The medical malpractice and wrongful death law team at Holder Law Group, LLP has witnessed a dangerous side-effect to new and advanced surgical techniques both in Champaign-Urbana, but also across Illinois.  From the use of the da Vinci robot, to other advanced technological surgical techniques, medical advances are moving so quickly that doctors are unable to keep up. 

While many, if not most, doctors attend advanced surgical seminars and training classes, many Champaign patients would be shocked to learn that some doctors are trained DURING SURGERY AND BY MEDICAL DEVICE COMPANY REPRESENTATIVES.  It is hard to believe, but many companies, ever too eager to have medical clinics and hospitals purchase their equipment and devices, are deploying individuals to train doctors who are not even doctors themselves.

Medical Errors and Malpractice in Champaign Urbana

As a patient, you anticipate that the doctor that treats you is well qualified and trained in the procedure in which she or he is practicing. You might not have sufficient information about the physician's history or experience.  All we really know about surgeons is that they like to perform surgery. This is especially real when you go to the medical facility as a result of an emergency situation or to receive a new type of procedure.

Too often, the inexperience of the physician or lack of training in a particular location can bring about major damage to clients. A medical professional that is a specialist in one area might be called to function in various specialties in which they are unfamiliar or untrained. Because the unskilled physician is not familiar with this area, the physician may misdiagnose an individual or make an error in performing a treatment. In many cases, a person may be treated by a doctor that remains in training, overworked, and merely over their head.  This can be true of Champaign and Central Illinois physicians with many years of experience in traditional procedures.

When the inexperience of a medical professional, registered nurse, or medical professional causes a person to experience damage, the doctor and/or the medical center or hospital that uses them must be held answerable for the absence of training.  It is important to understand that a medical device representative is not a qualified trainer.

The Champaign-Urbana medical negligence attorneys at the Holder Law Group, LLP aid individuals and families that have actually been harmed by inexperienced medical professional mistakes and negligence. We work with doctors that we understand and trust to assess the circumstances of malpractice so we can respond to the inquiries that individuals and their households involve us with.
With decades of medical malpractice experience, Elizabeth Holder and her team have the understanding and skill to hold medical professionals that have harmed individuals because of their lack of experience accountable.

Unskilled Medical Professionals and Misdiagnosis

Totally missed or postponed medical diagnoses by inexperienced physicians are all too common. Actually, The Washington Post reported in May 2013 that diagnoses that are missed, incorrect or postponed are thought to influence 10 to 20 percent of situations, far surpassing drug errors and surgery on the incorrect person or body component.
 
Additionally, researchers from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine revealed that 45,500 patients die due to misdiagnosis in emergency situations.  These statistics apply to Illinois as a portion of the country as a whole.
The medical malpractice team at Holder law group have litigated these situations with respect to

• Pulmonary Embolism
• A variety of cancers
• Heart Attack and Stroke
• Pneumonia

The National Patient Safety Foundation (NPSF) has found that lack of experience leads to many of these malpractice situations. Similarly, the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) discovered that the majority of misdiagnoses are related to "process break downs in the patient-practitioner clinical encounter."  This can also include surgeries performed by inexperienced doctors in that particular procedure.

Lack of Doctor Experience leads to malpractice and even death in Champaign Illinois

Physician and Clinic inexperience is related to:

Alternatives staffing and shift arrangements-- Medical professionals usually fill in for each other. This can lead to a doctor doing a treatment or participating in treatment that is outside of their specialty or their experience.

Locum tenens-- Locum tenens is Latin for "location holder." Locum tenens work includes a doctor working briefly in a technique or a healthcare facility that is not his/her common area of employment. Some of these medical professionals are from various other states. Some doctors take locum tenens placements specifically to acquire experience they do not have, and also some do it because they are semi-retired. A locum tenens doctor may take shifts in an emergency situation area. Locum tenens medical professionals operate in systems that are not familiar to them in addition to seeing patients whose backgrounds are foreign to them. This can lead to blunders being made.

Handoffs-- When a change ends or a client is moved from one location to one more, such as from the ER to one more ward, their care is turned over from one group of physicians as well as registered nurses. This is when communications errors typically take place especially among inexperienced personnel.

