September 5, 2002 - Parties Agreed to a $ 5.5 Million Settlement

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Parties agreed to a $ 5.5 million settlement Wednesday in the case of a northwest suburban woman who was left paralyzed from the waist down following kidney surgery at Loyola University Medical Center.

Plaintiff asserted that Marie L. Italiano, 67, of Buffalo Grove, suffered a spinal cord injury sometime between receiving anesthesia and recovering from the surgery. The wheelchair-bound woman is now incontinent and requires 24-hour-a-day care. Loyola University Medical Center will pay the settlement on behalf of five of its doctors named in the lawsuit.

In another settlement agreed to recently, Evanston Hospital will pay $ 13 million to settle a lawsuit filed by the parents of an infant who allegedly suffered severe brain damage as a result of improperly mixed intravenous solution.