$11.5 Million Settlement for Failure to Deliver Infant in Timely Manner

On December 5, 2007, Cook County Circuit Court, Law Division, Presiding Judge William D. Maddux,  approved an $11.5 million settlement on behalf of the parents of a boy born brain damaged and with cerebral palsy on May 16, 2003 at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. The plaintiffs, represented by David R. Barry, Jr. of Corboy & Demetrio, alleged the hospital staff and Gynecologic Specialists of Northwestern failed to deliver Joshua Radis in a timely fashion despite indications he was not tolerating labor.

On May 15, 2003 Stefanie Radis was admitted to Northwestern Memorial Hospital for the delivery of her second child and was taken to labor and delivery. Labor proceeded appropriately until several minutes after Radis started pushing and fetal monitor tracings indicated the baby was not tolerating labor. The physicians and nurses in attendance attempted to expedite the delivery using a vacuum extractor to bring the baby’s head down farther. The vacuum was removed after eight minutes because the doctor believed that with one or two more pushes, the baby would be delivered. Unfortunately, the baby, Joshua Radis, was not delivered until the fifteenth push, some thirty-one minutes later. By that time, Joshua was brain damaged and now suffers from cerebral palsy.

David R. Barry, Jr., attorney for the Radis family, stated:

This was a case where the healthcare providers exercised poor judgment and it changed the course of a child’s life as well as that of his family. The providers believed the baby would be delivered through Stefanie’s pushing efforts, but failed to react when it became clear by the third or fourth push that something was wrong. Joshua was a big boy, almost eight pounds, being pushed by a mother who encountered a shoulder dystocia during her first delivery with a baby that weighed six pounds. The doctors and nurses just got seduced by the prospect of vaginal delivery. They kept thinking the next push would be the one, missing the realities of the size of the baby and the mother’s pelvis. The funds from the settlement will give this little boy the best chance to lead a productive life.

Northwestern Memorial Hospital was represented by Robert L. Nora and Andrea H. Kott of McKay, Nora, Tanzillo Daddino & Kott and contributed $9.5 million toward the settlement. Rudolf G. Schade of Cassiday Schade represented the remaining defendants and contributed $2 million.