Lawsuit Against Rockford Hospital Heads to Trial Nine Years Later

 Posted on December 08, 2018 in Medical Malpractice

Suing OSF Healthcare and a neurosurgeon in 2009, a Poplar Grove woman, Mary Friday, alleged that the doctor left her disabled by operating on the wrong side of her body. The case moved to trial nine years later.

Though the woman's attorneys must first prove an error occurred during the surgery, the lawsuit does not involve a claim of medical malpractice, but proceeds on the little-used and challenging-to-prove claim of negligent credentialing. It essentially concerns the negligent hospital system that allowed an unqualified, incompetent doctor to practice there.

The plaintiff's attorneys cited 17 counts of unprofessional conduct (involving 17 patients from 1997 through 2004) filed against neurosurgeon Denise Crute in 2005 by the Colorado State Board of Medical Examiners as evidence of OSF's negligence. The allegations include performing wrong-side surgeries and falsifying medical records.

Surgical Errors

Medical malpractice comes in many forms. Knowing how medical malpractice can occur can help protect you and your loved ones from a medical professional's negligence. Contact a medical malpractice lawyer to learn how you can be compensated for damage caused in such cases.

Patients may get injured due to various surgical errors:

• Failure to properly prepare a patient for surgery
• Failure to properly administer general or regional anesthesia
• Puncturing an organ with a surgical tool
• Failure to monitor a patient after surgery and respond timely to blood clots, illness, infections, and heart problems.

“Never events” are medical mistakes that are shocking and very harmful to patients, like performing surgery on the wrong patient or on the wrong side of a patient's body or leaving an object inside of a patient. If you have been a victim of one of these events, you can file a medical malpractice suit to obtain compensation for your losses.

Contact Our Illinois Medical Malpractice Lawyers

If you are experiencing injuries due to the negligence of a medical professional the Arlington Heights, Libertyville, Chicago, Fox River Grove, or Itasca areas, Newland & Newland, LLP can help. Call us today at 847-797-8000. We are ready to use our skills, experience, and resources to help you to seek the justice you deserve.

Our services include:

• Free consultation: We can review your case and explain your legal options free of charge.
• Investigation: We can collect and review your medical records to determine injury type and the responsible party.
• Consultation with experts: We can consult medical experts to benefit from their insights to help you get just compensation, and to help you determine your future medical needs due to medical malpractice.
• Resolution of your case: We can prepare your case for settlement negotiations with the responsible party and seek a timely recovery for you. If necessary, our skilled and experienced lawyers will go to trial to fight for you and handle all post-trial legal matters.

Fill out our online contact form for a complimentary evaluation of your situation.

(image courtesy of Hush Naidoo)