Medical Malpractice Team Reaches $30 Million Dollar Settlement On Behalf of Young Boy Left Permanently Disabled and Brain Injured

The medical malpractice attorneys at Romanucci & Blandin, LLC announced a settlement today on behalf of their client, the Chavez Family, for a lawsuit involving their minor son, who endured 25 experimental surgeries and was critically injured and left disabled for life as a result of the negligent care provided by Mark J. Holterman, MD., who was employed at a major Chicago area teaching hospital. As a result of the settlement, the Chavez family was awarded $30 million dollars – which is the fourth largest medical malpractice suit for a minor in the state of Illinois, and is the largest settlement for a child born with esophageal atresia in Illinois.

The plaintiff was born on November 5, 2009, with a non-life threatening, easily correctable condition called esophageal atresia. The day after his birth, Dr. Mark J. Holterman performed what is typically a routine surgery to repair the condition.  Following the procedure Dr. Holterman failed to exercise due care and began an odyssey of 24 experimental procedures on the young boy. These procedures were not authorized by the hospital and not pursuant to clinical trial protocol. The final surgery culminated in an inappropriate, off-label use of an endoclose needle that severed the child's pulmonary artery, resulting in profound, irreversible brain injury and cerebral palsy.

"The fact that Dr. Holterman continually deviated from the standard of care and repeatedly exposed this young boy to the hazards of surgery and risky, novel operations was not only medically careless and personally irresponsible, but it also demonstrated a dramatic lack of oversight from the hospital," said plaintiff's attorney, Stephan Blandin, principal and partner at Romanucci & Blandin, LLC.

"Securing justice for the Chavez family and bringing to light the absence of accountability in healthcare organizations was critical. The excessive number of procedures performed by this physician never should have taken place. This tragedy could have been avoided with more rigorous attention to physician outcomes," added plaintiff's attorney, Antonio Romanucci, principal and partner at Romanucci & Blandin, LLC. Michael Holden and Rebecca Neubauer, associates at Romanucci & Blandin, also assisted in representing the Chavez family.

The lawsuit is civil action No: 13 L 008055.