New Medical Innovations-- Physicians might just have a very little amount of training or education and learning prior to when they begin to utilize advanced clinical procedures, off-label prescriptions or experimental methods in the treatment of an individual. Health centers may have varying requirements regarding when a medical professional or cosmetic surgeon might start to utilize a new method without the aid of a much more seasoned expert.  The situation also applies to experienced doctors using new procedures with insufficient training or training performed by drug company representatives. 

Seeking Money Damages After Being Harmed By an Unskilled Physician

No matter their experience, medical professionals, surgeons, registered nurses, service technicians as well as other physician need to fulfill an acknowledged requirement of treatment. When health care professionals fall short to meet that requirement, as well as a patient is harmed, the patient and/or their family members has a right to seek a money settlement.

Those that have actually been harmed or lost an enjoyed one due to the fact that they were dealt with by an unskilled physician or other health care specialist have the right to go after an injury or wrongful death lawsuit to insurance claim settlement for their added clinical costs, lost wages, discomfort as well as suffering as well as other problems.  This is when Holder Law Group can help.

Illinois regulation calls for most medical malpractice suits to be brought within two years from the date of the alleged act, omission or disregard. It is crucial to contact an experienced Champaign Illinois clinical negligence legal representative, such as those at Holder Law Group, as soon as feasible if you or a person you care about has actually been hurt.

The Central Illinois Medical Malpractice team at Holder Law Group can review your inexperienced doctor malpractice case for free and takes all of our cases on a contingent basis.  This means if we don’t win, you don’t pay.

Whether in Champaign Urbana or across Illinois, the Champaign Accident Lawyers at Holder Law Group know that we have a certain expectation that when we buy a car or any type of vehicle, it is safe to drive. However, sometimes due to manufacturer oversights or new research, the car, as it was made, has some defective part that may cause accidents or further injury in the case of accidents.  Auto accidents due to defective parts and parts that have been recalled by the manufacturer are common on the interstate highways crossing Champaign County Illinois. Obviously, if a manufacturer fails to recognize defective parts and dangerous conditions in the automobile in time, it opens them to lawsuits, but what if they know and have already sent out recall notices?  Our Champaign Urbana accident attorneys are constantly asked what impact a recall notice has on an accident suit.

Across Illinois and the country as a whole, product recall notices are sent to consumers with dangerous products by the manufacturers every day.  Take, for example, two separate and likely situations of how a recall can impact an accident lawsuit in Champaign Illinois. The first situation involves a driver who receives a recall notice and immediately makes an appointment with the dealership to have it replaced. The second situation is a driver who gets the recall notice, and then promptly tosses it in the trash.

The next day, both drivers get into accidents as a result from the defect, but what happens? While they can recover damages from other drivers whose negligence might have been involved, can they also pursue a claim against the manufacturer under Illinois Law?  These questions are difficult and underline why you need an experienced Champaign auto accident lawyer like Holder Law Group to assist your claim.

This is a tricky situation. Illinois law recognizes contributory negligence, which means if the driver was more than 50 percent responsible for the accident, they cannot be awarded damages.  This will be a decision for the Jury.  In this case, the first driver who made an appointment with the dealership made the effort to get the defect fixed, which shows a much lower percentage of contributory negligence. However, the second driver shows a higher percentage because they chose to ignore recall notice and driver a dangerous car.  Ultimately, both of these situations will need to be proven to the Jury which is difficult in both cases. 

If you were in an auto accident in Champaign Urbana or across Illinois, and believe your injuries are the result of a defect or from the negligence of others, contact us today. If it has been several months after the recall notice, you may not be able to pursue the manufacturer, but you may still be able to recover some damages.

For women and families in Champaign Urbana who are traveling through the pregnancy and childbirth process, the number one priority is to stay healthy and listen to the advice of your doctor.  Champaign Urbana malpractice attorneys at the Holder Law Group understand that delivering a child is a common process with many doctors delivering thousands of children through the course of their career.  This applies to rural hospitals in Central Illinois as well as in metropolitan areas such as Chicago Illinois. However, while it happens every day, it is by no means a completely safe process. Many things can go wrong, and that is only compounded when your doctor makes the conscious decision to take a more risky course of action.

