Too Much Radiation Perforates Bowel, Kills Chicago Woman

by James Lewis

JIm is a Virginia injury attorney who handles car accidents, medical malpractice, FELA, wrongful death, etc.

1/17/2010
James Lewis
Comments (0)

Too Much Radiation Perforates Bowel, Kills Chicago Woman

A Chicago, Illinois (IL)-area family has received a $7.5 million settlement from a hospital, oncologist and treatment provider because medical records clearly showed that the mother and wife received harmful doses of radiation while being treated for endometrial cancer.

The Chicago Sun-Times reported that Patricia Quirk received 17 treatments from Little Company of Mary Hospital, Radiation Oncology S.C., and physician Vera Petras that were 50 percent higher than prescribed. The overdoses of radiation perforated her bowel, and the internal injury became infected. That infection led to Quirk's death.

Many things went wrong at many times in this case, and almost all the mistakes could have been caught before they resulted in tragedy. As pointed out in the newspaper article, the most important thing the doctor and technicians administering radiation doses could have done to protect the patient was confirm the dosage by checking the machine's setting against the patient's medical chart. This likely would have prevented any subsequent problems.

My sympathies go out to the Quirk family, and I am pleased they received some justice for the medical negligence that took their loved one from them. The settlement cannot make up for the family's loss, but health care professionals--from doctors and nurses to pharmacists and technicians--must be held accountable for their mistakes and errors.

EJL

Category: Medical Malpractice/Doctor Mistakes

Labels: cancer Chicago died family hospital infection injury lawyer Jim Lewis malpractice medical errors medical negligence mistakes negligence radiation wrongful death

About the Editors: Shapiro, Lewis & Appleton is a Virginia injury law firm whose attorneys focus on personal injury and accident law and have extensive experience handling medical malpractice and doctor mistake cases. Please take a few moments to review our medical malpractice case results. We have offices in Virginia Beach and Hampton, VA, but we're ready to come to you anywhere in Virginia, including Norfolk, Portsmouth, Chesapeake, Newport News and Suffolk, VA, if you've been seriously hurt by the carelessness of a doctor, surgeon, nurse or pharmacist.

Rick Shapiro and James Lewis have been recognized as among the Best Lawyers in America since 2008. Also, Rick and Jim have been named Virginia Super Lawyers for Personal Injury Law since 2010. Fewer than 5 percent of lawyers are chosen for this professional honor.

Members of our VA personal injury law firm have also been selected by the National Million Dollar Advocates Forum since 2009. In addition, we were the first injury law firm in Virginia to join Primerus, a select group of highly ethical and respected law firms. Our VA medical malpractice firm has the highest rating of AV from Martindale-Hubbell, a national lawyer ranking organization, which means we have a reputation for preeminent legal skill.

We offer free special reports on the Top 10 Tips from a Medical Malpractice Insider and the top five surgical errors you must know about.

While not every injury case meets our criteria, we offer free initial confidential injury case consultation, so call us toll free at (800) 752-0042. If you cannot get through due to high call volume, please leave a voicemail so we can return your call.

Virginia Super Lawyers

There are no comments.

Search Our Site

Get help Now!

Practice Areas

Too Much Radiation Perforates Bowel, Kills Chicago Woman

Post a comment