On Sept. 17, 2009 Crystal McFadden was admitted to Northwestern Memorial Hospital in full-term labor. Her care was managed by a team of resident obstetricians under the direction of the defendant, Dr. Jeffrey Dungan, the supervising attending obstetrician. During the course of her labor, the residents and nursing staff documented…
Articles Posted in Wrongful Death
$1.5 Million Jury Verdict in Lawsuit Over Delayed Cesarean Section
Stacy Maxberry attempted a vaginal birth after a Cesarean section birth. This is often referred to as “V-back.” During the delivery, the fetal monitor showed repetitive decelerations, a dangerous sign for the unborn child. The obstetrician in charge of the birth was Dr. Matthew Whitted, who was contacted about the…
$1.25 Million Settlement in Death of Baby After Failure to Diagnose Fetal Distress
In a confidential settlement, the parties agreed to $1,250,000 for the unfortunate death of a newborn infant. In this case, before the mother’s scheduled Caesarean section, the mother underwent three transplacental amniocenteses to assess her baby’s lung maturity. The purpose of a transplacental amniocentesis is to compare transplacental with non-placental…
Illinois Tort Immunity Act Protects Public Hospitals and Institutions Except for Negligent Care and Treatment
In most cases of medical malpractice that occur at private institutions, the hospital, its physicians and medical providers could be held liable for injuries caused by choosing not to take an order for proper tests, by not making the correct diagnosis and by not rendering the appropriate medical treatment. But…
$550,000 Settlement for Death of Infant After Failure to Diagnose Placental Abruption
During Ms. Doe’s 32nd week of pregnancy, she experienced contractions. Doe went to a nearby hospital where vaginal bleeding, elevated blood pressure and pre-term labor were all noted in her hospital chart. She was under observation for about 36 hours at the hospital before she was discharged to go home.…
$3 Million Settlement in Failure to Implement Adequate Oxygenation to Newborn
A settlement was reached in a case where a newborn, known as “Doe,” was born with a congenital condition in which part of her internal organs developed outside of her body.Right after her birth, Doe underwent a series of surgeries to place those organs inside her body. After one of…
Cook County Jury Sides with Doctors and Hospital in Infant’s Fatal Aspiration of Formula Case
Caden Glynn was born at 26 weeks, 5 days of gestation at Rush-Copley Medical Center in Aurora, Ill. His early birth was attributed to his mother’s preeclampsia and HELLP syndrome. The HELLP syndrome is an acronym for hemolysis, the breaking down of red blood cells, EL for elevated liver enzymes…
Jury Award Allowed to Stand in Willful and Wanton Misconduct Procedure in Medical Negligence Case
Illinois law prohibits punitive damages awarded in any medical malpractice case. However, in this medical malpractice case there was a separate count alleging that the University of Chicago Hospitals acted in willful and wanton indifference to the plaintiff’s right to possession of her daughter’s remains. This lawsuit originated in the…
Cook County Verdict for Doctor in Death of Delivery of Baby Girl
Disha Mookherjee was in her first pregnancy at age 30. She was seeing the defendant, OB/Gyn physician Elizabeth Nye, M.D., for her prenatal care. Disha was also a physician — a cardiology fellow at Rush University Medical Center. Because Dr. Nye had concerns regarding low amniotic fluid and abnormally slow fetal…
$13 Million Verdict for Death of Baby
A baby born at Holy Cross Hospital in June 2008 died three days after being discharged in apparent good health. A lawsuit was filed following the death of this baby because before she was discharged, she had been examined twice by the defendant pediatrician who noted that she had a normal…