Advocate Lutheran settles birth suit

Advocate Lutheran General Hospital has agreed to a $6.5 million settlement on a 10-year-old birth-injury suit.

The suit charged that a physician and nurse misread fetal-monitoring strips and failed to detect that the baby's head was too big for the mother's pelvis in attending to Denise Cisneros, formerly of Chicago. It further charged that, when an obstetrician called for an emergency Caesarean, Cisneros was not properly anesthetized.

The child, Yadira, suffered hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy “which caused cerebral palsy and mental retardation,” according to the Levin & Perconti Chicago law firm which filed the case.

The family now lives in Oakland, Calif., and their attorney, John Perconti, said the settlement would provide for the 10-year-old Yadira's ongoing care and medical treatment.

Lutheran General did not return calls for comment.