June 13 2008
$1.9 Million Medical Malpractice Settlement for Chicago Family
COOK COUNTY, IL – Attorney Donald R. McGarrah of Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard, P.C. announced that a $1.9 million medical malpractice settlement was reached in Cook County on behalf of a mother whose son sustained a birth injury as a result of their doctor’s alleged failure to properly manage the delivery. The Honorable Judge Daniel M. Locallo of Cook County approved the settlement.
According to Attorney Donald McGarrah, Plaintiffs Trina Wade and her unborn child, James McGee, were provided medical care and treatment by various physicians and certified nurse mid-wives employed by the University of Illinois on January 19, 2004. At the time of birth, the infant sustained a permanent brachial plexus stretch injury to his right arm. Plaintiffs asserted that shoulder dystocia developed during labor that prevented a normal vaginal delivery. Shoulder dystocia occurs when, after the delivery of the fetal head, the baby’s anterior shoulder gets stuck behind the mother’s pubic bone. In this case, during the prenatal period, it was determined that Trina Wade had multiple risk factors for the development of shoulder dystocia during labor and delivery. To avoid shoulder dystocia, the Plaintiffs asserted that the baby should have been delivered via a planned C-section.
"This birth injury could have been avoided," said Donald McGarrah. "We believe that the shoulder dystocia that developed was absolutely foreseeable under the presenting circumstances. Trina had all of the known major risk factors for this complication to occur, which could have been avoided with a c-section," said Attorney Donald McGarrah.