While many women in labor progress normally, and even sometimes quickly, on occasion labor can be a very lengthy process.  It could last for several days and often doctors will seek to speed things up for the best interest of both mother and child. There are dedicated drugs for this process, such as a hormone drip with Oxytocin, but sometimes these don't work as quickly as needed to suite the needs the patient of the doctor. In these situations, some Illinois doctors take the risk and administer off-label drugs not meant for the labor and delivery process. There are several off-label drugs that can help speed up labor, but the most common culprit is misoprostol. In standard use, this is an ulcer drug, but it can also be used to help dilate the cervix.

While the use of Oxytocin itself is the subject of some controversy, the unfortunate reality is that misoprostol is less safe, though popular, and while it may be effective for speeding up the labor process, it can also be dangerous. Using misoprostol for labor runs the risk of causing a uterine rupture. This can cause the mother to hemorrhage and the child to go into distress after life support has been cut off. In these cases, emergency surgery is required, but the mother or the child may not survive.  Incidents such as these do happen across Illinois during childbirth as well.

As some continue to use misoprostol for labor safely, it has not yet begun to face legal action, but using off-label drugs in the birthing process for Illinois mothers can be risky and can lead to medical malpractice cases.   At Holder Law Group, we believe that childbirth is dangerous enough and the medication used to speed up the process should not add to the danger. If you have discovered that they were used in the birth of your child, contact us today. Using drugs not as intended is a very clear case of medical malpractice.

One of the most common question I hear in representing injured clients in Champaign Urbana and across Illinois is, "how long will it take to get paid." The truth is, they can be short or long depending on how much investigation, negotiation, and litigation is required. While there is no set way to predict how long a mass tort case will take, there are a few factors that can help you estimate.

What Lengthens an injury claim?

The length of an injury or auto accident claim often isn't so much affected by litigation so much as it is affected by gathering evidence for the claim. The more evidence you have, the stronger your claim will be. However, the more evidence there is, the longer it will take to gather and analyze.

Factors that will lengthen a mass tort or personal injury claim include:

• Gathering and interviewing expert witnesses. Depending on the nature of the claim, this could include doctors, scientists, researchers, developers, and even marketing or economics specialists. Furthermore, travel to depose these expert witnesses can further lengthen the process
• Collection of evidence. Gathering evidence such as medical records or company documents can often take months to gather as well as analyze. The process can be further slowed down if those involved with providing the evidence slow down the process with inaction or stacking the deck with documents unrelated to the case.
• Settlement negotiations. Some cases may be settled out of court, but getting a settlement that everyone can agree on takes a large amount of time and negotiation.

All of the above slow down the process, so for clients of injury claims and auto accident claims, there will likely be a large amount of downtime involved while their lawyer gathers evidence and interviews witnesses. Those involved in personal injury cases of all kinds should be aware that it will take some time before any compensation is received.

At the end of the day it is worth noting that Holder Law Group, like many other plaintiffs law firms, work on a contingency fee basis which means that we advance all the costs of litigation and only recover if we win.  This being the case, we have every motivation to resolves cases as quickly as possible.

Are you considering pursuing a personal injury claim in Illinois? Then come talk to us. Holder Law Group knows how long and frustrating any tort case can be, but if you believe you have a claim, you shouldn't just let it go.

Holder Law Group strives to protect both the physical and financial interest of Champaign Urbana and Illinois.  This is why we will be launching out Consumer Protection Alert series of posts dealing with Illinois consumer protection issues that impact not only the residents of Central Illinois, but the entire country as well.

We have all heard of phishing and how scammers are trying to steal your information via email. But scammers have another trick up their sleeve: Smishing. Smishing refers to trying to scam people by sending them SMS text messages.  According to Forbes, one of the best ways to avoid a smishing scam is to use two-factor authentication which involves both a password and another way to verify your identity.   Here are some tips to avoid being a victim of smishing.

1.     Be wary of any text messages from numbers you do not recognize, especially if they come from a strange area code. Be especially wary of messages that come from a four-digit or five-digit number.

2.     If a text message claims to come from your bank, do not believe it. Call up your bank first and provide them with information about the text to help them identify if they really sent the message.

