Mother of brain-damaged boy wins $101M in malpractice suit

OAK PARK, Ill. (AP) — A jury has awarded $101 million to the mother of a severely brain-damaged boy who sued a Chicago-area hospital for medical malpractice.

Attorneys told the Cook County Circuit Court that medical staff at West Suburban Medical Center in Oak Park ignored ultrasound results that indicated the unborn baby wasn’t moving for six hours during labor on Aug. 9, 2014.

A judge ruled Tuesday that 5-year-old Gerald Sallis’ brain is damaged permanently because nurses and technicians ignored his mother’s concerns that she couldn’t feel him move.

Experts testified that a cesarean section would have prevented Gerald’s brain damage. Gerald cannot speak, walk or sit up on his own.

The settlement will allow him to return home after spending a year in a developmental disabilities facility.