SBH Attorneys Mark Smith and Katie Vaughan successfully defended a local OB/GYN at trial for his treatment of a nineteen-year-old woman who presented to the ER and later died, five days after an uncomplicated cesarean delivery of her baby. Plaintiff claimed the local hospital, an ER nurse, the OB/GYN, and three other defendant physicians failed to diagnose and treat the patient’s postpartum infection and septic shock. SBH attorneys argued the patient presented to the ER with overwhelming Group A streptococcal septic shock and was not able to be saved. They further argued it was reasonable for the OB/GYN to defer to the other defendant physicians to start antibiotics and to stabilize the patient before safely proceeding with surgery, should it have been deemed necessary. Plaintiff asked the jury to award in excess of $12 million. After approximately seven hours of deliberations, the jury returned a verdict in favor of all defendants. The case was tried in the Circuit Court of Cook County before Judge Thomas V. Lyons, II.
