Verdict: $14,000,000

The plaintiff mother was admitted to Northwestern Prentice Women's Hospital for labor and delivery at term after a routine pregnancy. When the mother began pushing during the second stage of her labor, the external fetal monitor began capturing the mother's heart rate instead of the baby's. This monitoring confusion phenomenon is common during pushing efforts, but the nurse and obstetrician falsely believed the baby was doing well.

The Plaintiff's lead attorney Kurt Lloyd alleged that the standard of care is to compare the maternal pulse rate to the heart rate seen on the monitor screen in between contractions to avoid monitoring confusion, and that the obstetrician and nurse failed to do so allowing the baby to be born in severe distress and resulting in cerebral palsy and related brain damage.

Attorney Lloyd hired leading obstetrical experts who had developed the Hewlett-Packard fetal monitoring equipment.

Vlachos, v. Northwestern Memorial Hospital, et. al.