Beverley Bennett of Granite City has brought a medical malpractice claim against surgeon John A. Petrovich, M.D.. Her lawsuit claims that his 'chronic consumption of illegal drugs and/or alcohol' caused her to sustain severe and permanent injuries. - Full Story

Willie Spencer filed a medical malpractice suit against Touchette Regional Hospital and Jose Ramon, M.D. in St. Clair County Circuit Court Jan. 17, seeking damages for leaving a metal screw in his thigh after an operation. - Full Story

Helen Gray filed a medical malpractice suit against Alton Memorial Hospital on behalf of her son, Robert Ewing, alleging the hospital failed to properly diagnose his head injury. - Full Story

Increasingly, hospitalized patients are being cared for by in-house physicians-called "hospitalists"-instead of their own doctors. The hospitalist system, a recent and rapidly spreading outgrowth of the managed-care movement, has been shown to reduce hospital stays and thus cut health-insurance costs, and some studies say it can improve medical care. The biggest benefit, say proponents, is the potential increase in the quality of care because every patient with, for example, pneumonia, is treated with the same evidence-based treatment, versus each [primary-care] physician treating it his own way. - Full Story