$10 Million Verdict for Chicago Physician Injured During Delivery of Her Baby

A Cook County jury has returned a verdict of $10 million for a Chicago mother who suffered a tear from her vagina to her rectum during labor and delivery of her baby that was not timely diagnosed.  The child was delivered on July 2, 2010, uninjured, but the mother, who had had a c-section in a previous birth due to dilatation issues, was advised by her doctor, an obstetrics and gynecological physician at Rush University Medical Center, to try a vaginal birth.

Corboy & Demetrio represented the woman, an internist, and her internist husband in the medical malpractice lawsuit filed against the Rush doctor. The jury delivered its verdict after deliberating for just two hours after a six-day trial before Cook County Circuit Court Judge Thomas J. Lipscomb.  

At trial, lawyers for the defendant OB/GYN argued that the mother’s tear occurred not during childbirth, but independently a day after the baby’s birth.  

The jury discarded this argument and determined that the tear occurred during the use of metal forceps during the delivery, as established by expert testimony.

In addition to the $10 million verdict for the mother, the jury also determined that her husband was entitled to $1 million for the loss of consortium.