Largest Settlement in Dekalb County
As reported in the Chicago Tribune an Aurora woman has settled her malpractice suit for fifteen million dollars. Vanessa Jenkins had brought suit against the doctor, hospital and staff alleging that her son Cody suffered brain damage because, during her labor, the doctor used a vacuum device improperly thus causing brain damage.
Her attorneys said that her labor was uneventful until the doctor began to use the vacuum device. Within a period of 50 minutes the device was used 18 times. When Cody's fetal heart rate indicated that he was in distress, Cody was delivered by Caesarean section by another doctor. By then the damage had been done and Cody was left disfigured, brain damaged and incapable of living independently.
The settlement was approved by Judge Kurt Klein in Dekalb County Circuit Court and her attorneys said this was the largest award ever reached in Dekalb County.
