Family Receives $30 Million Settlement For Medical Malpractice

A 6-year-old boy’s family has agreed to a $30 million medical negligence settlement. The medical malpractice lawsuit was against the doctor who performed multiple experimental surgeries on a young boy. In fact, the doctor performed a total of 25 surgeries on the boy and the last surgery, which was performed in 2011, caused the boy to suffer irreversible brain damage. Furthermore, he now suffers from cerebral palsy as a result of the botched surgery.

After the surgeries left the boy with irreversible brain damage, his mother initiated a medical malpractice lawsuit against the treating physician. That doctor has not been available to comment on the medical malpractice lawsuit against him, nor has he commented on the settlement. However, we do know that he was a member of the University of Illinois’ faculty. Furthermore, he was employed by the university’s medical facility while he was treating the boy.

How Was the Malpractice Lawsuit Settled?

According to the medical facility, it decided to settle the lawsuit instead of going to trial because it felt that it was in the best interest of the family and the child. The hospital made a statement, saying that the doctor who treated the boy was highly skilled. However, the lawsuit alleged that the doctor employed an experimental surgical procedure to fix a leak in the boy’s esophagus — and that the procedure is unproven. The procedure also failed, and resulted in catastrophic injuries.

Not every failed surgical procedure in Connecticut is an example of medical malpractice; however, if the surgeon’s treatment falls outside of standard medical procedure and a serious injury is suffered by the patient, the circumstances could be deemed as medical malpractice.

Source: Chicago Tribune, “$30M malpractice settlement against doctor who worked at Chicago hospitals,” Ameet Sachdev, Feb. 22, 2016