Justia Lawyer Rating for Robert D. Kreisman

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Shada Tucker was admitted to John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital (Cook County Hospital) to deliver her child. Labor was induced and continued for 16 hours before Tucker underwent an emergency cesarean section. Her newborn son was later diagnosed with having hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) and a seizure disorder. Baby Tucker is now 3 years old and suffers from cerebral palsy and severe cognitive deficits requiring 24-hour care.

The Tucker family filed a lawsuit against the hospital, alleging it chose not to perform a timely cesarean section, resulting in respiratory distress and brain damage to Baby Tucker.

The parties settled before a jury trial for $18 million.

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At 32 weeks gestation, Alexis Willis arrived at Advocate Trinity Hospital in Chicago. She was complaining of a headache and decreased fetal movement. At the hospital, she was diagnosed as having preeclampsia and was connected to a fetal heart monitor. The fetal heart monitor showed variable deceleration and an absence of viability and acceleration.

After about two hours, the fetal heart monitor showed a prolonged deceleration. Willis was taken to the operating room, where the baby’s heart-rate was reported as bradycardic. Bradycardia is a condition where the heart beats more slowly than expected, under 60 beats per minute in adults. Approximately 25 minutes later, Willis’s daughter was born in a depressed condition; the baby required resuscitation. The baby’s Apgar scores were 3 at 1 minute and 5 at 5 minutes. The baby, who is now 7 years old, has been diagnosed as having hypoxic-ischemic brain damage and cerebral palsy.

Willis and the baby’s father sued the hospital and an attending physician, maintaining that they chose not to perform a timely cesarean delivery.
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Doe received prenatal care at Roe’s obstetrical practice. An ultrasound revealed that she was carrying monochorionic diamniotic twins.

Monochorionic diamniotic twins are a product of a single fertilized egg resulting in genetically identical offspring. The term diamniotic refers to multiple gestations with two distinct placental disks and describes the pregnancy with a distinct amniotic cavity. Dichorionic diamniotic twin pregnancy is a twin pregnancy in which each fetus has its own placenta and amniotic sac.

Nevertheless, an obstetrician allegedly categorized the twins as dichorionic. At 38 weeks gestation, an ultrasound showed no fetal heartbeat. Doe underwent a cesarean section to deliver her stillborn children.
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Doe’s mother received some of her prenatal care at a federally funded healthcare program. Doe’s mother was admitted to a hospital for induction of labor at more than 40 weeks gestation.

The next day, the fetal monitor allegedly showed prolonged and late decelerations. Approximately two hours later, Baby Doe was delivered by cesarean section.

Doe’s Apgar scores were 1 at 1 minute and 4 at 5 minutes. He was diagnosed as having suffered hypoxic-ischemic brain damage. Doe is now 5 years old and requires 24/7 care. Doe’s family and guardians filed a lawsuit against the United States under the Federal Tort Claims Act. The family alleged negligence by one provider and the hospital. The suit also alleged negligence by another provider and maintained that the provider failed to perform a timely cesarean section that would have prevented the child’s brain damage.
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Ms. Doe required cervical cerclage to address cervical insufficiency during previous pregnancies. She consulted a maternal-fetal medicine specialist during the 12th week of her fourth pregnancy. After an evaluation, the doctor allegedly offered numerous treatment options to Ms. Doe.

When Ms. Doe returned four weeks later, her cervix measured 23 millimeters. She requested a cervical cerclage given her condition. The cervix measured 20.1 millimeters when another specialist evaluated her less than a week later. In another week, the treating physician scheduled the cerclage.

While Ms. Doe was on her way to the procedure, her cervix failed. She went into labor. Her child was born at approximately 18-weeks gestation and died within an hour of his birth. Ms. Doe sued the two doctors alleging they chose not to perform a timely cervical cerclage. Ms. Doe asserted that the first doctor specialist should have ensured the procedure was performed within four days as Ms. Doe had requested and that the second specialist should have admitted Ms. Doe to the hospital for an urgent cerclage. None of that was done.
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Angelle Morley suffered from gestational diabetes. She was a high risk for having a large baby. When she became exhausted during active labor, her treating obstetrician, Dr. Ralph Dauterive, applied forceps to the baby’s head.

The baby’s left shoulder became impacted on Morley’s pubic bone. It was alleged that Dr. Dauterive used lateral traction to delivery the baby who weighed more than 9 pounds at birth.

The child is now 7 years old and has been diagnosed as having brachial plexus injury, which left him permanently disfigured and with a dysfunctional left shoulder and hand.
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During the 35th week of pregnancy with twins, Ms. Doe went to her hospital following the premature rupture of her membranes. The twins were delivered successfully by way of a cesarean section. However, several hours after delivery, Ms. Doe developed hypotension tachycardia and other symptoms that did not resolve despite efforts to intervene by the hospital staff. Two hours later, Ms. Doe’s treating obstetrician returned to the hospital and, after about two hours, ordered emergency surgery.

Within thirty minutes of the surgery, Ms. Doe became unresponsive. Despite chest compressions and intubation following her cardiac arrest, Ms. Doe unfortunately died.

Ms. Doe was survived by her children, including her newborn twins. The cause of death reportedly was exsanguination (loss of blood) from internal bleeding caused by the suture dehiscence.
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Rachel Harris was admitted to Truman Medical Center to deliver her child. She was given Pitocin over the course of approximately 6 hours. She was attended by a family practice physician, Dr. Kelly Sandri, and a resident-physician. Harris’s baby suffered hypoxic-ischemic brain damage resulting in cerebral palsy.

Harris, on her daughter’s behalf, sued the hospital and Dr. Sandri, alleging excessive administration of Pitocin, which led to the child’s brain damage and birth injury.

Harris also alleged that Dr. Sandri had not properly supervised the resident who also chose not to respond to signs of Pitocin overdose evident on the fetal monitor.
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Erin Gresser suffered from Type 1 diabetes. She was admitted to North Colorado Medical Center after receiving a diagnosis of preeclampsia. Gresser was treated for group B strep infection during her labor and prolonged late decelerations occurred.

Gresser’s daughter, Carina, had Apgar scores of 8 and 9 at 1 and 5 minutes and abnormal pH levels. Carina also had hyperbilirubinemia and became tachycardic later the same evening, prompting her admission to the hospital’s ICU for further evaluation and treatment.

Carina suffered episodes of bradycardia and continued tachycardia. The laboratory allegedly reported a positive blood culture with gram-negative rods. Additionally, the gram stain from cerebral spinal fluid was positive for gram-negative rods.
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At 31 weeks gestation, Linnoska Correa had a prenatal visit with obstetrician Dr. Luis Pardo Toro. Correa’s blood pressure during the visit was 136/86 mm Hg, which was appreciably higher than other blood pressure readings during her pregnancy.

The next day, Correa complained of severe stomach pain. She was admitted to the hospital HIMA-San Pablo in Puerto Rico where she was diagnosed as having severe preeclampsia. She was given antibiotics and magnesium sulfate.

Two days later, Correa’s daughter was delivered by cesarean section. The Apgar scores at the time of delivery were 7 at one minute and 8 at five minutes. Correa’s daughter, who is now 8, suffers from severe neurological injuries and quadriplegia, which necessitates 24-hour care daily.
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