Computer Programmer Who Murdered His Wife Ordered to Pay $60 Million to Children
A noted computer programmer convicted of murdering his wife must pay his children $60 million, a California jury has ruled. Hans Reiser, whose Namesys company developed widely-used software, was...
View ArticleChanges to Workers’ Compensation Have Not Saved Businesses Money
To date, there is scant evidence that changes in workers’ compensation laws have resulted in decreased costs for Illinois businesses. State lawmakers passed legislation in 2011 curtailing workers’ comp...
View ArticleNorthwest Community Hospital’s Top Doctor Had No Medical License
The chief medical officer at the Chicago-area Northwest Community Hospital did not have a license to practice medicine during his entire eight-year tenure. Dr. Leighton Smith was chief medical officer...
View ArticleSpina Bifida Birth Defect Lawsuit Filed in Illinois
A lawsuit has been filed in Illinois against Abbott Laboratories, the maker of Depakote, an anticonvulsant and mood-stabilizing drug. The suit alleges that plaintiffs suffered from birth defects,...
View ArticleAIG to Pay Illinois $3.7 Million in Workers’ Comp Settlement
American International Group (AIG), the multinational insurance company, will pay state regulators millions of dollars in a settlement based on the corporation’s misreporting of workers’ compensation...
View ArticleJury Awards $78.5 Million in Birth Injury Case
A Pennsylvania jury awarded $78.5 million to a mother whose baby suffered a brain injury, finding that the child’s brain damage was the result of medical malpractice. The mother, Victoria Upsey, filed...
View ArticleNew Crash Tests Show Most Luxury Cars Do Not Perform Well
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has developed a new frontal crash test, and the majority of midsize luxury cars have received poor marks. The test creates a simulation of what occurs when an...
View ArticleJoyce Meyer Ministries Asks Judge to Dismiss Wrongful Death Suit
Joyce Meyer Ministries has asked an Illinois judge to dismiss a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the family of Sheri Coleman who, along with her two sons, were murdered in 2009 by her husband...
View ArticleIllinois Acts to Safeguard Illinois Judges
4SUH6ZBUUF4R Beginning on September 22, judges in Illinois will be able to have personal information removed from websites and public documents. Governor Pat Quinn has signed the Michael Lefkow and...
View ArticleMother of Woman Who Died After Abortion Files Lawsuit Against Planned Parenthood
A wrongful death lawsuit has been filed against Planned Parenthood and Northwestern Memorial Hospital by the mother of a woman who died shortly after she had an abortion in July. According to the Cook...
View ArticleChicago Cabdriver Receives Citations for Fatal Car Accident
Police said that a Chicago cabdriver received several citations in relation to a recent crash that killed a pedestrian. The cabdriver had been a licensed public chauffeur in Chicago since 1987....
View ArticleDrew Peterson Seeks to Dismiss Wrongful Death Lawsuit
Drew Peterson’s lawyers have filed a motion to dismiss a wrongful death lawsuit against the former Bolingbrook police officer, who was found guilty of murdering his third wife. The action came just...
View ArticleSwitching Surgeons Leads to Medical Malpractice Lawsuits
Two recent Chicago medical malpractice lawsuits have been filed over the same alleged misdeed: patients were operated on by a different surgeon from the one they were promised. Patients sometimes go to...
View ArticleWrongful Death Lawsuit Against Michael Jackson’s Doctor Dismissed
Joe Jackson, Michael Jackson’s father, has dismissed his wrongful death lawsuit against the singer’s doctor, Conrad Murray, who was convicted of causing his death. Court filings show that Joe Jackson...
View ArticleMissouri Medical Malpractice Cap Ruled Unconstitutional
The Missouri Supreme Court has overturned the state’s $350,000 limit on non-economic medical malpractice awards. The cap was a “tort reform” measure that the Missouri state legislature passed in 2005....
View ArticleFederal Grand Jury Subpoenas Chicago Workers Comp Records
A federal grand jury has issued a subpoena for records spanning six years of Chicago’s workers’ compensation program. The subpoena was issued to the Finance Committee of Chicago’s City Council....
