Justia Lawyer Rating for Robert D. Kreisman

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Illinois law prohibits punitive damages awarded in any medical malpractice case.  However, in this medical malpractice case there was a separate count alleging that the University of Chicago Hospitals acted in willful and wanton indifference to the plaintiff’s right to possession of her daughter’s remains.

This lawsuit originated in the Circuit Court of Cook County after Valentina Dearring, the daughter of the plaintiff, Alexandria Drakeford, died at the University of Chicago Hospital on April 10, 2003.  Valentina was just over one month old when she died.  She was born with persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn (PPHN).  This is a syndrome that is fatal in many infants.  In April 2005, Drakeford filed suit against the University of Chicago Hospitals for medical negligence.

At first, the Drakeford lawsuit alleged only wrongful death and survival based on medical negligence.  However, an amended complaint added a second count alleging willful and wanton interference with the right of possession of the remains of Valentina.

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The Seventh Circuit U.S. Circuit of Appeals has affirmed a decision by a federal court judge regarding the statute of limitations in Federal Tort Claims Act cases. 

In this case, the plaintiff’s attorney did not inform the plaintiff that the two-year statute of limitations for claims filed under the Federal Tort Claims Act was not tolled because of the minority of the plaintiff.

Gabriela Arteaga gave birth to an 11-pound baby girl in July 2004 at the Erie Family Health Center.  The baby’s shoulders became stuck, which led to the child’s birth injury. A few months after the birth, Arteaga received the medical records and consulted a lawyer. The first lawyer to review the case did not believe that the injury was caused by medical negligence.

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Disha Mookherjee was in her first pregnancy at age 30.  She was seeing the defendant, OB/Gyn physician Elizabeth Nye, M.D., for her prenatal care. Disha was also a physician — a cardiology fellow at Rush University Medical Center. Because Dr. Nye had concerns regarding low amniotic fluid and abnormally slow fetal growth, Dr. Nye referred Disha to a specialist in maternal/fetal medicine. That doctor recommended induction of labor at 39 weeks gestation.

Dr. Nye followed this recommendation and at 39 weeks, Disha was admitted to Rush for induction on May 5, 2008. 

Labor progressed slowly until it was complete. Disha began pushing at 4:45 p.m. on May 6, 2008. At 5:30 p.m., Dr. Nye used a vacuum extraction device in an attempt to facilitate delivery. There were three “pop-offs” (sudden detachment of the vacuum device from the baby’s head). 

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Cerebral palsy (CP) is a syndrome with several mechanisms. A child with cerebral palsy has disorders of movement or posture.  This occurs during early development and may be associated with a birth injury. Most diagnoses of severe CP are made within the first months after birth. 

By definition, CP is the term used for the abnormal development of or damage to the motor control centers of the brain. Palsy means paralysis. Palsy describes uncontrolled muscle movements, which is a condition prevalent in those diagnosed with cerebral palsy. The source of cerebral palsy is usually the abnormal function of the part of the brain called the cerebral cortex.  Physicians agree that CP is not a specific diagnosis. It is a description of neurological and physical deficiencies. 

Cerebral palsy can be caused just weeks after conception through birth and after.Even in early childhood, a child could be afflicted with CP. About 5-10 percent of those with CP are afflicted because of some sort of trauma during birth. Other possible causes of CP are related to abnormal development of the brain, prenatal care, premature birth and brain injuries that could happen within a few years of life.

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A baby born at Holy Cross Hospital in June 2008 died three days after being discharged in apparent good health. A lawsuit was filed following the death of this baby because before she was discharged, she had been examined twice by the defendant pediatrician who noted that she had a normal anus and normal genitalia. However, the first two nurses who saw the newborn allegedly chose not to perform a visual inspection of the baby’s anal area, which is a deviation from the standard of care.

Just 16 days after the child’s birth, she was rushed to the University of Chicago Comer Children’s Hospital in cardiac arrest.  It was discovered then that she had been born without an anus and was diagnosed with a congenital defect in which the child had no anus, no vaginal orifice and no urethral orifice and only a single perineal orifice in which she was passing stool and urine. 

An emergency surgery was performed the same day but because of the delay in diagnosis of the defect, the child suffered bowel obstruction, which led to a dead gut and abdominal compartment syndrome. The baby died five hours after the surgery; she was survived by her parents and a sister. The family’s lawsuit claimed that if the newborn’s condition had been correctly diagnosed during her birth admission at Holy Cross, she would have undergone a colostomy within 24-48 hours of birth to prevent the bowel obstruction and that would have been followed by a reconstruction surgery within her first year.

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During CA’s delivery, her interior shoulder became impacted. The treating obstetrician applied a downward traction, and nurses applied fundal pressure delivering CA within 2 minutes. Fundal pressure is when a healthcare professional presses on a woman’s abdomen to help move the baby out.

