Creditors' Rights - Physicians' Liens on Patients' Tort Claim

A recent Illinois statute creates a lien in favor of licensed physicians for their reasonable charges for treating persons injured by the negligent or wrongful act of another. The lien attaches to all claims or causes of action of the injured person against the person causing the injury, whether settled by litigation or by settlement. The maximum amount recoverable under the lien is one-third of the sum paid or due to the injured party, and the lien is expressly made to survive his death. The physician must serve notice of his assertion of the lien on both the injured party and the person liable for the injury.

On ten-days' written notice, any party to the action may have access to the physician's records concerning his treatment of the injured party. The lien is made inferior to attorneys' liens, does not apply at all in workmen's compensation cases, and may be enforced in the courts of the state. Ill. Rev. Stat. (1959) c. 82, §§101.1-101.6.