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Chicago Mother Agrees to $5.5 Birthing Malpractice Settlement With Westlake Hospital and Two Doctors

Eva Liberato, the Northlake, Illinois mother whose son Angel suffered serious brain damage at birth, has accepted a $5.5 million medical malpractice settlement offer from Westlake Hospital and two doctors. The malpractice incident occurred in 2002, after hospital staffers gave Liberato a drug to induce contractions.

The baby?s heart rape dropped and Dr. David Demorest, a family medicine doctor, attempted to deliver the baby using a vacuum retractor. When this method failed, he attempted the delivery using forceps. The forceps got stuck in Liberato?s uterine wall.

Another doctor, Dr. Laura Loya-Frank, ended up performing a C-section procedure to deliver Angel, who suffered brain damage because he was deprived of oxygen for too long. Angel is six years old and he cannot talk, walk, sit, or eat on his own.

On September 19, a Cook County jury ruled that only Demorest was liable for Angel?s birthing injuries. Westlake Hospital and Loya-Frank, however, also will have to contribute to the medical malpractice settlement.

Two of the signs indicating that a baby sustained brain damage from being deprived of oxygen during birth:

? The infant?s skin coloring during delivery is blue.
? The baby experiences seizures soon after delivery.

Brain damage can result when an obstetrician or another medical provider:

? Employs excessive or improper use of vacuum extraction.
? Does not perform a cesarean birth in a timely manner.
? Does not properly monitor the mother or baby before, during, or after delivery.
? Does not properly respond to the fetus?s sudden change in heart rate during labor.

Birthing errors that cause personal injury to the mother or baby can be grounds for a medical malpractice lawsuit.

Illinois woman accepts $5.5 million settlement in childbirth lawsuit, BND/Associated Press, September 22, 2008

$5.5M Settlement for Improper Drug Administered During Birth, WBBM 780/Sun-Times, September 21, 2008

Related Web Resources:

Vacuum Extraction: Is it Safe?, iVillage

Forceps delivery, Birth International

Full post as published by Chicago Injury Attorney Blog on September 29, 2008 (boomark / email).