brought by New York's attorney general based on the world's largest pharmaceutical company misleading consumers with its drug co-payment coupon program. The global giant initiated a coupon program that led consumers into thinking they would be paying far less to fill prescriptions but then they ended up having to pay more from 2015-18. Pfizer agreed to pay $500,000...