Jury Verdict Submission & Research

Access Community Health Network operated a healthcare facility in Chicago, IL, that received grant money from the United States Public Healthcare Service. On Sept. 8, 2011, 15 day old P.G. presented to Access and Dr. Pamela L. Roper with a history of fever and irritability. Roper performed a well-child examination and took P.G.'s temperature, which read 96.6 degrees, indicative of hypothermia. Despite the symptoms and low temperature reading, Roper sent P.G. home without running tests that would reportedly have shown P.G. had meningitis. After P.G.'s condition appeared to be getting worse, P.G.'s parents Maria Guadalupe Saldana and Valentin Guevara took their daughter to Holy Cross Hospital, and she was transferred to Mount Sinai Hospital Medical Center on Sept. 9, 2011. Examination showed P.G. had a maximum temperature of 102 degrees with dehydration and projectile vomiting. P.G.'s condition continued to deteriorate and, approximately 20 hours after P.G. was first seen at Access, she was diagnosed with meningitis that had progressed to severe sepsis. Due to the delay in diagnosis and treatment, P.G. was left with severe and permanent brain injuries, including severe spastic global developmental delay. P.G. developed intractable seizures, no head control, decerebrate posturing, and intermittent opisthotones. P.G. was non-verbal and immobile and would require constant medical care and supervision for the rest of her life.

On Jan. 9, 2014, Saldana and Guevara, individually and on behalf of P.G., filed a medical malpractice suit pursuant to the Federal Tort Claims Act, 28 U.S.C.S. § 2671 et seq., against the United States in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. The plaintiffs argued the United States and its employees and agents breached their duties and were negligent in failing to identify and react appropriately to signs and symptoms of infection and developing sepsis and failing to timely order appropriate testing given the signs and symptoms of infection. The plaintiffs also asserted claims for damages under the Illinois Family Expense Act, 750 ILCS 65/14.

The plaintiffs quickly amended their complaint and added Mount Sinai as a defendant. The plaintiffs argued Mount Sinai and its staff breached the standard of care by negligently failing to properly diagnose P.G. upon admission, negligently failing to timely order appropriate testing upon admission, failing to accurately access and respond to an abnormal CBC, and negligently failing to timely order appropriate medical treatment given the signs and symptoms P.G. was exhibiting upon admission.

The plaintiffs and Mount Sinai reached a $45,000.00 settlement. Judge Gary Feinerman found the settlement was in good faith and dismissed Mount Sinai with prejudice on April 15, 2015. On May 21, 2015, Judge Feinerman granted a petition to approve the Mount Sinai settlement and held $15,000.00 be used for reimbursement of litigation expenses and $30,000.00 be placed into a financial institution to be held for use after P.G.'s eighteenth birthday.

On Aug. 17, 2016, the plaintiffs and the United States reached a settlement. The United States agreed to pay $18,500,000.00 to settle the plaintiffs' claims. From the settlement funds, plaintiffs' counsel was to receive $4,625,000.00 for fees and $98,090.43 for repayment of case-related expenses, and $275,000.00 was to be used to repay a lienholder.

A petition to approve the settlement was filed on Sept. 7, 2016, and Judge Feinerman entered an order granting approval on Sept. 15, 2016. On Dec. 15, 2016, the United States reported the settlement had been approved by the United States Department of Justice.

Plaintiffs were represented by Mathew L. Williams, Tara Rae Devin, Elizabeth R. Olszewski, and John A. Mennie of Salvi, Schostock & Pritchard, P.C. in Waukegan, IL. Defendants were represented by David R. Lidow and Katharine E. Beumont of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Chicago, IL. 

Lexis Advance subscribers may view the complete summary here: P.G., a minor, by her parents and next friends, Maria Guadalupe Saldana and Valentin Guevara; Maria Guadalupe Saldana, individually; Valentin Guevara, individually, v. United States of America; Mount Sinai Hospital Medical Center; 2016 Jury Verdicts LEXIS 10810

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