$15 Million Awarded in Illinois Childbirth Death Lawsuit

Jurors have awarded a $15 million settlement to the husband of a suburban Chicago high school teacher who died while giving birth.

The Chicago Sun-Times reports that the wrongful death lawsuit accused two doctors and hospitals of failing to diagnose and treat the woman for a high-risk complication called placenta accreta.

Karen Lopez of Westchester died of excessive bleeding during a 2008 cesarean section at Berwyn’s MacNeal Hospital.

The suit named Mahmoud A. Ismail, a University of Chicago maternal-fetal medicine specialist who interpreted an ultrasound two months before Lopez’s death. The other doctor is Mukundini Mehta of MacNeal Hospital, who provided prenatal care and performed the C-section.

Spokeswoman Lorna Wong said the University of Chicago Medical Center had “great sympathy” for the family but disagreed with the jury’s decision.