$5.3 million settlement in Carol Stream woman's death

On Dec. 10, 2006, Samantha Medina went to Central DuPage Hospital in Winfield with strokelike symptoms.

The 24-year-old Carol Stream woman had a headache, slurred speech, double vision, nausea, and numbness on her right side. She forever lost consciousness one day later and died that Dec. 27, leaving behind a husband to raise their toddler son.

A record $5.3 million settlement was reached Thursday in the DuPage County medical malpractice case, said attorney Michael T. Mertz, of Hurley, McKenna & Mertz, who represented Medina's husband.

Mertz said the settlement will be paid on behalf of Dr. Mark Kelly, of Winfield Radiology Consultants; Dr. Henry Echiverri, of Neuromed Clinic; and Central DuPage Hospital in Winfield.

Chris Medina, as administrator of his deceased wife's estate, filed suit Aug. 7, 2007. Samantha Medina had a congenital clotting condition that resulted in slowed blood flow to her brain, according to the suit. An MRI that Dec. 10 showed the problem, Mertz said, but Medina did not receive proper treatment afterward.

Mertz said Dr. Kelly in pretrial depositions said he never read the MRI results because of miscommunication between staff but a review of his computer use proved otherwise.

"Samantha went to the right hospital at the right time, was seen by the right specialists and had the right tests performed," Mertz said. "If anybody had been paying attention to the MRI results, she still would be alive today."

The case was set for trial Oct. 25 in DuPage Circuit Hollis L. Webster's courtroom. Instead, the $5.3 million settlement was reached Thursday.

Samantha Mertz was an aspiring artist working as a pharmaceutical technician with plans to obtain a bachelor's degree and attend art school. Chris Medina still lives in Carol Stream with the couple's 6-year-old son.

"They were childhood sweethearts with the same dreams and aspirations of any young couple to travel, own their own home and raise a family," Mertz said. "To this date, Chris remains devastated by his wife's death. This doesn't bring her back, but he feels like at least they did the right thing by settling the case."

Attorneys for Kelly and Echiverri could not be reached for comment late Thursday. Attempts to reach Central DuPage Hospital spokeswomen also were unsuccessful.