April 2, 2009

Chicago Hospitals Pays $6 Million to Settle Birth Injury Lawsuit for Late Delivery of Child

A mother whose daughter was born mentally disabled and prone to seizures received $6 million in settlement from the University of Chicago Medical Center. Chicago birth injury lawsuit claimed that a Cesarean should have been ordered 35 minutes earlier and that because of the late delivery the child suffered brain damage due to lack of oxygen.

Baby%203.jpgThe mother in this Illinois medical negligence case was admitted to the University of Chicago Medical Center to have labor induced. At her admission two tests were done that could not establish the fetal well-being. While labor was being induced the fetal heart rate was not showing accelerations even though it should. Over the next two hours the fetal heart rate steadily declined.

The plaintiffs argued that due to that heart rate trend a Cesarean section should have been ordered immediately. The doctors waited until the baby’s heart rate fell between 100 and 105 beats per minute to order an urgent Cesarean section surgery. The baby was delivered about 30 minutes from the time the procedure was ordered. That baby is now an adult and is mentally disabled.

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August 27, 2008

Illinois Appellate Court Upholds Verdict Over Expert Qualifications

A Cook County jury verdict was entered in favor of the University of Chicago Hospitals in a 2005 trial and was upheld on appeal to the Illinois Appellate Court (Kashief Weathers et al. v. University of Chicago Hospitals, et al., No. 1-061726). In the case, several doctors were accused of causing brain damage to an infant born with his umbilical cord wrapped around his neck. The plaintiff child now suffers from cerebral palsy and severe brain damage.

Newborn%20Baby.jpgThe baby's mother brought a birth injury malpractice claim against University of Chicago Hospital alleging that defendant doctors failed to relieve the trauma caused by his umbilical cord during his birth in October 1988. There were also allegations that the doctors didn't timely treat the baby's seizures after his birth.

The plaintiffs’ obstetric expert testified that the defendant doctors deviated from the standard of care by not performing a cesarean section, which would have sped up the delivery. The expert felt that a quick delivery could have changed the child's outcome because the brain damage likely occurred at some time during labor.

But the defense expert, a pediatric neurologist, disagreed. He felt that a cesarean section would not have made a difference because in his opinion the baby was injured at least one day prior to his birth. So by the time his mother was in labor there was nothing the doctors could have done to alter his outcome.

The trial jury sided with the defense and entered a verdict in favor of the University of Chicago Hospitals. The plaintiff brought the case for appeal on several counts.

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