3.     Be wary of clicking links in text messages. They may cause your phone to download malicious software, viruses, malware, adware and spyware. Not only shouldn't you click on a strange link from a strange number, but you should delete the text message as soon as you can. If possible, do not even open the message.

4.     Be aware that scammers can sometimes make a message appear as if it is coming from one of your contacts. If you receive a weird, odd, and strange message from your friend with a suspicious-looking link, ask them if they really sent it.

5.     Do not reply to text messages from strange numbers, especially if they ask you personal information, tell you that you won a prize, or tell you that you need to reply urgently. In addition, do not call the number that sent the message.

6.     Make sure to install an antivirus app on your phone.  There are many services available such as Knox, McAfee, and Lookout, and all of these will provide guards against smishing.

If your personal information has been stolen, contact us immediately to see if we can help.  Do you have a smishing story?  Feel free to let us know.

There is a general misunderstanding among many people that pregnancy and childbirth are not major occurrences in a woman's life, and that the risks associated with both are rather benign.  This could not be farther from the truth.  Conventional childbirth, even with no complications, has a significant amount of risk,. and when the birth process is complicated, and a caesarian section is necessary, the risks increase even further.  

Given the complicated and inherently dangerous nature of childbirth, when doctor and nursing error occurs, the risks to both mother and child increase even further.  Here are few issues to remember regarding medical negligence and birth injury.  

When is a Birth Injury the Doctor’s Fault?

​Giving birth should be a joyous time, but while many births go perfectly smooth, sometimes there are complications. Birth injuries that occur to the mother, or worse, her newborn can be traumatic and life-altering. However, something strange occurs when a birth injury happens. For some strange reason, it leaves new mothers blaming themselves. Was it something they did? Was it something they didn't do while gestating their child? Could they have done it different or better?

The truth is that a birth injury is rarely the fault of the parent and certainly not the child. However, in order to better protect themselves, your doctors may infer that it was something you did or didn't do. Yet, you had nine months to create that new life, and your OBGYN had nine months to figure out the risks, tell you about them, and do everything in their power to mitigate them. If your doctor did none of those things, then no matter what they tell you, they are responsible for your birth injuries.

Whether it was from negligence or pure malpractice, common birth injuries include:
​

• Failure to diagnose a condition that resulted in harm to the mother or child
• Failure to take action to prevent harm during long deliveries
• Failure to diagnose birth defects
• Failure to react during dangerous breech birth or umbilical cord entanglement
• Failure to modify vital signs or notice and take action during abnormal factors like respiration of blood pressure

Additionally, the causes for these errors are sometimes more difficult to identify than one would initially think.  The most common medical errors that are difficult to identify in regard to childbirth cases are:

• Failure to Communicate Clearly
• Failure to Follow Correct Procedures
• Equipment or Monitor Failure
• Inadequate or Unclear Healthcare Procedure
• Failure to Adequately Train Hospital Staff
• Overtired Physicians or Understaffing

All of the above can fall into the realms of medical malpractice, but so much more can be considered as part of it as well. If you or your child suffered traumatic injury during the birthing period, contact us today to see what we can do for you.

We have heard the story before.  A car accident happens and there is little damage to either of the vehicles.  What's more, after the accident, the driver of the car that was not at-fault declines to go to the emergency room because her or she feels okay at the time.  Then, days, weeks, or even months later, the accident victim begins to develop headaches, soreness, and pain.  It is called a soft tissue injury and it happens every day across Central Illinois and Champaign County.  

WHIPLASH INJURIES
 
Whiplash injuries can be serious injuries that are frequently caused when an automobile is struck from behind. Whiplash is a neck injury that can occur during rear-end automobile collisions, when your head suddenly moves backward and then forward.  These extreme motions push your neck muscles and ligaments beyond their normal range of motion.
 
