Lake County Circuit Court Associate Judge Terrence Brady has given
final approval to a $4.25 million settlement on behalf of a 10-year-old
McHenry County girl who has serious behavioral problems stemming
from treatment for a brain injury at St. Therese Hospital in Waukegan when
she was 15 months old.
Robert Baizer of Highland Park, one of the girl's attorneys, said, "Al-
though she was in critical condition from the moment she arrived at the
hospital at about 6:45 p.m. on Jan. 28, 1993, none of her three doctors came
to the hospital to examine or treat her for the first 15 hours she was there."
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The girl's mother had taken her to her pediatrician's office after 10 days
of heavy breaming, congestion, vomiting and weight loss. The pediatrician
noted a fruity smell on Hannah's breath, Baizer said, all signs of un-
treated juvenile diabetes. The pediatrician immediately sent the girl to
St. Therese Hospital.
The girl wasn't given insulin until midnight. She was transferred, while
in a coma, to Children's Hospital of Wisconsin, where she stayed more
than one month.
"She may need supervision throughout her life and may not be
competitively employable," Baizer said. "This is truly a tragedy that
could easily have been avoided."
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