$5.89 Million Settlement Reached in Failure to Perform Timely Cesarean Section

D.W. was born at 25 weeks gestation at Jamaica Hospital Medical Center. The baby was diagnosed as having suffered hypoxic-ischemic brain damage resulting in spastic quadriplegia.

D.W. is now in the 6th grade. He attends special education classes and will never be able to live independently as a result of his brain injury.

A lawsuit was filed against the hospital and two doctors who provided care during D.W.’s delivery, alleging that they chose not to timely deliver D.W. by way of a cesarean section; the suit also alleged lack of informed consent and negligent post-delivery care. This included a failure to offer cranium cooling.

Brain cooling is therapeutic in traumatic brain injury cases. It includes brain cooling or brain hypothermia, which is done by cooling a baby to around 33 degrees Centigrade for three days after birth. It is a known treatment for hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy. It is recently proven to be the only medical intervention that reduces brain damage, and it improves an infant’s chance of survival and reduces disability.

Before trial, the parties in this case settled for more than $5.89 million.

The attorneys successfully handling this tragic lawsuit for D.W. and family were James P. Fitzgerald and Randy B. Nassau.

D.W. v. Goltyapina, No. 7007500/2017 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. Queens County).

Kreisman Law Offices has been handling traumatic brain injury lawsuits, hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy birth injury lawsuits, cerebral palsy lawsuits, and catastrophic injury cases for individuals, families and loved ones who have been harmed, injured or died as a result of the carelessness or negligence of a medical provider for more than 45 years in and around Chicago, Cook County and its surrounding areas, including Arlington Heights, Elgin, St. Charles, Wheaton, Hinsdale, Cicero, Tinley Park, Romeoville, Bolingbrook, Elk Grove Village, Des Plaines, Antioch, Lake Villa, Round Lake Beach, Waukegan, South Elgin, Aurora, Chicago (West Loop, Mayfair, Kelvyn Park, Avondale, Logan Square, East Garfield Park, University Village, Little Village, McKinley Park, Greek Town, South Loop, Oakland, Near South Side, Bridgeport, Canaryville, Fuller Park, Lithuanian Plaza, Ukrainian Village, Hermosa), Lake in the Hills, Buffalo Grove, Homer Glen, Chicago Heights and Oak Lawn, Ill.

Robert D. Kreisman has been an active member of the Illinois and Missouri bars since 1976.