SBH Attorneys Katie Vaughan, Mark Smith, and Jack Moore successfully defended a local hospital at trial for its treatment of a twenty-four-year-old woman who was 39 weeks and in labor. Plaintiff claimed that while the patient was in labor at the hospital, the nurses failed to accurately read and interpret electronic fetal monitoring and failed to alert the physicians to concerns about fetal well-being. Plaintiff claimed the fetal monitoring revealed evidence of fetal distress resulting in the passage of and aspiration of meconium. When the baby delivered, providers were unable to resuscitate her and she was pronounced dead. Plaintiff claimed the nurses’ negligence caused the baby’s death. SBH attorneys argued the nurses appropriately monitored the mother and baby’s conditions and timely reported to physicians. They further argued the baby’s death was unpreventable as the umbilical cord was hypercoiled, preventing adequate perfusion to the placenta for a period of days before admission and the pathology confirmed the meconium had been present in the amniotic fluid prior to the time the mother arrived at the hospital for delivery. Plaintiff asked the jury to award in excess of $6.5 million. After approximately seven hours of deliberations, the jury returned a verdict in favor of the hospital. The case was tried in the 18th Judicial Circuit Court of DuPage County before The Honorable Angelo J. Kappas.
Comments