$5M Awarded to Family of Baby Who Died at Hinsdale Hospital

A Cook County jury has awarded $5,072,030 to the family of a 7-week-old baby who died May 16, 2008, in the emergency room of Hinsdale Hospital.

The verdict was rendered against the emergency room physician, David Mayor, and his group, Emergency Health Care Physicians, according to a news release.

Jerry A. Latherow and Bridget Duignan of Latherow Law Office represented the infant’s estate.

The baby, Eli G. Haig, was born March 21, 2008, with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, which is a rare congenital heart defect.

Attorneys said the baby was given depressant medication Versed to stop his crying. Eli had been given Versed a week and a half earlier in the same emergency room because of crying. According to Latherow, the baby wasn’t crying when he was given the dose of Versed, making the sedative unnecessary.

Babies with hypoplastic left heart are known to cry excessively before cardiac arrest.

The suit alleges Mayor didn’t take the right steps to keep the baby hydrated, and he didn’t examine the baby before giving him Versed.

Eli couldn’t absorb the Versed because he was dehydrated, according to Latherow and Duignan, which caused cardiac arrest.

The attorneys also alleged Mayor didn’t intervene for about 10 minutes after the baby’s heart rate decreased, which combined with the unnecessary medication, caused the baby’s death.

The $5 million award was Illinois’ second-highest jury verdict for infant death, according to the law office.