Posted on October 16, 2019 in Medical Malpractice

Within recent years, the public has witnessed an array of medical malpractice statistics surface across the nation. In the not-so-distant past, the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) cited medical negligence as the third leading cause of death in the United States, and a Johns Hopkins study once claimed that more than 250,000 people die each year in the United States from medical mistakes. From coast to coast, emerging reports such as these leave a trail of concerns among patients and their families, namely the worry that one of these medical errors will one day affect them personally and hit much too close to home.

What Is Medical Negligence?

While the thought of a medical mistake in the healthcare community is a scary one, you can combat that fear by educating yourself and your loved ones. You are the best advocate for your own healthcare. Make yourself aware of the various forms of medical negligence so you can work to reduce your risks, and empower yourself by seeking out the resources and help you need in the event that you experience an incident of medical error. Here are examples of some of the most common types of malpractice we see in the medical community today:

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 Posted on October 11, 2019 in Pedestrian Accidents

Within recent years, studies from the U.S. Department of Transportation have found that close to 6,000 pedestrians were killed each year due to car accidents. These studies have also revealed that motor vehicle collisions rank as one of the top leading causes of unintentional death in the United States, creating an even clearer perspective on the scope of pedestrian accident risks on our roadways. Because they have little protection from injury, pedestrians are particularly vulnerable, and they must often rely on their own self-awareness to protect themselves on the streets.

Tips for a Safe Commute

Whether you walk on a daily basis or you only choose walking as a mode of transportation under special circumstances, you are likely to be a pedestrian at one time or another. Being proactive is key to ensuring your safety as you get around on foot, and the most effective way to do this is to remain alert and aware of your surroundings. Sadly, the motorists who cause many pedestrian injuries are often distracted themselves. Negligent drivers can place you at increased risk during your commute, but you can protect yourself in the following ways:

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 Posted on October 09, 2019 in Nursing Home Negligence

According to the National Center on Elder Abuse, the issue of nursing home neglect first gained widespread public attention back in the 1970s, during a time when long-term care facilities lacked much-needed regulation. Since then, incidents of elderly abuse and neglect continue to remain prevalent in nursing homes, largely due to the growing elderly demographic. Our senior populations are living longer, resulting in a greater number of people being placed in long-term care facilities. Factors such as low pay, stressful working conditions, and staff shortages sadly cause the quality of care to be compromised, creating countless incidents of injuries and neglect. 

Do You Suspect Abuse or Neglect?

Cases of abuse can be particularly difficult for a victim's family members to uncover, especially for those relatives who are unable to visit their loved ones on a regular basis. For many long-term care residents, however, their family members are their eyes and ears when it comes to their health. Whether you have the luxury of making frequent visits to your loved one’s place of residence or simply speak to him or her occasionally on the phone, if you suspect he or she is not being properly cared for, it is important to investigate further. Here are some clear signs that your family member or friend may be experiencing a form of nursing home abuse:

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 Posted on October 02, 2019 in Car Accident

Nearly everyone has known someone who has taken the risk of driving a vehicle with no insurance at one time or another, and it is no secret that this choice can have many dangerous ramifications. Every day, car accidents of all kinds occur on Illinois roadways, and all too often, the drivers in these collisions lack active vehicle insurance policies to back them up. Not only will the uninsured driver face penalties, but the unfortunate victim who suffers injuries may end up with expensive medical bills and/or lost wages if he or she cannot return to work. That is why it is important to seek professional legal counsel to determine how to recover compensation in these types of personal injury cases. 

Consequences for the Uninsured Driver and the Victim

Drivers are usually caught without insurance in the event of a collision or due to a traffic violation, but the state works to crack down on uninsured motorists in other ways. Law enforcement randomly selects vehicles via a computer program and sends drivers a questionnaire asking them to verify proof of insurance. If drivers fail to provide the requested information, their license plates are suspended, and they are subject to a host of other consequences. Despite these enforcement efforts, however, accidents still happen, and victims injured by uninsured drivers are left with a mess. If you have been involved in a crash with an uninsured driver, keep the following tips in mind as you face the collision aftermath:

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 Posted on September 30, 2019 in Personal Injury

When it comes to the dangers of drunk driving, it is no wonder policymakers, public agencies, and communities nationwide have made it an ongoing priority to ramp up their prevention outreach efforts. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 29 people die every day in the United States due to intoxicated driving. This means one person dies every 50 minutes, and this does not account for all the non-fatal car accident injuries that occur because of DUI incidents. While impaired driving is generally defined as driving under the influence of alcohol, the term can also refer to operating a vehicle under the influence of narcotics, another chronic offense that plagues the roadways.

