Chicago Personal Injury Lawyer Blog

A Chicago nurse was scheduled to appear in court Tuesday on charges that he sexually assaulted a patient at a North Side hospital, according to NewsRadio 780.

The Chicago sex abuse case reportedly occurred at Weiss Memorial Hospital in February.

The 48-year-old accused nurse, who lives on North Kostner Avenue in Sauganash, is charged with criminal sexual abuse and was arrested at about 7 a.m. Monday at the hospital, according to police.

The reported incident occurred on Feb. 12 and involved a 57-year-old woman being treated in the emergency room, police reported. The accused male nurse allegedly injected the patient with morphine and sexually assaulted her.

The hospital issued a statement the next day saying the nurse had been placed on paid leaving pending the outcome of the investigation.

“Our preliminary hospital investigation shows that the proper chain of command regarding notification and investigation was followed correctly. Patient safety, as well as the safety of our employees, is a top priority at Weiss,’’ the February statement read.

However, the Chicago Breaking News Center reported the accused nurse was working at the hospital until being suspended following his arrest on Monday.

In Winnebago County, Illinois a woman stepping on a toothpick has resulted in a $250,000 medical malpractice settlement, according to the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin. The woman reportedly stepped on a used toothpick at home and then sought out medical treatment from a doctor. The defendant doctor failed to identify and treat a developing infection which subsequently resulted in nerve damage. The case was settled without having to file a lawsuit.

The settled case was captioned Pam Shult v. Jerome Randall. The plaintiff was represented by Devon C. Bruce of Chicago.

David Abels & Associates, P.C. is currently working on a similar medical malpractice issue that happened in Chicago, Illinois where a seemingly minor injury led to serious medical complications. Our client's big toenail on his left foot was rubbing up against his 2nd toe and an infection developed. The infection was not properly diagnosed by a Chicago area emergency room, the infection spread, and our client's leg was partially amputated below the knee.

Cook County Judge Diane Larsen has ruled Illinois' law limiting jury awards for medical malpractice cases unconstitutional. The law imposed a cap on non-economic damages (pain and suffering and disfigurement) of $500,000 against doctors and $1,000,000 million against hospitals.

The ruling was made in Estate of Lebron Abigaile, et. al., v. Roberto Levi Dancona, M.D., et. al., Cook County Case No. 2006 L 012109. The case will now most likely go up on appeal directly to the Illinois Supreme Court.

In Chicago, Illinois four transplant recipients have contracted HIV from a high risk organ donor whose infection went undetected, according to the Chicago Tribune. The transplants occurred at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Rush University Medical Center and the University of Chicago Medical Center.

The Tribune reports that an Elmhurst, Illinois based organ donor agency involved in the matter has admitted that a screening questionnaire showed that the HIV infected donor had engaged in high-risk behavior, but the agency still tested and approved the organs for donation.

Whether it was negligent for the agency to approve the organ donation after the disclosure of high risk behavior is an issue that will likely be decided in Court.

This is the first known case of HIV transmission by organ donation in the U.S. since 1985. There have been approximately 400,000 transplants since then without transmission through donated organs, according to a spokesman for the United Network for Organ Sharing.