View ArticleIllinois Older Driver Laws Among Toughest in Nation
More seniors are on the road than ever before, and certain aspects of aging present a traffic safety risk. States have responded by tightening driver’s license requirements for older drivers, and the...
View ArticleErb’s Palsy Leads to Birth Injury Lawsuit
A birth injury lawsuit has been filed in Cook County Circuit Court alleging that medical negligence caused a child to develop Erb’s Palsy. Christopher and Daniela Griffin filed the suit on behalf of...
View ArticleFather’s Occupation May Play a Role in Birth Defects
Researchers have discovered that the risk of birth defects may be increased by the type of work the father did before the baby was conceived. The study, by researchers at the University of North...
View ArticleState Trooper Who Caused Fatal Crash Will Not Receive Workers Compensation
Matt Mitchell, the former Illinois State Police Trooper who pleaded guilty to reckless homicide in a car crash that killed two women and injured two others, will not receive workers’ compensation...
View ArticleIllinois Supreme Court Rules Against Child Injured by Moving Train
The Illinois Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision overturning a $3.9 million jury award against three different railroad companies. The plaintiff was 12 years old when he was injured trying to...
View ArticleDoctor Burnout Leads to More Medical Mistakes
According to a study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, a large number of doctors in the U.S. suffer from burnout at work, which can lead to dangerous mistakes as well as medical...
View ArticleNumber of Workers Comp Cases Is Decreasing
The number of new workers’ compensation cases filed is decreasing in Chicago and throughout the state of Illinois. According to data from the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission (IWCC), in fiscal...
View ArticleFirefighter Will Not Receive Workers Comp Benefits After Horseplay
A firefighter/paramedic who was injured after giving a coworker a bear hug will not receive workers’ compensation benefits, the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission (IWCC) has ruled. The...
View ArticleBirth Injury Lawsuit Filed Over Brachial Plexus Injury
The mother of a child that suffered a brachial plexus injury during delivery has filed a lawsuit in Cook County Circuit Court claiming that the attending physician was negligent during the pregnancy...
View ArticleIllinois Mother Files Lawsuit Over Baby’s Death
An Illinois mother has filed a lawsuit in Cook County Circuit Court seeking damages for a birth injury that resulted in the death of her child. The plaintiff, Portia Williams, claims that Jackson Park...
View ArticleOne Killed, Two Injured When Truck Crashes Into Kewanee Home
A car accident on a recent Sunday morning took the life of one man and injured two others. According to police, 37-year-old Gary L. Vancil of Kewanee, Ill., died in the crash. Kenneth Armstrong, 38,...
View ArticleMedical Malpractice vs. Product Liability in Meningitis Lawsuits
A fungal meningitis outbreak which has caused 19 fatalities and afflicted 400 people in 19 states has been linked to contaminated steroid injections. Victims and their families have begun filing...
View ArticlePopular Chicago Skateboarder Succumbs to Injuries in Hit-and-Run Accident
An icon in the Chicago skateboarding community died a week after being critically injured in a hit-and-run accident while skating in Bucktown. Reginald Destin, 42, was with friends at the time of the...
View ArticleIllinois Supreme Court to Hear Workers Comp Case
The Supreme Court of Illinois is scheduled to hear oral arguments in the case of Skokie Castings, Inc. v. Illinois Insurance Guaranty Fund. The case arises from a Skokie Castings employee who sustained...
View ArticleStudy Shows Race-Based Disparity in Illinois Workers’ Compensation Awards
Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health have released a study that shows workers’ compensation settlements awarded to white, non-Hispanic construction workers in...
View ArticleAurora Teen Charged in Fatal Accident
A 15-year-old boy from Aurora has been charged as an adult with reckless homicide for his role in a crash that killed Devin Meadows, a sophomore at Metea Valley High School. According to prosecutors,...