Strategies Used to Combat Drunk Driving

A number of strategies have been developed to discourage and prevent drunk driving behavior, including stricter laws and more stringent enforcement actions, as well as an increase in public education awareness campaigns. Technology has been another useful tool for discouraging drinking and driving. The use of ignition interlock devices (IIDs), for example, forces offenders to submit to a breathalyzer test in order to start their vehicle. The breathalyzer device is installed in the motorist’s car and prohibits the vehicle from starting if certain blood alcohol content (BAC) levels are detected on the driver’s breath. A range of other prevention tactics are practiced nationwide, such as sobriety checkpoints, vehicle impoundment, and license suspension, as well as registration and license plate confiscation.

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 Posted on September 26, 2019 in Pedestrian Accidents

While we commonly hear of driver and passenger death and injury statistics in the news when the subject of car accidents arises, the reality is that pedestrians are just as affected by automobile crashes, making up a large portion of the collision statistics reported each year. In fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) tells us that pedestrians are 1.5 times more likely to be killed in a car crash than passenger vehicle occupants. Pedestrian accidents in the year 2016 alone claimed nearly 6,000 lives in the United States, and in 2015, around 130,000 pedestrians needed emergency treatment. The nature and number of incidents evolve each year as the CDC releases the latest reports, but all of these statistics point to one common denominator: certain factors put pedestrians at higher risk for injury.

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 Posted on September 23, 2019 in Personal Injury

Fall is the time of year when children are headed back to school. Since many kids are bus riders, parents place the safety of their children in the hands of public transportation. While school bus transport is still a relatively safe and efficient way to get children to and from classes, research shows that school bus accidents here in Illinois and across the country continue to be a risk, and passengers are not the only ones in danger of injury. Recent incidents highlight the fact that school bus drivers, as well as pedestrians present in the areas surrounding school bus stops, are also likely to experience potential injuries in the event of an accident. 

Recent Events and Data Point to Diverse Risks

Students, parents, and the community at large in the city of Arcola, Illinois, are still reeling from a shocking school bus crash that took place earlier this summer. The bus was hit by a car head-on off Illinois Route 133, putting over 40 frightened first-graders in harm’s way. Thankfully, some of the children only sustained minor cuts and scrapes, and there were no major injuries. The driver was instinctive and quick to act, but the damage done to the front end of the bus shows the accident could have been much worse, particularly for the driver. All too often, we assume that those at greatest risk are the children passengers themselves, but this is one recent example that reminds us that bus drivers themselves are in danger of direct injury in school bus accidents. 

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 Posted on September 17, 2019 in Nursing Home Negligence

Many news outlets have reported on the alarming rise of nursing home abuse and neglect over the past few years. Many families put their trust in long-term care facilities if their loved ones can no longer live on their own. According to the Quad-City Times, the Illinois Department of Public Health recently fined a local facility thousands of dollars for neglecting the treatment of a resident’s wound, which was not only discovered to be improperly cleaned and bandaged, but also lacking the basic record keeping required to provide the necessary care for the injury. This same nursing facility was fined even more--an astonishing $75,000--by the IDPH just a few years earlier for more cases of negligence.

What the Law Considers Neglect

The above incident and thousands like it across the country are examples of how personal injury cases within nursing homes consist of more than just slip and falls. While repeated falls are in fact a common neglect-related occurrence in long-term care facilities, many other types of injuries constitute cases for abuse and neglect. The Nursing Home Care Act under Illinois State law defines neglect as a facility’s failure to provide any kind of adequate medical care, mental health treatment, or personal care. The law states that this includes the failure to provide psychiatric rehabilitation or any general assistance with daily living activities that are required to protect the resident from physical or mental harm. 

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 Posted on September 10, 2019 in Medical Malpractice

The danger of misdiagnosis in the healthcare industry is alarming, and it is far from a new issue. Over the last few years alone, these errors, which frequently lead to medical malpractice cases, have garnered a lot of attention in the media, putting patients on red alert when it comes to the matter of their precious health. In 2015, the National Academy of Medicine announced that most people will receive an incorrect diagnosis at least once in their lives. In 2017, research showed that an estimated 100,000 Americans died or were permanently disabled due to an incorrect or delayed diagnosis.

Advocating For Your Health

While reports such as these continue to surface each year, they may lead one to ponder the degree of control a person has over their own health, especially when it feels as if you are at the mercy of the physicians you turn to for answers. Thankfully, you are not powerless when it comes to protecting yourself from misdiagnosis. Here are a few practical, effective ways you can advocate for our health: 

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 Posted on September 05, 2019 in Car Accident

In many cases, when someone has been involved in an auto accident and emerged from the collision seemingly unscathed, they usually thank their lucky stars that the crash was not more serious. After minor fender benders, it is not uncommon for victims to say, “It could have been much worse.” While this may be true in some circumstances, the reality is what we consider even the most minor car accident can, and often does, cause significant damage to our quality of life over time. These lesser injuries, while not life-threatening, still run the risk of causing chronic, ongoing health issues. This is especially true when it comes to rear-end collisions, due to the direction and point of impact. In some cases, the injuries result in a person not being able to work.

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