Chicago woman awarded $50M in medical malpractice case

According to recent reports, a jury in the medical malpractice case of a severely brain damaged boy born in a Chicago area hospital awarded the mother $101 million. Before the verdict was issued, both the Plaintiff and Defendant had agreed to cap an award at $50 million if the verdict exceeded such. Since it did, the awarded amount was reduced by agreement of all parties.

The young boy, who is now 5-years-old, is unable to walk, sit up or speak on his own. During labor at West Suburban Medical Center in Oak Park in 2014, the mother tried to tell the labor and delivery staff that she was not feeling the baby move. In fact, he had not moved in six hours during active labor. Ultrasound results also showed that he was not moving.

Despite those findings, the staff continued to ignore the mother’s repeated concerns. When her baby boy was born, he entered the world with severe brain damage. According to experts who testified, that damage could have been avoided had the medical staff took action and performed a cesarean section.

The hospital in which this incident took place has since been sold to a new owner. During this event, it was owned by Tenet Healthcare and operated as West Suburban Medical Center. Tenet Healthcare has agreed not to appeal the jury decision, and allow the case to be closed.

There are a number of injuries that can occur during labor and birth, both to the mother and child. If you believe your situation was not handled properly and undue harm was caused to you or your baby, it may be beneficial to get more information about medical malpractice claims.