Professional Negligence Law Reporter

Florez v. Northshore Univ. Health Sys., No. 2014L013348 (Ill. Cir. Ct. Cook Cnty. Oct. 9, 2018) 

Aimee Florez was admitted to Evanston Hospital to deliver her first child. Over the course of Florez’s labor, the fetal monitor showed signs of fetal distress. Florez was administered Pitocin and, after 12 hours, underwent a cesarean section. Her son required resuscitation at birth and had Apgar scores of one at one and five minutes. Now 9, he has been diagnosed as having hypoxic ischemic brain damage and cerebral palsy. He has a 30-word vocabulary, bilateral hearing loss, and difficulty performing
everyday tasks.

Florez and her husband, individually and on their son’s behalf, sued the hospital, the attending physician, and an attending nurse, alleging late performance of the cesarean section, failure to identify and properly handle fetal distress, negligent administration of and failure to timely discontinue Pitocin, and failure to initiate the chain of command. The jury awarded $50.3 million. 

Plaintiff counsel: AAJ members Matthew L. Williams, Patrick A. Salvi, Patrick A. Salvi II, and Brian L. Salvi, all of Waukegan, Ill.; and AAJ member Heidi L. Wickstrom, Chicago.