Common Misconception About Whiplash Injury
A common misconception about whiplash injury is that if the vehicle does not sustain damage in a low speed impact, then whiplash injury to the occupant does not occur.
In reality, low impact collisions can produce correspondingly higher dynamic loading on the occupants because the lack of crushing metal to absorb the forces results in a greater force applied to items or occupants within the vehicle
Whiplash is an injury to the cervical region of the spine when a great force causes the neck to go beyond its normal range of motion. The spinal vertebrae, ligaments, and muscles may be injured by this force, causing neck pain, headaches, neck stiffness, and/or cognitive difficulties such as dizziness or trouble concentrating. These symptoms may appear immediately or after a few days.
 
Cognitive and higher center dysfunction. In some instances, whiplash may affect the patient's mental functioning, possibly leading to difficulties concentrating, as just one example.
 
Faulty movement patterns. It is believed that the nervous system may change the way in which it controls the coordinated function of muscles as a result of a barrage of intense pain signals from the whiplash injury.
 
Chronic pain. While often resulting in minor muscle sprains and strains that heal with time, more severe whiplash injuries may produce neck pain and other symptoms that are persistent and long-lasting (chronic).
 
Disc herniation. A whiplash accident may injure the discs between the vertebrae, lead to small tears and cause the inner core of the disc to extrude through its outer core. If the disc's inner core comes in contact with and irritates a nearby spinal nerve root, a herniated disc occurs, with symptoms possibly including sharp, shooting pain down the arm and even neurological symptoms like numbness, tingling and muscle weakness.
 
Joint dysfunction. As a result of the whiplash, one of the joints in the spine or limbs may lose its normal resiliency and shock absorption (referred to as the joint play), possibly leading to restricted range of movement and pain.
 
Additional information Regarding Whiplash Injuries
http://www.medicinenet.com/whiplash/article.htm
http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/whiplash/basics/definition/con-20033090

​

One of the most devastating injuries that anyone can sustain in an automobile accident is a traumatic brain injury.  So called TBI injuries can totally alter the way in which accident victims live their lives.  Furthermore, traumatic brain injuries are often overlooked immediately after an accident due to the fact that the victim may appear healthy and not develop symptoms until days or week after the wreck.  Here is what to know.

Types of Injuries Common in Car and Motorcycle Accidents:

• Brain Injuries including Postconcussion Syndrome
• Chest Injures
• Spine Injuries
• Whiplash Injuries
• Arm, Leg, Shoulder, and Joint Injuries
• Soft Tissue Injuries
• Aggrevation of Pre-existing Conditions

 
Head Injuries and Post Concussion Syndrome
 
Car Accidents are one of Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI) 50,000 people die annually from TBIs, while 230,000 people are hospitalized and survive, and an estimated 80,000-90,000 people experience the onset of long-term disability as a result -- currently, over 5.3 million people are living with disabilities resulting from a TBI.  Post Concussive Syndrome is a type of Brain Injury resulting from a Concussion and common in automobile collisions where a driver or passenger in a vehcile or driver of a motorcycle has suffered a blow to the head.
 
Many TBIs are not initially diagnosed and do not result in hospitalizations.
 
What is a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)?

A TBI is an injury to the brain that results from an external force, or trauma, to the head. In other words, it's a head injury that causes damage to the brain. The "external force" can be a direct blow to the head such as striking the steering wheel in a car accident.
Even though the skull is not penetrated or fractured, the force can cause the brain to be injured in a number of ways. Or, the "external force" can be a rapid acceleration and deceleration of the head that shakes or rotates the brain. Examples of this are whiplash in a car accident or Shaken Baby Syndrome. As the BIA definition states, the "external force" damages the tissues and cells of the brain causing temporary or permanent impairment in the cognitive, emotional and physical abilities of an individual.
 
Most TBIs are Closed Head Injuries (CHI), where trauma to the head sets the brain in motion inside the skull. Depending upon the degree and direction of the forces applied, the brain can be damaged in many different ways. These include surface contusions of the brain from a coup-contre coup (an initial blow followed by a rebound against the opposite side of the skull) and twisting and stretching from rotational force which damage fine structures like axons.
 
Obviously, not all TBIs are equally serious. They range from catastrophic to subtle. However, even subtle brain injuries can have significant, permanent, life-altering consequences for the patient.  TBIs can be caused by whiplash.

