Tomasik Kotin Kasserman, LLC Secures $22 Million Settlement for Birth Injury

November 20, 2024

Recently, the attorneys at Tomasik Kotin Kasserman, LLC settled a Cook County lawsuit against a Chicago area hospital for $22 million just before jury selection commenced. The lawsuit alleged negligence in the management of labor and delivery of a baby girl.

The mother of the plaintiff was admitted to the hospital in 2019 for induction of labor and delivery of her first child. Both the mother and the unborn baby girl were 100% healthy when admitted. 51 hours later, after continued failure to induce a vaginal delivery, the baby "crashed" and was delivered by emergency Cesarean section. She was born pale, floppy, and in cardiac and respiratory arrest. Although she survived, the girl suffered massive brain damage known as hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy.

Daniel M. Kotin, Robert F. Geimer, Katherine A. Twardak, and Joseph Edward Hettel of Tomasik Kotin Kasserman, LLC represented the 5-year-old girl in the case, alleging that the hospital medical team was negligent in allowing the labor to continue for so long and not performing a non-emergency Cesarean section. Most experts agreed that doing a C-section hours earlier would have been appropriate medical care, and that the delivery at that time would have avoided any injury. "I think that the jury would have agreed that 51 hours is way too long for an induced labor to proceed," said Dan Kotin. "We had five experts prepared to testify about medical negligence in this case, but I believe that common sense would have persuaded the jury that this never should have happened."

According to Bob Geimer, "With such prolonged labor, it was only a matter of time before diminished reserves and lack of oxygen took its toll. There was no reason to delay Cesarean delivery, especially when one of every three babies in America are born by C-section."

The hospital's defense was based largely on the assertion that its doctors were always acting pursuant to the standard of care and that the little girl was perfectly healthy until minutes before her emergency delivery. Although this little girl is happy, loving, and full of personality, she will never be able to walk, talk, eat, dress, or independently move herself. Her mother, father, aunt, and grandparents have dedicated their lives to caring for her for nearly six years. "This settlement will never undo any of the harms that this young lady has suffered," said Kotin, "But hopefully she can now have the housing, medical care, and daily nursing care that she needs to live her longest and best life."