$35M Settlement In NorthShore, Sex Offender OB-GYN Birth Injury Suit

EVANSTON, IL — NorthShore University Health System and one of the hospital group's former obstetrician-gynecologist have agreed to pay $35 million to settle a medical malpractice lawsuit over an birth injury.

The west suburban parents of twins born prematurely on Oct. 29, 2015, at NorthShore Evanston Hospital, agreed to the settlement on Friday, after a three-week civil trial resulted in a hung jury.

All but two jurors at the Daley Center in Chicago found that then-NorthShore Dr. Fabio Ortega was negligent and liable for the catastrophic injuries suffered by the younger of the twins during a "rare and dangerous" cesarean deliver that lasted 14 minutes, leaving the now-7-year-old old girl with cerebral palsy and in need of constant medical care for the rest of her life, according to the parents' attorneys.

Ortega assured the family that he would remain at the hospital, but instead left the hospital during his on-call shift and showed up late to the mother's c-section after another doctor recommended delivery, the plaintiff's attorneys said.

"This case centered on the reasonable standard of medical care this little girl was entitled to," said Stephan Blandin, who represented the parents.

"She was entitled to the obstetrician overseeing her birth having a plan, to have the most experienced doctor performing the surgery and not to have a resident practicing on her mother, and to be born safely and in a reasonable amount of time," Blandin, founding partner of the law firm Romanucci & Blandin, said in a statement. "This little girl’s life would be exponentially different if that had happened. Representing this young lady and fighting to ensure the highest possible quality of life and medical care for her has been a tremendous honor."

Patch is not naming the injured girl, now 7 years old, or her parents at the family's request.

A NorthShore spokesperson provided a statement after the law firm announced last week's $35 million resolution.

"We are committed to providing care at the highest standards of quality, safety and engagement for all of our patients," it said. "Out of respect for patient privacy and in compliance with applicable laws, we are unable to discuss the details of this case."

According to the complaint, Ortega failed to make a proper incision, failed to timely deliver the younger twin, used "inappropriate tugging and pulling" on her during her delivery, failed to deliver her without trauma and failed to make sure to umbilical cord blood gas analysis was conducted following the delivery.

Blandin alleged that Ortega saw the mother around 11 a.m. that morning but left until 9 p.m. to see patients at his clinic, less than an hour before he supervised a third-year resident conducting the surgery, the Chicago Tribune reported.

An attorney for NorthShore and Ortega argued there was nothing unusual about the fact that a third-year resident conducted the C-section, which had been recommended by a different physician while Ortega was away from the hospital.

Ortega was "removed from patient" care at some point in 2017, indicted in 2018 and pleaded guilty in October 2021 to the aggravated criminal sexual assault of two of his patients in exchange for a sentence of three years in prison and a lifetime of sex offender registration.

His medical license was revoked that year and he went on to serve about a year behind bars before he was released last November.

NorthShore and Swedish Covenant Hospital, another of Ortega's former employers, have been sued by at least 46 women who allege he repeatedly engaged in a pattern of sexual assaults disguised as medically necessary care, which included falsifying medical records, failing to properly treat his patients' conditions and other forms of inappropriate behavior.

Attorney Tamara Holder-DeMaio, who represents women who have sued Ortega under the psydonym "Jane Doe," said two dozen cases remain pending, and the rest have been settled.

Suits filed by Holder-DeMaio allege that NorthShore was aware of Ortega's conduct as early as 2012, but still left him alone with female patients. One woman alleged Ortega assaulted her when she was just 14 years. And even after NorthShore was aware that Skokie police were investigating his conduct in 2017, it allowed him to keep sexually assaulting plaintiffs, according to the complaints.

“Unfortunately, because of the statute of limitations on prosecuting sex crimes, the majority of Ortega’s victims will never obtain criminal justice," Holder-DeMaio said in a statement following Ortega's release from prison last year.

"As we prepare to show a jury that NorthShore and Swedish allowed a sexual predator to prey on their trusting female patients, these two Chicagoland healthcare providers continue to attempt to evade liability," she added. "We will not go away until we have found every last victim who was sexually assaulted by Fabio Ortega.”