$2 Million Settlement for Mother's Post-Childbirth Death
A $2 million settlement has been reached between the estate of a woman who died after giving birth to a healthy baby girl and her obstetrician and the hospital where she was treated. Corboy & Demetrio represented the plaintiff's estate.
In the early morning on April 2, 2003, the plaintiff, 34 years old, gave birth to a healthy baby girl at Evanston Hospital. Later that afternoon, she complained of a severe headache and stomach pain and experienced elevated blood pressure. She was taken for a CT scan and the results were normal. Lab tests though suggested that the plaintiff was suffering from HELLP (hemolytic anemia, elevated liver enzymes, low platelet count) syndrome. At 9:00 p.m. that evening she was taken for an MRI and while in the scanner suffered respiratory arrest. A later CT scan revealed a massive cerebral hemorrhage, deemed untreatable by a neurosurgeon. Life support was withdrawn and she died on April 3, 2003. She is survived by her husband and daughter.
The plaintiff alleged that her high blood pressure caused and contributed to the cerebral hemorrhage and that the doctor and hospital were negligent because they failed to treat her with any hypertension medication to reduce the blood pressure.