COMMON Traumatic Brain Injury Symptoms: 
Physical Symptoms·        

·         muscle spasticity
​           seizures
·         double vision, blurred vision or low vision, even blindness
·         loss of smell or taste
·         speech impairments such as slow or slurred speech
·         headaches or migraines
·         fatigue, increased need for sleep, and 
·         balance problems.
 
Cognitive Symptoms 
·         short-term memory loss, long-term memory loss
·         slowed ability to process information
·         trouble concentrating or paying attention for periods of time
·         difficulty keeping up with a conversation, and other communication difficulties such as word finding problems
·         spatial disorientation
·         organizational problems and impaired judgment
·         inability to do more than one thing at a time, and
·         a lack of initiating activities, or once started, difficulty in completing tasks without reminder.

Emotional Symptoms·        
          increased anxiety
·         depression and mood swings
·         impulsive behavior
·         more easily agitated, and
·         egocentric behaviors, difficulty seeing how behaviors can affect others.
 
SEEK IMMEDIATE MEDICAL CARE IF YOU THINK YOU ARE SUFFERING FROM A BRAIN INJURY.  
 
The Holder Law Group, LLP understands the severity of brain injuries including Post Concussion Syndrome and the difficulty in proving them at trial or, in the alternative, getting insurance companies to accept them as substantial injuries.  Appropriate medical treatment and documentation for these injuries is crucial for your case.  

Additional Information Regarding Traumatic Brain Injuries
 
http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/post-concussion-syndrome/basics/definition/con-20032705
 
http://www.webmd.com/brain/post-concussion-syndrome
 
http://www.healthline.com/health/post-concussion-syndrome#Overview1
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​How well do you know your automobile insurance policy??

One of my first cases as a young attorney involved a tragic automobile accident where I represented the estate of a University of Illinois student from China, who had perished in an automobile collision.  The other 4 people in the car survived with massive injuries, including a girl with a fractured pelvis.  This was a hit and run and the later detained defendant did not have insurance and was out on parole for previous felonies.  There was a $100,000.00 under insured motorist policy to be split 5 ways. I found myself, through a translator, attempting to explain to the Chinese parents of this young girl, who was their only child, that they would recover very little monetarily as a result of their daughter's death.  I was pregnant with my own daughter at the time and  have since learned two things.  First, as an attorney who works in personal injury, no matter how much you attempt to disconnect emotionally, there are cases that will haunt you every day throughout the litigation process and long after its conclusion.  Second, I learned how crucial it is to have good automobile insurance coverage.

When purchasing automobile coverage, we tend to focus on liability coverage, which means how much coverage a person has if they injure another person or person's property.   The state minimum for automobile coverage in Illinois is grossly insufficient as it requires a person to only have $25,000.00 per person and $50,000.00 per incident of coverage.  This means, that if there are multiple people in the car, the maximum amount that can be recovered by all injured people combined is $50,000.00 Rarely do we ask, what happens if I am injured?  Because we cannot control the amount of insurance that drivers whom we share the roadways with may (or may not) have, there are ways to protect yourself.

Uninsured motorist coverage protects you directly. This coverage pays if you are injured by a hit-and-run driver or a driver who does not have auto liability insurance. This coverage, in effect, takes the place of the liability insurance that the other driver should have purchased but did not. Underinsured motorist coverage applies when the other driver is at fault and whose limits of liability are lower than the damages you sustained. Your underinsured motorist coverage will pay you an additional amount up to your policy limits.   In Illinois, your underinsured/uninsured policy limits are equal to your liability insurance.  

Taking into account that a trip to the emergency room can easily cost $15,000.00 if you have to have complex imaging, it is important to be properly insured.  I am not an insurance salesperson, but as a lawyer who has worked with countless automobile policies and recoveries for my clients, I have gained a bit of knowledge in the area.  I strongly urge everyone out there to get a substantial Umbrellas insurance policy coverage plan.

A personal umbrella policy is a type of insurance that provides liability coverage over and above your automobile or homeowners policy.  It can also provide additional coverage for your own injuries resulting from an under insured or uninsured driver in a collision.  Usually, the amount of money to include this type of coverage is ever so minimal compared to the value it has if you are in a serious accident.  Call your insurance agent or company today if you don't have this coverage or are unsure of what sort of coverage you have.