Posted on March 02, 2012 in Car Accidents

Recent Chicago Car Accident Results from Another Wrong-Way Driver A recent car accident on the Kennedy Expressway marks the fourth Chicago car crash resulting from a driver heading the wrong way on the highway. As reported in The Morris Daily Herald, a vehicle driving inbound in the Kennedy Expressway’s outbound lane on the morning of February 22 clipped two cars before hitting a third head-on.

Police say that the 25-year-old female driver got onto the Kennedy Expressway at Armitage and that the accident occurred just south of North Avenue. Both the woman and the driver of the other car were extracted from their vehicles and taken to area hospitals in serious condition. According to reports, the errant driver may have smelled of alcohol. Unknown charges are currently pending against the wrong-way driver who caused the car crash.

Unfortunately, according to the Herald, all four of Chicago’s recent wrong-way car accidents have resulted in serious injuries for those involved. These injured parties may consider filing a personal injury lawsuit against the negligent drivers who caused the accidents. When you’re injured in a car accident that is the fault of another driver, you may be entitled to monetary compensation for medical bills, lost earnings, and pain and suffering. Yet Illinois’ personal injury laws are complex, and it’s best to contact a skilled Orland Park personal injury lawyer as soon as possible following a motor vehicle accident. Khaled Issa has more than 10 years experience representing those who have been injured in car accidents. Click here to contact him for a free, no-obligation consultation.

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 Posted on February 15, 2012 in Car Accidents

As reported on the My Suburban Life website, 32-year-old Daniel Clark is facing aggravated DUI charges following an accident that killed 42-year-old Frank Caruso and injured a police officer. The crash happened early on the morning of Saturday, February 11^th, when Clark hit a parked police car on the Eisenhower Expressway. Mr. Caruso and a state trooper were inside warming up after the trooper responded to a minor accident that Caruso had previously been involved in. The police officer suffered a potential concussion, but is expected to undergo a full recovery. One additional person was taken to the hospital following the accident but their status is unknown. Mr. Clark was charged with two separate counts of driving under the influence of alcohol, one including the “causing death” clause. As of the next day, he was being held at a DuPage County jail on $1 million bond. As explained in the 2012 DUI Fact Book, in Illinois, any felony DUI charge is classified as an “aggravated DUI.” This includes (but isn’t limited to) a drunk driving charge that is obtained by someone without a valid driver’s license or while driving a school bus. DUIs that result in accidents causing great body harm or death are also classified as aggravated DUI charges in Illinois, as are an individual’s third drunk driving charge (or any subsequent.)

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 Posted on August 19, 2011 in Criminal Law

When you are charged with a crime, especially a serious crime, you need a criminal attorney who can examine every aspect of the case, from the time you were arrested until the time you were released on bond.  Many times, police violate the rights of the accused under both the Illinois and Unites States Constitutions.  When charged with a crime, you need and experienced, creative, aggressive, criminal attorney who will fight for your rights, not just tell you to plead guilty.  A recent opinion from the Illinois Court of Appeals is an excellent example of defending a client to the fullest extent of the law.

A person was standing at a drug spot, on the street, yelling “dro, dro”.  The police arrested him for violating a city ordinance prohibiting solicitation of unlawful business on the street.  Of course, when he was searched by the police after the arrest, the police found a rather large quantity of drugs in his possession.  The arrest was challenged, contending the police did not have probable cause for the arrest.  The court found that there was probably cause, and the defendant was sentenced.  On appeal, the court found that the police did not have probable cause to believe a crime or ordinance violation was being committed or about to be committed.  The defendant won his case on appeal.

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 Posted on August 16, 2011 in Car Accidents

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 5, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Farmers Insurance announced today that it entered into a settlement of a nationwide class action lawsuit, In Re Farmers Med-Pay Litigation, pending in the District Court of Canadian County, Oklahoma (the "Court").

The settlement includes Farmers Insurance Company, Inc., Farmers Insurance Exchange, Truck Insurance Exchange, Fire Insurance Exchange, Mid-Century Insurance Company, Farmers Group, Inc., Illinois Farmers Insurance Company, and certain related entities (collectively, "Farmers").  The Court preliminarily approved the settlement on June 20, 2011.

Plaintiffs alleged that Farmers failed to pay reasonable expenses for necessary medical services related to automobile accidents under Medical Payments ("Med-pay") and Personal Injury Protection ("PIP") coverage in automobile policies based on Farmers' use of certain claim adjustment systems and procedures.  Farmers denies all of Plaintiffs' claims in the lawsuit.  However, Farmers agreed to resolve the lawsuit to avoid the burden and expense of continued litigation.

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 Posted on August 12, 2011 in Car Accidents

August 11, 2011

Illinois State Police are still investigating a motor vehicle crash which killed tow people and seriously injured two others.

