CHICAGO DAILY LAW BULLETIN
A Cook County jury has awarded $4.2 million in a case in which a newborn boy’s foot was amputated after a doctor allegedly failed to diagnose and treat a blood clot.
Dr. Maria T. Gomez, a neonatologist, inserted a catheter into Joshua Christner’s leg shortly after his birth at Resurrection Hospital, but failed to initiate treatment when the leg and foot turned blue, said plaintiff attorney Christopher T. Hurley of Chicago.
Gomez and her employer, Neonatal & Pediatric Service of Oak Brook, were named as defendants in the lawsuit alleging medical negligence, and were represented by Miguel A. Ruiz and Kevin J. Glenn of Pretzel & Stouffer of Chicago.
Gomez waited more than seven hours to transfer Christner, now 8, to Loyola University Medical Center, where his foot was subsequently amputated above the ankle, Hurley said. Loyola, represented by Karen Morgan and Todd M. Porter of Ruff, Weidenaar & Reidy, was also named as a defendant in the lawsuit but was found not liable.
The case is Joshua Christner vs. Maria T. Gomez, et al., No. 96 L 10880. Cook County Circuit Judge Jennifer Duncan-Brice presided.