View ArticleWoman Allegedly Files Fraudulent Workers’ Compensation Claims
A woman living in McHenry, Ill., faces multiple charges after being arrested for filing fraudulent workers’ compensation claims against three separate employers. Tracy Williams, 43, is charged with...
View ArticleConnected Cars, Complex Controls Distracting Drivers
Mobile technology presents an ever-increasing threat of distraction not just to the individual drivers who are tempted to use it, but to others who share the road. Car audio systems and cell phone...
View ArticleTailgater May Have Caused Van Full of Teenagers to Crash
A van with twelve teenage passengers drove off a highway exit ramp and rolled down an embankment near Gary, Indiana on a recent Thursday night. The youths were returning home from a basketball...
View ArticleIllinois Businesses Illegally Classifying Employees as Independent Contractors
State agencies including the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission are joining together to crack down on businesses that improperly classify employees as independent contractors. In contrast to...
View ArticleSenior Drivers Present Safety Challenges, but Valuable Resources are Available
Seniors on the road can be a sensitive subject. Seniors are safe drivers in that they tend to wear seat belts, obey the speed limit and avoid drinking and driving. However, data from the Insurance...
View ArticleInjured Woman Sues Chicago Go-Kart Facility
A customer at a go-kart racetrack in Beford Park is suing the facility’s ownership and management. She claims the seat belt on the go-kart she was driving did not function properly and as a result, she...
View ArticleSafety Officials Recommend Mandates for Crash-Avoidance Systems in Autos
The National Transportation Safety Board has issued a new recommendation. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) recently issued a recommendation that the federal government require auto...
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Google’s Driverless Car May Herald Historic Shift in Auto Safety
The driverless car being developed by Google may be the most important innovation in vehicle safety since safety belts. If Google meets its goals for reduction in traffic accidents, then millions of...
View ArticleNurse Working for State of Illinois Wins Workers Compensation Award
The Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission (IWCC) has decided a case of a nurse who slipped and fell during an authorized break in favor of the worker. The nurse, who worked for the State of...
View ArticlePfizer Sued Over Birth Injury that Resulted in Death
An Illinois couple has filed a lawsuit against Pfizer after a birth injury resulted in their son’s death. The plaintiffs assert that their son was exposed to the antidepressant Zoloft, manufactured by...
View ArticleAMA Impairment Guidelines May Negatively Impact Injured Workers
As part of reforms in the Illinois workers’ compensation system, impairment ratings promulgated by the American Medical Association (AMA) are now used by doctors and arbitrators to decide the workers’...
View ArticleBirth Injuries on the Rise in United States
According to a recent study by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), there has been a startling increase in birth injuries in the United States. The study reveals that from 2000 through 2009, there...
View ArticleToyota Settles First of Many Wrongful Death Suits
Toyota said that the company has settled the first lawsuit out of hundreds of wrongful death cases involving unintended acceleration. The agreement was reached in a case filed by the family of Charlene...
View ArticleEmployers Who Allegedly Failed to Obtain Workers Comp Insurance Are Indicted
Three Illinois employers have been indicted by a Cook County grand jury on Class 4 felony charges for allegedly failing to obtain workers’ compensation insurance. If convicted, the employers face 1 to...
View ArticleIcy Roads Cause Multiple Fatal Car Accidents in Illinois
Several fatalities on Illinois roads have resulted from recent icy conditions. Four high school friends died when their car skidded out of control on a bridge and plunged into an icy creek in rural...
View ArticleMedical Malpractice Can Cause Jaundice in Newborns
Medical malpractice can result in many types of birth injuries, with one of the most common being complications from hyperbilirubinemia, otherwise known as jaundice. Jaundice is usually treated easily,...
View ArticleBLS Releases Data on Nonfatal Occupational Injuries and Illnesses
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) has released final data from 2011 on nonfatal on-the-job illnesses and injuries that required days away from work. The rate of such...
View ArticleFormer Illinois Police Officer Charged With Workers Comp Fraud
A former police officer for the village of Maryville has been indicted by a grand jury in Madison County, Illinois on charges related to an alleged fraudulent workers’ compensation claim. Richard...
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