In this case, CA suffered an avulsion at C5-6, which necessitated surgery. CA is now 4 and she has permanent disfigurement.

The family of CA sued the hospital in which the child was born, alleging that its staff mishandled the shoulder dystocia by choosing not to perform the McRoberts maneuver and apply superpubic pressure.

The McRoberts maneuver is usually employed during childbirth. It involves hyperflexing the mother’s legs tightly to her abdomen. This would allow the rotation of the pelvis of the mother to facilitate the release of the unborn child’s shoulder.  Suprapubic pressure is used by a closed fist over the mother’s pubic bone pushing in an inward and downward motion.This would improve the chances that the baby’s shoulder would pass under the pubic bone of the mother and be delivered vaginally.

As a result of the permanent injury suffered by CA, the jury entered a verdict of $3.7 million.

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When people think of frivolous lawsuits, most instantly think of the burn injury lawsuit brought by Stella Liebeck against McDonald’s. However, “Hot Coffee,” an HBO documentary, asks viewers to rethink their perceptions of the McDonald’s lawsuit and exposes several other misconceptions about additional types of legal matters.
The HBO documentary is named for the personal injury lawsuit resulting from the third degree burns the plaintiff, Stella Liebeck, sustained after spilling a cup of McDonald’s coffee on her lap. However, what is controversial about the film is that rather than framing Liebeck as an example of an overzealous American suing a company for insignificant injuries, “Hot Coffee” frames Liebeck as a case of the little guy versus the big, bad company.
For example, the documentary includes the little mentioned fact that the plaintiff did not rush to sue McDonald’s Corporation. Rather, she first asked them to pay her out-of-pocket medical expenses she accrued as a result of her severe burns, an injury one would typically not expect simply from spilling coffee. It was only after McDonald’s refused any liability and denied her request for reimbursement of medical expenses that Liebeck hired a lawyer.

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The Illinois Appellate Court has affirmed a ruling by a Cook County associate judge who denied a forum non conveniens challenge brought by Motorola in Joseph Erwin, Jr., et al. v. Motorola, Inc., No. 1-09-2847. The Illinois birth injury lawsuit involved allegations that the plaintiffs’ children suffered birth defects as a result of their parents’ exposure to hazardous chemicals in the course of their employment in Motorola’s semiconductor industry “clean rooms”.
Motorola’s motion involved a request of a change of venue, citing forum non conveniens rules to support its motion in the birth defect lawsuit. Forum non conveniens is Latin for “inconvenient forum” and are applicable when a lawsuit is filed in a location that is inconvenient for parties or witnesses. Under this principle, a judge is allowed to change a case’s venue if a party can make a substantial case for its inconvenience.
Erwin was filed in a Circuit Court of Cook County court on the basis that Motorola’s headquarters are in Schaumburg, Illinois. However, Motorola argued that a more appropriate venue was Travis County, Texas, on the basis that much of the plaintiffs’ exposure to the hazardous chemicals took place in that county. It submitted a motion to dismiss the birth injury lawsuit on the basis of forum non conveniens, which the circuit court judge denied. Motorola then appealed this decision to the Illinois Appellate Court.

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An Illinois birth injury case involving allegations that a delayed cesarean section resulted in the baby’s cerebral palsy and spastic quadriplegia recently settled for $9.5 million while the trial was underway. The Northern Trust Company, et al. v. Ghia, et al., 04 L 7500.
Like many birth injury lawsuits, the case involved claims that the hospital and obstetrician failed to recognize the baby was in distress and order a c-section in a timely manner. The mother, Alecia Owen, presented to the hospital at 41 weeks pregnant for an induced pregnancy. After being administered Pitocin and an epidural her labor progressed slowly and eventually raised concerns with the hospital’s nursing staff.
Monitoring of the baby’s heart rate was showing intermittent decelerations, which could be a sign of fetal distress. When the obstetrician, Dr. Nirali Ghia, was notified of the decelerations, he ordered an amnioinfusion, a procedure that can help reduce variable decelerations if there is a suspicion of cord compression. However, Dr. Ghia told not one, but several, nurses that the patient did not need a c-section even though the decelerations became more prolonged.

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The Illinois appellate court recently overturned a $12 million Illinois medical malpractice jury verdict, ordering a new trial with a new jury. The new trial involving Northern Trust Co., et al. v. Burandt, et al., No. 2-08-0193, will include evidence brought by defendant’s medical expert that had been barred from being heard at the previous trial.
Burandt is an Illinois birth injury lawsuit filed by the parents of a child born with neurological injuries. The Illinois brain injury claim was brought against a family practice physician, alleging that the Illinois doctor contributed to the child’s injury by delaying a Cesarean delivery.
The claims specifically accused the doctor of being too slow to obtain an operating room for the C-section and in negligently slowing down the mother’s contractions before deciding to proceed with the C-section. The plaintiffs alleged that the child’s brain injuries were the result of a decreased flow of oxygen during his delayed delivery.

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