According to Illinois State Police Master Sgt. Carlita Joe, a red 2006 Porsche was on the eastbound lanes of the Reagan Tollway (Int. Hwy. 88) when the driver used an emergency vehicle turnaround just next to the Morton Arboretum in Lisle to cross into the westbound lanes about 6:28 p.m. Saturday.

The driver of the Porsche then continued east and hit a 2004 silver Toyota Corolla as it headed west in the second lane from the median, Joe said that one victim was pronounced dead at the scene, while another was taken to Edward Hospital in Naperville, where she was pronounced dead a short time later.

A passenger in the silver Toyota Corolla was taken to Edward and later moved Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital in Downers Grove. The driver of the Porsche, a 43-year-old man from Naperville, was taken to Good Samaritan with life-threatening injuries, police said.

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 Posted on December 00, 0000 in DUI

Summer is here and that means lots of cookouts, family get-togethers, beach days, and vacations. At many of these social gatherings alcohol is served, and all too often, drivers make the decision to get behind the wheel of their vehicles after they have been drinking, with tragic results.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. (NHTSA), there were 10,265 people killed in drunk driving accidents in 2015, the most current year for which statistics are available. This means that every day that year, 28 people were killed by a drunk driver. This was a sharp increase from the year before, when 9,943 people were killed in alcohol-related crashes.

In Illinois, approximately 1,000 people are killed each year in drunk driving crashes. About 35 percent of those drunk drivers are between the ages of 21 to 24. Each year, law enforcement in Illinois arrest almost 40,000 people on DUI charges, yet these horrible crashes still happen.

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 Posted on December 00, 0000 in Medical Malpractice

For many women, having their annual or bi-annual mammogram done and waiting for the results can be somewhat stressful. That stress often turns into fear when the tests show that there is the possibility of the presence of breast cancer. This diagnosis followed by a biopsy to determine whether or not there is cancer present. However, a new study has concluded that many of these biopsy results are actually inaccurate. Those inaccurate diagnoses, which are used to determine what course of treatment should be given, could potentially be causing patients to undergo unnecessary treatments, causing other medical issues.

There are three different types of biopsies which are used by doctors to determine if a patient has breast cancer. When a doctor suspects that a breast lump is filled with fluid, they will usually perform a fine needle aspiration (FNA) biopsy. If the lump is only a cyst, then it will typically collapse as the fluid is removed by the needle.

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 Posted on December 00, 0000 in Medical Malpractice

Researchers from Kaiser Permanente, a national health care organization, recently discovered that almost half of hospital deaths that occurred between 2010 through 2012 could be traced back to sepsis. Sepsis happens when the whole body responds to a bacterial infection. In many cases, the body’s reaction in order to fight the infection is so severe it can cause organs to shut down, resulting in death.

The study examined over 7 million adult hospitalizations between 2010 and 2012. There were approximately 500,000 cases that were taken directly from Kaiser facilities, however, the remaining 6.5 million cases came from the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS).

The research team not only examined patient records that were clearly identified as having sepsis, but also patients who were reported to have both organ failure and infections. This was done in light of the fact that many medical personnel do not recognize sepsis symptoms.

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 Posted on December 00, 0000 in Medical Malpractice

When we do to the doctor or hospital because we are sick or injured, we put our trust into the physicians and other medical personnel that the treatment and care they give us will make us well, or at the very least, comfortable. What we do not anticipate is that the care we receive will actually cause more medical issues or be dangerous. But for many elderly patients, that is exactly what happens.

A study that was recently conducted by researchers at the Gerontology Program at Towson University in Maryland revealed that one in five elderly Medicare patients sustain injuries that frequently have nothing to do with the medical problems they are being treated for. Some of the more common injuries include being prescribed medication that causes allergic reactions, being given the wrong medication or having treatments for an illness which causes other medical problems other than the original diagnosis.

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 Posted on December 00, 0000 in DUI

As reported by Lorraine Swanson of The Patch on July 2, 2018, the Village of Orland Park had the most DUI arrests of any southwest suburb in Cook County.

Orland Park landed in the top 20 of Illinois municipalities and led the south suburbs in for DUI arrests in 2017. Orland Park officers logged 216 arrests of buzzed drivers, according to the Alliance Against Intoxicated Motorists' annual DUI arrest survey.

AAIM is an Illinois-only citizen activist group founded in 1982 by victims of drunk driving based in Schaumburg. The group promotes prevention, victim advocacy and legislation for tougher drunk driving laws and is a recognized expert in this area.

The south suburban police departments in the Patch network that responded to the 2017 AAIM survey ranked as followed:

• #12 Orland Park, 216 (184 arrests in 2016; ranked 16)
• #19 Oak Lawn, 162 (223 arrests in 2016; ranked #11)

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